Monthly Archives: September 2012

Before diving headlong into the final E, I think it’s worth clarifying again the aim of instrumental lessons. It may be that some students just want to have some fun, and certainly aren’t contemplating spending hours a day practising hard so that they can go to Music College. That is fine (of course!), but I have serious concerns about ‘teaching’ a pupil each week if the only objective is for them to have fun, regardless of their age or ability; why would this ever be desirable when they could have fun and learn at the same time?

Perhaps a more helpful word than fun would be to be fulfilled – to feel that we have succeeded, that we have done well and our teacher is proud of us. This is something which lasts and becomes a part of us. Fun is transient – it comes to an end, and although we can remember it happening, it doesn’t last. If we are fulfilled, our character is changed. We feel good when we are fulfilled, and that feeling is enjoyable – fun even!

Our ultimate goal should be to empower our pupils, to hand over control to them, to bring them to a place where they can stand on their own two feet and manage without us. This is hugely fulfilling for teacher and pupil alike! And it is transformational. Once our students have learned to learn, they can help themselves, and our job is done.

Reading is something which many people take for granted, but it is the most amazing skill to possess – once you can read, you can help yourself to limitless information. Once a child has realised this potential, there is literally no stopping them. This is empowerment. The child who cannot read will forever rely on someone else to feed them with the information that they want; stories for pleasure, other material for information, and so on. They will be entirely dependent on someone else to guide them.

My hope is that we can draw our pupils out in such a way that, eventually, they become confident musicians who no longer need us. Some won’t make it that far, of course, but whilst they are under our guidance, we should be ever-striving towards this goal.

There will be obstacles along the way, like exams for instance! These can act as a helpful guide and a carrot if used well – but if curiosity and musicianship are neglected in favour of merely constructing a temporary façade for a snapshot assessment, then they are not helpful at all, and in fact serve only to take our eye off the real goal. Although I do use ABRSM with my own pupils, my line, more often than not, is “Do you want a piece of paper, or do you want to learn to play the piano?” It’s possible to do both of course, but those whose only aim is the former are rarely empowered by the outcome.

These goals may seem a long way off, but actually we should be aiming to drip feed a little of this into every lesson. And the final test, without a doubt, is whether our pupils are able to practise effectively! It may be that our pupil is lazy, or has too many other demands on their time, or doesn’t really want to play after all – then again, perhaps we have missed one (or more) of the previous 4Es! It may be that we have set an impossible target for the week which our pupil doesn’t feel able to take on, or we may have been so vague (“More practice this week please!”) that they just don’t know where to start. I think if we get it right, our pupil should leave the lesson with a clear aim for the week, and with the firm thought planted in their head – or even their heart – “I can do that, and I’m looking forward to having a go!”

Follow this link to return to the top – The 5Es for outstanding instrumental teaching

If you have read the preceeding 3Es – Engage, Enthuse and Develop an Enquiring mind – I hope you will agree that with all of these in place, the teacher is in a much stronger position to equip his/her pupil with the skills that they need to make excellent progress. In fact, we have very likely equipped them with a great deal already; after all, a willingness to learn, enthusiasm and a curious nature are all fantastic attributes in a student!

There are numerous things which we need to equip our pupils with, some obvious and easy to identify, and others less so. Again, a number of these have already been covered, but let’s go back to practice for a moment. Now that we are sure that our pupil is able to self-assess their performance through asking the right sorts of questions of themselves, we need to ensure that they are organising their time well. If it’s not pushing the Monty Python thing too far: “Our two weapons are fear and surprise … and ruthless efficiency!” We still don’t want the fear, but ruthless efficiency can be handy! It’s worth spending some time making sure that our pupils are using their practice time well. [This is not the time to go into a detailed analysis of exactly how to practise – maybe later!]

Determination and perseverance are excellent skills to be developing in our pupils. Both in lessons and in personal practice time, our students will be getting things wrong all the time. This is, after all, how they learn – assuming that they are able to make appropriate judgements and improve on their subsequent attempts. But even the most enthusiastic student can find it a hard slog sometimes, and they need encouragement to keep going. In the same way, self-belief is something which needs to be nurtured if our pupils are continue to stride onward. Well-pitched targets, which they can succeed in regularly, will help pupils to feel that they are achieving, and improving their skills. Praise and encouragement go a long way, coupled perhaps with a little carrot to lead them continually on to the next success.

Perhaps most tied up with the whole question of developing the enquiring mind is the issue of developing musicianship. Firstly, I believe passionately that everyone has musical ability; some find it very easy to access that musical expression, and others most definitely do not, but wherever the student fits in this spectrum, their music teacher should take the responsibility for nurturing this talent, for drawing it out.

I find it very helpful to think of myself first and foremost as a music teacher, but one who just happens to teach that musicianship through the piano. A good technique is necessary, of course, but if the pupil has no understanding of the music which they are playing, it seems a perfectly reasonable question to ask why they are bothering! Over many years of teaching I have encountered pupils who have no idea what key they are playing in, or even the tonality of the piece; who are desperately trying to count note values but can’t even tap the pulse of the music; who think their piece is called ‘A1’; who can’t sing from a C to a C# or D; who show up to an exam expecting to play a Brahms sonata movement, having never even heard the piano part; who have been playing a piece in 6/8 time for six months but who can’t tell me how many beats there are in a bar; who are playing high level repertoire but do not have the first clue about the implications of the harmony. The list is pretty well endless.

It is the music teacher’s responsibility to equip their students with all of these things, and a whole lot more! We need to equip them with the skills that they need to be a musician, not just an instrumentalist or singer. It’s a big job!

And so to the final E, the best one perhaps – Empower.

The literal meaning of the latin word educare is ‘to draw out’, or as a former teacher of mine defined it, ‘to lead out.’ [I was hopeless at Latin at school, but I’m sure this definition of education is close enough!] There is nothing in the word which suggests that it means attaching information to a pupil in the hope that it sticks – it is much, much deeper than that. This ties in with my strapline – enabling every pupil to find their own voice; to find our own voice, we need to make our own enquiry, to come to our own conclusions so that our learning is somehow sewn deeply inside us, so that we not only know how/why, but understand how/why.

It is all too easy to give the answers, and to be pleased to see our pupils grasp these, put them into practice and master them swiftly; we might even confuse that for teaching. In fact, that’s the next E coming up, which is Equip. Musicians need a huge variety of skills, and it is our role as the teacher to equip them with these – but it is the way in which we equip them which we are addressing here. If we simply need to get the job done, then telling is enough. I recall vividly as a child getting very stressed that my dad wouldn’t ‘help’ me with my maths homework which was due in the following morning. I was struggling, and all I wanted was the answers so that it was done! Our view of ‘help’ differed hugely, in that he wanted me to work it out for myself…

In my experience, the best learning comes from asking the right questions. That is, the pupil asking the right questions. A new piano pupil asked me recently “How do I solve this [technical] problem?” I was absolutely delighted at the enquiry, and gave her my immediate response: “Well done, fantastic! That’s the right question.” Our chief weapon is surprise….! (remember that?) She was genuinely surprised, but also intrigued, and immediately began to offer suggestions as to how she might address the problem. Between us we spent the next few minutes investigating a few solutions and their relative merits, and in the end she was delighted to realise that she had answered her own question.

The teacher’s role in the lesson is to guide this process, to lead or draw out the pupil in a way in which they investigate things for themselves. In this way we are teaching them to be enquiring, to have the confidence to look to themselves to find the answers, and to trust their own judgements. Of course they won’t always get this right, so we need to be constantly shaping their thinking to make the right choice each time, until they can ascertain for themselves what the right choice is. For the beginner there might only be one choice (correct hand position, for example) and we need to ensure that they arrive at it; for the advanced pupil there may be many valid answers, and of course in arriving at one of these, they are finding their own voice.

If a pupil constantly has their own questions fired back at them (which I appreciate can sometimes be frustrating!) I find that eventually they stop asking me, and just ask themselves instead, taking themselves through the same questioning process which I would have done to solve the problem. This self-sufficiency is wonderful to see, and above all it gives me enormous confidence that when it comes to practice, they will be able to use their time wisely.

I have always loved practising because I love problem-solving. The student who can’t problem-solve is always going to be up against it when they practise by themselves, because they are unable to make appropriate judgements on their own performance. If a student does not know which questions to ask, they are unlikely to work out how to improve under their own initiative. And if their own practice time in ineffective, they are not going to make much progress outside their lesson time, and they are certainly going to be unenthusiastic about practice because it doesn’t seem to make much difference. The final part of the cycle will be in finding that they are more difficult to engage because they feel inadequate.

All too often children appear to be entirely dependent on the teacher to tell them what they need to be able to play a particular piece. On closer inspection, it is all too easy to discover that they have little idea what they are doing other than following the instructions they were given. They are not to blame for this, but personally I find it immensely frustrating. On the other hand, once a child realises that they can be in the driving seat, progress can be extraordinary. Forgive me for jumping the gun, but that is empowering! Before that, we need a closer look at how with equip our pupils with all that they need to succeed.

The second E is Enthuse!!!

Once our pupil is engaged, nothing beats a jolly good enthuse! The very nature of engagement means that teacher and pupil have found a connection of some sort, and once this is in place, we are able to share with each other; shared energy, shared excitement, a shared love of music and the instrument which we are studying. This needs to be a two way thing, and when things are going well there can be an infectious anticipation for what the lesson might hold, for both of us.

The teacher needs to have that willingness to share; if there is no engagement, it is still perfectly possible for the teacher to give, but it is the sharing of ideas, a mutual activity, which leads to an altogether deeper level of engagement, which in turn can increase the enthusiasm and desire for learning. Telling is not teaching.

It is also important not to confuse fun for enthusiasm here. Fun is hugely important of course, but our principal aim from the very beginning of the lesson should be to create an environment where our pupil is going to learn. Of course it is hugely flattering and enjoyable to teach a pupil who likes our company and looks forward to our lessons, but at the same time our pupil needs to be under no illusions that the lesson is principally a learning environment. If we hit the mark, the distinction between fun and learning merges and we’re cooking on gas!

One of the principal factors which will engage and enthuse a student is a clear awareness that they are succeeding. If targets are set too low, or are entirely inappropriate, interest will wane; if targets are too high the task becomes daunting, and all but the most persistent will give up. Good targets are those which are set just within reach, and if we can pack our lessons with lots of these (they can be tiny events; “try this, excellent, well done you”) our pupil will feel enabled and quite possibly enthusiastic to try some more. People love to succeed, and success breeds enthusiasm.

If enthusiasm is missing in our lessons, we need to ask ourselves some searching questions. If we come to the conclusion that the student lacks enthusiasm, we need to change tack and find a way to get onto the positive cycle described above. That’s not always easy, and in some instances it can be a long and frustrating process, but as far as I am concerned, this falls very clearly within the teachers’ job description.

Once we have established an engaged and enthusiastic teaching environment, we are ready to do just that – teach! Most importantly, we are setting out to develop an Enquiring mind, and to Equip our students with the skills which they need to progress. First let’s consider the enquiring bit…

If we fail to engage from the outset, much of what follows in the next half hour might be too late! So much of what we say is actually ‘heard’ through our body language, and to engage our pupils as they enter the room, we need to look like we’re delighted to see them, fired up and ready to get down to work. If we are energised, purposeful and motivated, our pupil will sense that excitement, and realise that we are actually pleased to be teaching them! They need to feel that for the next half an hour they are our central focus, and that they have our undivided attention. Our body language must back this up 100%.

I also feel that it is also really important that we show an interest in the whole person, and treat each pupil as an individual. Paul Harris’ opening line “How’s the hamster?” [The Virtuoso Teacher, Faber 2011] might sound daft, but he’s absolutely right! If we are going to pass on our skills to our students in a way which is enriching, fulfilling and meaningful, we need to know what makes them tick. Our approach needs to be tailor-made for each individual, where we are able to respond to pupils’ interests, needs and strengths. Showing our pupils that we care about them, that we have a genuine interest in them beyond just their evenness of tone, will help to gain their respect and trust.

Another gem from Paul Harris [not an original idea, but that’s where I heard it!] which is surprising in its simplicity: “Telling is not teaching.” Giving does not ensure receiving, so that two way channel needs to be operating well for our wisdom to fall on receptive ears. It’s no good just saying that we’ve been over it again and again but the pupil still doesn’t get it; if that is the case, we need to consider whether we have engaged in a way in which the pupil understands, however clear we might think we are being.

Surprise is a great teaching tool; if a pupil doesn’t know quite what to expect next there can be a wonderful sense of anticipation in a lesson. They need to feel secure, of course, otherwise Monty Python springs to mind: “Our chief weapon is surprise …. surprise and fear….” We don’t want that! But we should avoid ‘same lesson syndrome’ where the pupil comes to the lesson and is subjected to a painfully predictable routine of ‘scales, pieces, sight reading test, see you next week.’ If, on the other hand, your pupil comes to each lesson  expecting something new, engaging and challenging for them each week, they are much more likely to bounce in, ready to learn and respond to your teaching. If we want our pupils to be creative, we should be demonstrating our own creativity, and we can do that through creative teaching.

Learning a musical instrument should be an adventure, not a chore, and as instrumental teachers we need to take the lead. If our lessons are dull and predictable our pupils will begin to question whether we really love what we are doing, and if we don’t, why do we think that they are going to?!

Next up, Enthuse!