LeslieUpchurch.com

Do the things you enjoy!

I am not performing that much lately.  But, when I do or when I practice I play things I enjoy.  I enjoy some Scarlatti Sonatas and want to learn a couple of new ones.  I just started playing in one of the volumes I have and really disliked a couple of the Sonatas.  So, I am not choosing to learn them.  Sometimes what appeals to us is just what we should be doing - period.

I just found out that one of my very young Dalcroze students who became a piano student is going to be applying to the Eastman School of Music.  I am very excited about this.  In his early years - ages 3 to 5 or 6 - I just watched him teach himself.  He never did what wrote on his lesson plan.  One summer he forgot how to read music and had to relearn in the fall.  He enjoyed improvising and was all over enjoying music experiences through or at the piano.  When he got to be 5 or 6, I forget which, I told him if he wanted to learn to play well he needed to listen to me from then on.  He mostly did.  I felt he was developmentally ready to work this way.

One thing I observed in this very interested student was his attraction to things like childrens' songs.  If I tried to give him a more abstract piece, such as a sonatina, he did not seem to relate to it.  I did not "push" my ideas on him, but let his interests unfold naturally.

By second grade he was studying algebra and playing J.S. Bach 2 part Inventions.  It seemed to me this was early enough for him to be playing music of this level.  I know some students play this music at younger ages.  Now, he is playing the Chopin Fantasy Impromptu and Rachmaninoff which is standard concert repertoire.  He was doing this a junior in high school.

I moved from his area when he was in 6th grade and it seemed even if I had not moved he would have needed a new teacher.  He had transferred to a new school that made it more difficult for him to get to his lessons with me. Also, just the transfer caused him to have less than a stellar year of piano with me.  Had I not been moving and had he settled into the new school, perhaps we could have continued.

But, when I moved he went to a new piano teacher, an excellent one.  Sometimes I think middle school is a time when these things often need to happen anyway.

The freedom with guidance I provided for him in his early studies are what i strive for with all of my students.  I have one interested and very bright young girl now whose parents do not like the idea of pigeon holing their children when they are very young.  I agree with this and allow her to lead the way at times.  After nearly 2 months without summer lessons, she did her own thing and wanted to show me.  what did she do?  Many children's folk songs - some on papers that had come with a color coded toy piano that she had gotten as a baby and that was now broken and presumably thrown away.  She had another toy piano, a little grand, that she had used to play by ear on before her parents got her a lovely but previously owned Yamaha upright piano.  Her choice when left to her own devices included The Farmer in the Dell and Row, Row, Row Your Boat.  I built on these two for her next lesson.  Play the primary (I IV V7 chords in cadential closed position) in the left hand doing different accompaniments for The Farmer. This is an assignment I would give to adult musicians learning to improvise for Dalcroze Eurhythmics teaching. Also, SHE said she thought she could play Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a Round!  I told her to start with the left hand since the music was written one line on top of the other. Then the round or canon part would be easier to do if reading the music.

She is doing something she enjoys and now it is advancing her playing.  Of course she has repertoire and she reviewed many things.  She did far too much for me to listen to or work on in one lesson.  I did not want to "pile on" new ideas with her chosen music.  I was and am always happy when students make choices.

Sometimes a student does not like a piece of music.  When the parent tells me they are often surprised at my response.  I generally say "Good!  They have an opinion." To me this shows that they care about music.  Depending on the piece, the age of the student, and the circumstance, I decide whether to have them continue it or not.  if it is a critical piece for pianist development I will at least have them learn it fairly well.  I am not of the school of "let the student decide everything they want to play".  Face it, learning the piano is a skill set that requires mastering each learning block.  No on who plays golf says "I don't like hitting out of sand traps" or "I don't like putting" and refuses to practice that.  They would be totally unable to play a round anywhere if they chose not to play out of a sand trap or putt.  They could be "playing at golf", but not really playing golf.

This thing about doing things you enjoy can and should enter into the students you choose to work with and the schools you choose to teach for.  If you don't enjoy it, the poor student or students are stuck with you, an unenthusiastic teacher.  That is not fair to anyone.  The thing is, they may like working with you, but you are still not giving them your best.  (Sort of unrequited love in some ways.)

Of course situations change.  You could accept a job or student with some trepidation and find it is an excellent match.  Of, you could be wildly enthusiastic about a student or job and find it is not a good match down the road.  (This is true in all things in life.  I rent out a room in my apartment and I am sure you have heard ALL of the stories about this!)

In closes, enjoyment is a part of the purpose of everything we do.  Play music you enjoy with people and places you enjoy spending time with or enjoy being in.  Life is too short - remember, just in case this is your only chance......