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I Love My Job!

2/8/2013

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"Teaching is not a job. It is something extraordinary that one cannot explain."  -- Tamas Ungar
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I found myself saying the words "I love my job!" several times in the past two weeks.  Each time I spoke those words, though, I flinched at the use of the word "job."  Tamas Ungar, piano professor at Texas Christian University, was awarded "Music Teacher of the Year."  He stated, "Teaching is not a job.  It is something extraordinary that one cannot explain."  There is so much truth to that statement!  I hardly ever think of teaching piano lessons as a job.  But if it's not my job, what is it?  It's just who I am, what I do, something inside of me that doesn't seem to have a choice but to come out. 

But what makes me love it so much?  Putting the answer to that question in few enough words to create a blog entry is a bit of a challenge.  There are so many reasons, I could never cover them all!  As I mentioned, teaching is just something inside of me that doesn't seem to have a choice but to come out.  When you spend your days doing something that is just at the core of your being, you can't help but love doing it.  Of course, there is much more to it than that, though.  And that's what I want to share today.

When I share what I know and love with my students, the rewards that I receive are far greater than any tuition payments I ever receive.  And the rewards have been exceptionally great the past few weeks.  There have been many, and they are widely varied.  There was the extremely gifted student, whom I've been teaching for 5 years, who bridged the gap between "notes" and "music" and nearly made me cry with his beautiful performance of the second movement of Mozart's Sonata in C.  He said that, while he played, he imagined a fairy dancing around, then being chased by a dragon, and finally being rescued by a prince. 

There is another student who takes what he is learning and writes his own music very frequently.  He often surprises me with new compositions that are very well written.  Last week, he had written an arrangement of a worship song that would fit the skills and reading ability of his younger sister, so she would have something familiar to play in just her second month of lessons.

These rewards don't always come in the form of amazing piano playing, though.  Sometimes, it's the little boy who turns to me and says, "Mrs. Brown.... If I ever get to play tuba, I want you to be my teacher." I chuckled at this and responded, "I don't know how to play tuba.  You wouldn't make very much progress if I was your teacher."  As he turned back to the piano, he said, "Well, if you could play the tuba, I would want you to be my teacher."  I took this as a great compliment.  You see, just two months ago, this same little boy was trying to find ways to get me to fire him as a student, because his mom wouldn't let him quit lessons.  He seems to have turned a corner and begun to love coming to piano lessons.

Sometimes it's even just little things like a "thank you" at the end of a lesson.  I'm blessed with very polite and respectful students.  But one student, in particular, stopped at the door on her way out this week and made a special effort to thank me.  She said, "Mrs. Brown, I want you to know that I really appreciate you teaching me.  And when you sometimes give me an extra 5 or 10 minutes...I really like that.  Thank you!"

I even love the cute little things, like pictures they draw.  I have pictures on my wall of me playing piano.  Others of just random designs using music symbols.  Sometimes, it's a nicely drawn staff with all of the note names labeled "to help the other students remember their notes."  I even have a small, stuffed 8th note pillow that a student made herself. Oh, and then there is the amazing drawing of Josh Groban that a former student did for me.  It still sits in a place of honor near my piano.  I love these little gifts!  It tells me that the students think of me even when they are not at their lesson. 

Then, sometimes I receive emails or text messages from parents of things that their child did at home.  I've had some post videos of them practicing to my studio facebook page.  Or they'll be excited about getting a new piano and send me a picture.  The most recent thing shared was a clever little thing that a student did with his name at the top of his school work.  He added a repeat sign after his name and said, "Look!  It says 'Jacob Jacob'!"  Haha!  (See pic below).  It's wonderful to know that piano is becoming a regular part of their lives.

Since my preference is to start students from the very beginning, I get to experience a lot of different phases in their development as a musician, and as a human being, in general.  I watch them grow up.  I see them change physically, mentally, and socially.  I get to help them go from a brand new student filled with wonder (and sometimes a little fear) to one with excitement about all of the amazing new things they are learning, and eventually to one who is accomplished and confident and ready to share their gift with the world.  Because of that, we often become very close.  Young students will sometimes call me "mom" by accident.  Teenage students will sometimes tell me their deepest secrets.  This week, a 5-year-old boy even blew me a kiss as he left!  And then, at the end of the very next lesson, I was given a giant hug by an autistic boy who usually doesn't like for me to touch him much at all.

I still don't know if I will ever consider teaching piano lessons a "job."  Whatever it is, though, I definitely love it!

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Translation: "Jacob Jacob"
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"I CAN'T!"

2/12/2011

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How many times do you hear someone say, "I can't"?  Those are my least favorite words in the whole English language.  They carry with them sentiments such as, "I give up", "I'll never be good enough", "there is no hope", "I'm not going to even try," or sometimes even, "I'm worthless."

As a piano teacher, and as a mom, I dread hearing the words "I can't" come out of the mouth of a child.  Since this is a music studio blog, I'll address this from the piano teacher's perspective, though. 

When a beginning student hires me to teach them to play the piano, they are asking me to teach them something new.  Something they are currently unable to do on their own.  But something in their mind believes they can learn it, or else they wouldn't have even called me.  Therefore, it is important that they continue to believe they can learn each required skill along the way throughout their lessons.  Sometimes, it's my job to teach in such a way that nothing ever seems impossible.  Other times, it's the student's job to just believe that "they can."

One of my favorite children's books is "The Little Engine That Could."  You know the story.  It  was a tiny little engine who had to pull a big train over the hill. All the way up the big hill, the engine told himself, "I think I can!  I think I can!"  It's a cute little book with a huge life message in it for kids.  So much in life is all about our attitude.  This is very important in music.  A student who gives up when they run into a difficult technical skill.....well, gives up.  They're just done.   However, the student who believes, "If I try hard enough, I can master this" will go very far.

So, how do I handle the "I can't" attitude in lessons?  This kind of depends on the age and maturity of the student.  Sometimes, I pull out their very first book and have them play the very first "song" they ever played (which is usually not even on the staff yet).  Then we compare that to the most recent piece of music they mastered, and discuss how they came to be able to play that when they didn't even so much as know their finger numbers when they started lessons.  Other times, it only takes this simple statement, "Yes, I agree.  Right now, at this very moment, you can't [play that trill] very well.  But we're going to work on it, and try different things.  And, with time, it will get better and better."  With young students, I sometimes have to get more creative, though.  Here's an example of how I recently responded to "I can't" with a young beginner.

A young boy had looked ahead in his book, and was clearly distressed about the fact that the staff was most likely going to be introduced in this lesson.  So much so, that he was actually disappointed that he passed all of his songs and was "getting" to move ahead in the book.  Several times, he turned to a page with notes on the staff and told me, "I can't do that."  Reasoning with him in any of my usual ways was, clearly, not going to have any impact on him.  So, in a desperate attempt to overcome this, I pulled out a blank piece of paper, and asked him to write the words, "I can't" in big letters.   Then, I asked him to carry the piece of paper out of my teaching studio and I escorted him to the receptionist's desk.  We placed the piece of paper under a book so nobody could see it.  Then, I told him, "Ok.  Now the words 'I can't' are going to stay out here.  You don't get to take them back into my studio.  They are not allowed in your lessons."   Of course, being quick on his feet, as he sometimes is, he says "What about 'I can not'?  Can I say that?"  I laughed and said, "No, sir.  You may not."   But he got the message.  And we spent the rest of the lesson learning about the staff and the bass clef sign, and even played a short five-finger song.....reading from that staff.  And he was proud of his accomplishment.  As he left his lesson, I stopped him at the receptionist's desk and pulled out the piece of paper with those word, "I can't" on them.  I had him tear up the piece of paper (his mom watching in amusement the whole time) and throw it in the trash.  Then, I ended the lesson with, "There!  Now you can't use those words at home, either.  When something is difficult, you just try real hard until you get it right."  He left with a big smile and his usual, "Thank you Mrs. Brown."

What did that boy learn in his lesson that day?  Yes, he did learn that this thing called a staff has five lines and four spaces.  And that the bass clef sign looks like half of a heart and it's job is to show us where F is.  And he learned how to find his left hand C position notes of the bass staff.  But I hope that, more than that, he learned that nothing is too difficult if you try hard enough.  And new ideas really aren't that scary if you trust you're teacher to only give you what you can handle at once (we discussed this a bit after we got rid of "I can't"). 

I encourage you, as a teacher or a student, to replace the untrue statement of "I can't" with true statement, like, "This is really difficult", "This is going to take a lot of extra work", "I've never done this before", "I need some help figuring this out", etc.  It's ok to acknowledge a challenge.  But don't ever give up.



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Why Won't She Practice?

11/10/2010

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The most common question a private music instructor will hear from a parent is, "How do I get my child to practice?".....or something to that effect.  To answer that question, the parent and/or teacher must first figure out why the student isn't practicing.  Here are two scenarios, which are both dealt with in very different ways.

I recently had a parent call me with concern about her daughter.  She didn't want her to quit, but she seemed to have lost interest and simply would not practice.  I agreed to talk with the student.  At the next lesson, I mentioned the conversation with the girl.  Her response to me consisted of ramblings about how her binders would not fit in her locker at school.  This student's loss of interest in practicing piano clearly had nothing to do with the piano, itself.  She is a 7th grade girl who was merely overwhelmed with the adjustment to middle school.  My solution to her lack of commitment to practice was this:  "Let's make a deal.  I know you're trying to figure out this whole middle school thing, and that can be very overwhelming.  So, until January, I will never give you more than two songs to work on at a time (she's been in lessons little more than a year).  And I would like you to commit to just 20 minutes of practice each day, instead of 30-45."  She was thrilled at this thought!  And I saw an immediate turnaround in her attitude.  It can be such a relief to a student to learn that their music teacher empathizes with the daily struggles of their life.  Any time a student is going through a significant life change, there will also be a change in their practice and performance.  They will either become distracted from the music, or will completely pour their stress and emotions into it.  Either way, I must take the time to notice and to adjust accordingly.

Another student (a percussion student of another teacher) is consistently negligent of her practice time.  The only time she works really hard is when there is a significant performance or audition approaching....and it's even sporadic then.  This student is extremely intelligent and musically gifted.  In everyday life, she is a very responsible and organized child.  She just won't practice regularly.  This student's lack of attention to practice is dealt with completely differently.  You see, she is a middle school band student who is far more gifted than the average teenager.  Therefore, while other students must practice diligently to master the middle school level music, she can sightread it.  In her mind, there is no need to practice if she can already play the music better than everyone else.  This is tricky in middle school, because it is difficult to have any freedom to challenge a gifted student in a middle school band class.  So, it must fall on a private instructor.  To overcome this challenge, the instructor must find extra performance opportunites for the student......ones that will require her to learn more advanced skills.  It's also important to continually remind her that the band music will become more interesting and challenging in high school.  Encouraging this student to participate in competitions and to audition for things like all-region band will also help.  Another helpful tip is to be very specific with what you expect of their practice time.  Write it down in a book of some sort.   It's a misnomer that the weaker students are the most challenging ones to teach.  Many times, it's the extremely talented student who consistently challenges the teacher.  This student is constantly at risk of quitting due to boredom.

Teaching music requires much more than just listening to a student play their assignment and correcting their mistakes.  A lot of attention must be paid to getting to know and understand each student you are working with.
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Update On Studio Growth

5/2/2010

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Update On Studio Growth

5/2/2010

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Many of you already know that I have a passion to truly educate the students that I teach.  I believe it's my responsibility, as an instructor, to make sure my students actually understand the music they are learning to perform.  I also believe that piano lessons are an excellent foundation for a complete music education.  At the same time, I don't believe a music education should be limited to piano.  I love to see my piano students participate in band, choir, theater, etc.  It all works together. 

Because of this, it has always been my desire to provide a facility that can offer every aspect of music education.  This is what Mountain Valley Studios will be.  We are in a transitional phase, and hope to be in a building by the end of August where we will have much more than private and group piano lessons.  I am very excited about bringing in additional teachers so that we can offer everything from music/movement for toddlers, to private lessons on every band instrument, to music theory and composition classes, to group and private piano for every age, to voice lessons and a homeschool choir.

I believe that this will be a great service to our community and our area schools.  I am happy to be part of a community that values music education in the schools, and am willing to provide an affordable place where qualified instructors can offer private lessons to the students in those programs.

If you have any specific requests for lessons or other music services, please leave a comment here.  Or, better yet, complete the form on the contact information page.
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Piano Workshops for High Schoolers--Survey

11/11/2009

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At the request of a french horn teacher, I am tossing around some ideas for beginning piano workshops for high schoolers, and I would like feedback from high schoolers and/or parents of high schoolers (or anyone else who would like to share their thoughts).

I regularly hear from high schoolers, "I would love to learn to play piano." I also regularly hear from instrumental teachers that they have many talented students who really need at least some basic piano lessons before college. What gets in the way of these students is usually one of three things: 1) Their schedule is too busy to commit to weekly piano lessons and daily practice time; 2) They can't afford to pay for month after month of piano lessons; or 3) They don't have a piano to practice on. These workshops should minimize, if not completely eliminate, each of these challenges. So, here's what I'm thinking so far:

1) A series of 4 beginning piano workshops, each building on the other.
2) It would not be mandatory to sign up for all four workshops, but each is a prerequisite to the next. (You can't just do session one and four.... you have to progress through 2 and 3 to get to 4.)
3) The charge would be "per session", but there would be a discount if a student signs up for all four.
4) There would be a $10 book fee, but the book would last through all four sessions.
5) Workshops would be held on Saturdays (I'm thinking one each month in January, February, March, & April....but am open to input on this)
6) Each workshop would be 6 hours (9am-3pm/ 10am-4pm??)
7) We would start from the VERY beginning and progress through basic rhythm concepts, reading from the grand staff, basic theory concepts like intervals and primary chords, etc.
8) Due to the size of my current studio, each workshop would never have more than 10 students.

9) Students would not need to have a piano at home at all, as all work will be done in the workshop. (However.... They just might beg their parents for one once they start to learn to play).

Please feel free to share your thoughts, in general, as well as specifically about any of the numbered items above. Also, please respond to the following questions, if you have any thoughts:

A) Would you/your child/your friends be interested in a workshop like this?

B) What would you be willing to pay for each workshop? ( I charge $80/month for private lessons @ 45 minutes/week -- total of 3 hrs. instruction each month..... and that's really on the low end in our area for a teacher with a piano degree.)

C) Does the 6-hr workshop length sound reasonable? If not, how long do you think each one should be?

D) Assuming you would sign up for a workshop at all, what would be the likelihood of signing up for all four sessions?

E) Do you think the once-a-month schedule will work? Or would it be better to do four weekends in a row.... or four days in a row during Christmas break, spring break, or August?

F) How much progress would you expect a student to make if they participated in the entire series of four sessions? Or..... what all concepts would you expect them to learn?

Thank you for taking time to provide this feedback. I will help me to better plan a class that will meet the needs & expectations of the students in our area.
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Metamorphosis In Music Study

6/11/2009

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When a young student first begins to take lessons, the songs are short and the practice expectations are usually very clear. His assignment sheet will usually include specific steps that should be followed for each assigned exercise. These steps will include things like clapping the rhythm, naming the notes out loud while playing, etc. Repetition of these steps is expected, and all steps should be followed at each practice session. In the early months of lessons, practice time primarily serves the purpose of reinforcing concepts, developing strength and coordination, training the student to use proper fingering and technique, and establishing effective, consistent practice habits. It’s actually very much like learning a new sport…you have to learn the skills and practice them daily before you can be successful in a game.

Eventually, a student knows enough concepts, and is solid enough in her skills and techniques that she is ready to “play the game,” so to speak. Or, as may young students put it, they’re ready to move on to “real music.” At this point, you will begin to see a significant change in her assignments and practice requirements. Not only will she be practicing new things, such as scales, arpeggios, Hanon exercises, and more challenging music, but the instructions will look different. Instead of a list of specific practice steps, their assignment may say something like “learn page one,” or “memorize measures 16-32,” or “work on increasing tempo.” Specific instructions are often written directly in the music.

This is also the point when the “perfect practice” requirement should be considered a minimum. The goal is no longer to go through practice steps until the timer goes off. The goal also is not to practice until he gets it right one time. The goal now is to practice until he never gets it wrong. In order to accomplish this, students will sometimes have to spend 15 minutes on one three-measure section. This can be annoying to listen to. But if parents can refrain from expressing that and, instead, praise the student for his diligence, they will be helping him develop the self-discipline that is required to be successful.

Unfortunately, this is also the point at which lessons may not seem as “fun” anymore. There will seem to be more correction and criticism than praise. A student will find that she rarely passes a song in one week. This is very normal, and does not necessarily mean that she is not doing well. It means the songs are longer and harder. It also means, though, that the parents may actually have to do more to remind/encourage/motivate the student to practice every day. This will seem backwards. Some may think, “By now, I shouldn’t have to remind her to practice. If it’s important to her, she should just want to practice.” The fact is, it’s not important enough to her…yet. She has not yet had the opportunity to experience the immense satisfaction that comes from giving a performance that was truly amazing. Sometimes, the parents, themselves, have to decide that it’s important enough to encourage their child to keep going. After all, none of us would allow our children to neglect their math homework just because it’s difficult.

I have enjoyed seeing a few students get to the point this year where they are beginning to experience this “metamorphosis” in their lessons. I know that it can be a hard transition for the student, the parents….and the teacher. If yours is one of these students, I encourage you to avoid letting them give up. Find what motivates them, and use it to get them to practice. If you are the student who is at this point, don’t get discouraged. This is a sign of progress, and of wonderful things to come. Soon, you will begin to see amazing results from your hard work and dedication.

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    Rebecca Brown

    Rebecca owns and operates Mountain Valley Studios.  She also teaches piano lessons and preschool music classes.  In addition, she accompanies for area music students at solo competitions, etc. 

    Mountain Valley Studios

    Mountain Valley Studios is located in Joshua, TX...just 15 minutes south of Fort Worth.  Use the links in the left side bar to browse our site and learn more about us.

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