Episode 278: Cheers to Single-Agenda Lesson Plans

Well, hello there, Teacher Friends!  Welcome to your weekly moment of solidarity: otherwise known as The Beyond Measure Podcast.  Christina Whitlock here, your host and (self-appointed) Anytime Piano Teacher Friend.  Today’s episode offers a quick challenge to the traditional lesson structure most of us are accustomed to.  I would encourage you to come into this one with an open mind.  Ready?  Let’s get on with the show! Thanks for listening to episode 278 of the Beyond Measure Podcast.

You probably know by now how much I enjoy challenging the conventions of a traditional piano lesson. Don’t misunderstand me; I still seek somewhat “traditional” results. I teach historical repertoire and clean technique and my students are strong sightreaders. I’m not trying to stage a total rebellion over here. I’ve just had really good results from questioning the things we do by default. Today’s episode is one example of something I hope you’ll reconsider, too.

There is A LOT to teach when it comes to our instruments, right?  We’re teaching technical skills and aural skills and reading skills. We’re teaching students to believe in their abilities to do difficult things. There’s rhythm and intervals and chords and rules. SO MANY RULES about what to do and what not to do.

In an attempt to cover all the things, most of us structure lessons around a few common elements: some kind of warm up, listening to the pieces they’ve practiced, preparing them for pieces to practice in the week to come, and IF WE’RE LUCKY we can squeeze in another element or two, but that’s hard to do, right?

We default to this approach week after week after week. A lot of times it works, but sometimes, our ability to balance all the things falls short. We end up spending too much time on one specific thing, and then the rest of the lesson feels shot. Right? We feel like we’ve failed if we haven’t checked off all our boxes: warm-up, technique, literature, sightreading, rhythm work, improvisation, theory, ear training….

It’s SO MUCH, friends. It’s TOO much, in fact. We all know we can’t do every single one of those things every week. That’s impossible. But – even if you limit yourself to THREE of those things… it’s still a tough expectation sometimes.

I’m here today to ask you: WHO SAID we were supposed to do it all? WHO SAID we had to listen to practiced pieces every single week and assign new stuff every single week? Can students NOT practice the same things for 2 weeks?  Of course they can. They can spend 14 days on the same stuff, friends. They can. If you’ve been through my Building Better Music Readers program, you know I feel strongly about prioritizing our INSTRUCTION over our EVALUATION. And, if we’re being honest, we often spend a lot more time EVALUATING our students than we do INSTRUCTING them.

I had sort of an epiphany earlier this school year. I was introducing a student to dominant seven chords, and we were learning how to resolve them to their tonic chords. I’m going to cut right to the chase: typically, I might introduce the concept and spend a few minutes on it for several weeks in a row. When you’re trying to balance all the things, that’s what you do, right? Well, not this time. We spent almost an ENTIRE lesson building seventh chords and resolving them to their respective tonic chords. That’s basically all we did. We practiced building Major triads, adding the flat 7, and then resolving that chord to tonic in lots of different voicings.

I can hear you asking, “but what did he PRACTICE that week?”  Well, he practiced doing that. He also kept playing his repertoire from the previous week. Yes, even though it was mostly learned and might have technically been passed. An extra 7 days on repertoire never hurt anybody.

Our students should be learning something new every week. It’s true. And, a lot of times, that new information can be handled in just a few minutes. But every once in awhile, our students encounter these BIG, landmark concepts. It’s not just a vocabulary term or a little factoid; this is something BIG that takes time and repetition. But we don’t often allow ourselves the necessary amount of time to explain these things thoroughly because we’re so worried about getting to all the other stuff.

I’ve been learning to ask myself: at the end of the school year, what is going to have the most lasting impact on my students?  In this case, I am confident that taking an entire lesson to flesh out this skillset was IMMENSELY more beneficial than trying to stretch it out over several weeks.  I had ample instruction time. My student got to ask every question on his mind. We had time to explore. To REALLY practice building these chords and their resolutions. Over and over and over again. And all it took was giving MYSELF permission to let everything else go for the week.

I think we can all agree, learning about tonic-dominant relationships is a foundational skill for developing pianists. Almost every piece of music our students know is based on V chords resolving to I chords. Yes, it’s more complicated than that, but I consider it essential for my intermediate students to understand a G7 chord will resolve to C. F7 resolves to B-flat. Etc.  They need to be able to THINK through those relationships, and they need to be able to build the seventh chords and practice resolving them in multiple voicings. For me, that’s a non-negotiable. If this feels like news to you, let me just say: you won’t BELIEVE how much this helps students understand their repertoire. Firming up their understanding of that ONE relationship opens the door to lots of good stuff.

So I guess I’m here delivering another Permission Slip you don’t actually need: I give you permission to spend a BIG chunk of lesson time learning something thoroughly. No one is going to revoke your Piano Teacher Status just because you took a week off the evaluation hamster wheel.

It’s far more common for teachers to try and introduce skills like this in bits and pieces over time. And – hear me – I *love* introducing skills in bits and pieces over time. There are a lot of skills – like comfortably reading the staff – that ARE best accomplished in small microsteps over time. I mentioned my Building Better Music Readers program earlier, and that’s PRECISESLY what we do there. It’s 12 weeks of baby steps that result in players who aren’t afraid or intimidated by the staff.

I’m just here to tell you: the Piano Teacher Universe will continue spinning even if you don’t follow the default model of a lesson every single week.

Forget seventh chords… what if you took one week and just PLAYED with your students?  Play older pieces. Sightread duets. Give them the beginning of a phrase and let them finish it. Whatever! Of course, these are all things we can do in the confines of a traditional lesson, but what if…every now and then… that’s ALL you did?  For an entire lesson?  Would it be a waste?  Of course not!

As a throwback to last week’s episode, it’s easy to lose sight of the PLAY to be found at our instrument, but we must protect that with all we have, friends. We live in such a rat-race society… how beneficial would it be for your students to witness your example of slowing down to PLAY and to really dig-in on one specific concept? If you don’t think your students feel your frenetic energy when you’re stressing over how to get all the things done? You’re wrong. They feel it. They internalize it. And they start to feel like piano is this insurmountable task that they’ll never have quite enough time for.  We don’t want that!

Think about the concepts we have to repeat over and over again. Do you have one in mind?  Is it possible we just need to slow down, get rid of all the other expectations, and focus on that concept for a lesson?

My friend Tiffany sent  me an Instagram reel a few days ago. It was posted by Madelyn Potter; she’s @thepotterstudio on Instagram. The reel was this tongue-in-cheek statement that said, “Strong girls aren’t in the gym. They’re in a piano lesson explaining that sharps carry through the measure for the 100^th time”.  That is one of those concepts, right?  I used to feel like I would tell students about that accidental rule over and over and over again.

So then I started thinking about how I taught them that concept. Most of the time, I was just telling them. I would explain that flats stay flat for the whole measure, point out an example or two, and then say, “does that make sense?” Students would tell me yes, and we would move on. Then, I would proceed to remind them of that rule every week for many weeks.

Let the record show, I’m happy to repeat myself. There are several Beyond Measure episodes about that. But I *do* want to make sure my students understand foundational concepts. So – what are we supposed to do?  Slow down. Do more than TELL them the rule. After all, Telling isn’t Teaching. It’s one of my favorite Frances Clarkisms. Pull out multiple scores and have students find instances where flats stay flat for the measure. Have them search the music with their eyes. Then, trying playing a measure of their piece and have them tell you if you missed any accidentals. Then, let them play it both ways: with accidentals that carry through the measure and without, listening for what makes the most musical sense.  Let them weigh in with an opinion on which they like better. Yes, all this takes more time in a lesson than simply telling them the rule. But giving my students breathing room to explore and internalize the concept the first time?  Ah. That’s good stuff. Does it mean I won’t ever have to remind them?  Of course not… but I will say, that is an example of a rule that I don’t find myself repeating that often anymore.

There are so many things that make sense to us because we’ve been doing them forever. We get in a hurry and think it’s sufficient to tell our students how these things work. More and more, I’m convinced the REAL work of teaching is learning to spot these moments in ourselves and giving ourselves permission to SLOW DOWN and build foundations thoroughly. It’s counter-cultural on pretty much every level, and that’s what makes it all the more important.

I hope I’ve inspired you today to embrace occasional single-agenda lesson plans. Or, at the very least, to rethink the immense amount of pressure we put on ourselves to accomplish ALL THE THINGS in every lesson, every day, of every week.

From the very earliest episodes of this podcast, I’ve suggested that students need THREE THINGS – and only three things – for a lesson to be successful. They need to leave the lesson feeling Capable, Accountable, and Invested-In.  The good news is, those three feelings have nothing to do with the number of plans we tackle on a given day. They have everything to do with our ability to read the room and do what needs doing to send our students off properly equipped and encouraged.

This feels like a good time for a toast, so grab the nearest beverage and raise it with me now:

Studio music teacher friends: Today we link arms and take a collective vow to SLOW DOWN. None of us need more hurry in our lives, and that ESPECIALLY applies to the magic of music lessons. This season, we’re taking back the power of PLAY and CURIOSITY and EXPLORATION, knowing that we are doing our jobs if our students are leaving us feeling Capable, Accountable, and Invested in. Are you with me?  I know you are, and I’m so glad.  Hear, Hear!

That’s all for Episode 278 friends!  A few quick things:  First of all, our November meeting of Teachers Teaching Teachers is coming up EARLY this month to avoid holiday conflicts. We’ll be meeting on Friday, November 13^th. This month, I’m highlighting a few anthologies of piano works by female composers. Publishing companies are (finally) getting on the ball and putting together BEAUTIFUL collections of works by women and I have four collections to show you so you can be better informed on what’s worth buying for your studio. That’s TTT this week.  If you’re interested in my Building Better Music Readers program, there WILL be a sale coming up in a week or two, so stay tuned for that.

Otherwise, I’ll be back in your ears next Monday!  Thanks again, friends. Ya’ll are THE BEST.  Onward and upward!