Episode 044: Cheers to the Relentless Defense of the Imagination

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Hello, teacher friends!  Christina Whitlock here, your Anytime Piano Teacher Friend.  Welcome to Episode 44 of the Beyond Measure Podcast.   Today, we’re keeping it short and sweet – and we’re talking frankly about imagination – and the responsibilities we have as teachers to encourage it.

A few months ago, I was driving my two girls and my youngest nephew somewhere.  At the time, they were ages 10, 5, and 4.  I was listening in to their conversation – because kid conversations are the absolute best – And there came a point they were debating the pros and cons of playgrounds vs. swimming pools.  So they were outlining all the reasons they loved swimming pools, and all the reasons they loved playgrounds… then they were trying to decide which one was better.  Super cute.  Anyway, then one of them suggested: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could combine the two?!  Like, have an underwater playground that you could play on while you were in the pool.  And maybe they would be built so your head would stay above water no matter what…”  And as I listened to them rattle on about underwater slides and swings and how much fun they would be… and then they asked me what I thought. 

My initial reaction, I’m sad to say, was to start telling them all the reasons an underwater playground wouldn’t work. When asked for my opinion, I came VERY close to just spouting off a list of my concerns:  how would you ensure proper building materials, what about tripping hazards, all kinds of safety issues… you get the idea.

But just as I started to voice my very grown-up opinion, it hit me:  Why on earth did I need to spoil this for them? Why can’t I just suggest they add an underground teeter-totter to the mix and call it a day?

The realization of how quickly I almost dumped my kill-joy realism on this silly little conversation really bothered me.  So much so, here I sit recording a podcast episode on the topic, months after the fact.

Here’s where I’m really struggle.  On principle, I feel like creativity ranks pretty high on my list of human priorities.  I would imagine lots of us feel that way. We are artists. Creating art is at the very core of who many of us are. If you would ask me how important I feel creativity is to the human soul – of ANY age – I would tell you it’s an essential element of our experience here on this planet.

We know creative efforts of those around us help get us through difficult times.  We know demonstrating the ability to develop creative solutions in the workplace is one of the most highly sought-after qualities in hiring new employees.  We know we feel better, more alive, when we are using our imagination. No one here will argue that imaginative play is one of the very best things for children to do.  Certainly not ME….

And yet, in this seemingly inconsequential moment, when faced with the notion of this make-believe underwater playground, my gut reaction – my STRONG gut reaction – was to be the nay-sayer.  To tell these children all the reasons their little plan wasn’t going to work out.

Man.  What a downer I am!

Fortunately, in that moment, I caught myself.  I didn’t necessarily add to the conversation; I just told them it was a fun idea, and… of course… they were on to the next thing.

But it made me wonder:  How many times DO I actually dismiss the imagination of children?

And, today, I’m asking you the same thing.

In the studio, are you ever guilty of sucking the joy out of something your student tells you, or an idea they have?  I know you would never do it on purpose… but it’s an important question that warrants a bit more examination.

What if a student tells you they really like a particular kind of music?  What if it’s a style of music that really rubs you the wrong way?  Do you roll your eyes?  Do you say, “REALLY?!” Maybe it’s a, “singer” who does little more than speak somewhat on pitch?  Maybe it’s a group you think is totally overrated and gets way too much attention?  What if it’s, I don’t know… Fur Elise, and the elitist inside of you wants to cry at the thought of anyone thinking that’s as good as it gets?

(Side note:  this is coming from a girl whose childhood self often proclaimed Canon in D to be the be-all-end-all of classical repertoire.  Thank goodness my teachers didn’t give up on me).  J

Here’s the deal:  When you’re dealing with children – and I’d actually include adults here as well – nothing they tell you is small.  It’s all a big deal to them, or they wouldn’t bother telling you.

The last thing we want to do is squelch their enthusiasm or their creativity on anything.  In fact, that’s why I’m titling this episode “The Relentless Defense of the Imagination”.  We – as music teachers – MUST do everything possible to keep our students dreaming… to keep them imagining… because that’s what fuels their ability to create new things and play with new perspectives.

I don’t think it comes as any surprise to say that music teachers have a long and storied history of actually squashing the natural creativity that comes with childhood.  Depending on your background, many of us experienced some pretty intense training… where we were taught hard-and-fast rules of what we could NEVER do…as well as what we HAD to do.

“Practicing” as we know it is often times so far removed from what we consider “playing our instrument”.  I used to roll my eyes during my degree studies when friends in other majors would comment things like, “It must be so great to get to spend your day playing piano”.  Ha!  I was working my brains out and felt constantly behind, constantly ill-equipped…. All those things…. But yes, I was spending my time playing the piano! J

So here’s the thing: many of us are trying – HARD – to rectify those old-school standards by teaching our students more functional skills by way of improvisation, composition, chording, whatever…

But the truth remains… there are a lot of music teachers who draw peculiar lines in the sand and warp our artform into anything BUT a creative one.  This is why we must be RELENTLESSLY DEFENSIVE of the imagination.

I had a bright student a few weeks ago, who was working out of the Piano Pronto Beethoven collection.  She had worked on arrangements of Rage Over a Lost Penny and Fur Elise, and she told me she wanted to combine them into a medley.  Now.  Let’s think on this. We’re moving from a quick piece in a major key, to a slower piece in a minor key. Different meters. Completely different affects.  We talked through these concerns, and I told her to take the week and explore it.  Why not?  And, you know what?  She actually came up with a really clever interlude that ended up working quite well.  Who knew? 

Now – I ask you this:  What would have happened if I let my scholarly music teacher hat on and told her how difficult – or impossible – that task was going to be? What if I had dismissed her idea altogether and laughed it off, saying, “that will never work”.  I would have completely robbed her of the exploratory experience.  And, she learned the challenges firsthand.  I call that winning.

So…

The next time a student comes in and wants to tell you a 3-minute story about the worm he saw on the sidewalk yesterday…. Listen attentively, then ask him what kind of sound that worm would make if he were crawling on the piano.  Would he like the high sounds, or the low sounds?  With that, you’ve got yourself a motive and can begin a composition project.  AND, even better, you’ve validated their worth by placing value on what they chose to tell you.  Relentless defense of imagination.

The next time a student brings you an arrangement of video game music that is WAY too hard, and their left hand stands no chance of managing those sweeping, arpeggiated basslines just yet, say, “Well, let’s see what we can do to make this more accessible”, and see what happens if the left hand only plays the downbeats of each measure.  Relentless defense of imagination.

The next time a student wants to play the ending of their piece fortissimo, rather than the pianissimo indicated… let them do it a few times to get it out of their system.  Then run a compare and contrast, and ask them why they think the composer made the choice they did.  Relentless defense of imagination.

The next time a student comes in and apologizes for not practicing because they had four soccer games that week, ask them how they did.  Okay, maybe that one doesn’t have anything to do with creativity, but it’s just decent human interaction.  Kids are prone to feeling guilty more than you may realize.  Letting them know you support them in all their endeavors will go SO MUCH FURTHER than trying to guilt them into practicing more.  That’s a bonus tip for you today.  J

And, before I veer too far off track here, let’s offer up a toast today to the Relentless Defense of the Imagination.

Music teacher friends of the world, today we re-commit to the relentless defense of the imagination.  Let us never lose sight of the word PLAY when we talk about playing our instrument.  May we give our students CHOICES in their tempo selection.  May we let them play that popular piece they love in the recital – whether we like it or not. Let’s let them swing those eighth notes, just a couple of times, even if they’re not supposed to. Let’s listen to their dreams, and validate their feelings and their ideas and their concerns. Let’s keep our students creating.  What’s that famous quote from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?  “We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams”.  Not some of us, but all of us.  Cheers to the imagination, my friends.  Here, here.

Thanks for listening to episode 44 of the Beyond Measure Podcast!  We are now two weeks away from my one-year anniversary of launching this podcast.  It’s giving me all the feels because you have blessed me with such abundance this past year.  I’m sure we’ll think of a way to celebrate! In the meantime, keep sharing this podcast with your teacher friends because I can’t help but think there are even more teachers out there who could use an Anytime Teacher Friend.  Find me on Facebook and Instagram at Beyond Measure Podcast, and feel free to email me at [email protected].  Thanks so much, friends!  Until next week, let’s work hard, rest well, and be nice.