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Episode 222: Cheers to Proactive vs. Reactive Piano Teaching (with Janna Williamson)

Hello there, my teacher friends!  Christina Whitlock here, your host and self-appointed Anytime Piano Teacher Friend. Today, we continue our Summertime Conversation Series with the person I call my favorite Instagram find of all time: my friend, Janna Williamson.  Janna and I connected on Instagram many years ago, and her status has upgraded multiple times from online teacher friend to one of my very closest real life friends.  As far as piano teaching is concerned, Janna and I often feel as though we share a brain. It is quite rare that we don’t find ourselves lock-step in agreement with one another. In case you’re not familiar with her work, Janna Williamson teaches an exclusive student roster in the suburbs of Chicago and also shares her passion for Intermediate Piano Teaching on her YouTube channel.  Today, we’re discussing the differences between proactive and reactive piano teaching. This is a good one, friends.  Thanks for joining me today for my chat with today’s thought partner, Janna Williamson.

Before I share my conversation with Janna, I have to say this:  One of my primary goals as a piano teacher is to make sure my students don’t view their music-making as a thing to be corrected. Music is not a problem to be fixed.  I know I often view my own playing as a thing to be scrutinized and critiqued. That’s the result of a lifetime of reactive piano lessons: where my teachers, wonderful as they were, would use our lesson time to correct my playing. It’s how many of us view the piano lesson, right? Students bring us repertoire they’ve practiced (or not practiced), they play it for us, and we spend most of the lesson helping them play it better, right? Well, I’ve come to believe that – yes, that’s ONE PART of the lesson experience – but there’s a lot more that we can do PROACTIVELY to set our students up for success so they don’t have to come back to us feeling like music is an endless series of do’s and don’ts. It’s a delicate balance, right? Anyway… I had to get that off my chest. And now, I give you today’s conversation with the brilliant Janna Williamson. 😊

(Transcript for the conversation itself is currently unavailable. Both Spotify and Apple Podcasts currently transcribe episodes automatically, so you might try reading on the app of your choice)

Okay, friends: there is EXCITING STUFF on the horizon.  I really have two big announcements for you today.  First of all, as we revealed a few minutes ago, Janna and I are team-teaching a cohort this fall, focused on the intermediate stage of teaching. This is PERSONAL for me because I’m a byproduct of teachers who let me push my way through the intermediate stage into repertoire I was simply not ready for. It’s a part of my story with long-lasting impact. I get it; I was motivated and convincing… but I didn’t know what I was skipping over.  In hindsight, I needed teachers to take the reins and provide a foundation I’m STILL making up for well into adulthood. And – I need to say this – I had WONDERFUL teachers. Every teacher I’ve worked with has been a positive contributor to my musician self. But, we live and learn, right?  And because we are all out here trying to give the next generation what we didn’t have, I’m beyond excited to help other piano teachers learn how to effectively teach the Intermediate level. The link for the fall cohort is in today’s shownotes, or you can head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/cohort for all the details.

I mentioned there were TWO announcements, so here’s the second:  To kick off the coming school year, I’m sharing the debut of the full-length version of a presentation I’ve put together, called The Paradox of Play: Taking Fun Seriously.  Shoutout to teacher friend, Brian Gallagher, a consult client of mine, who was once lamenting all those piano parents who say, “I just want Johnny to have FUN when he’s practicing!” and Brian said, “Well I just want them to take their FUN SERIOUSLY!”. 😊

This session has plunged me DEEP into the research of the science of play, and I have to tell you: we get a lot of things wrong about PLAY in this society of ours. I think we all know we don’t PLAY enough in our world, but I think the bigger problem is that we don’t even understand what PLAY is.  Play is not void of effort, it’s NOT the opposite of WORK, it’s not without structure or rules, and it’s NOT just for children. All of this is GREAT NEWS for piano teachers, friends. As it turns out, piano study is pretty much one of the most ideal vehicles for PLAY in existence. And yet – most of us are not capitalizing on play nearly enough in our lessons.  I’m thrilled to report you CAN be a play-focused teacher and still maintain high expectations of your students.  Sigh. I could go on and on, but trust me: this research is FULL of great news for music teachers. I’m in the process of recording that session and putting some additional materials together and I’m going to release it all during a LIVE watch party on August 1^st.  If you want to get access to the live watch party AND the presale pricepoint, head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/paradox, or find the link in today’s shownotes.

Sorry to hit you with TWO salespitches here, friends. I don’t do that often, but I am more excited about these two offerings than I’ve been about ANYTHING else I’ve made for teachers to date. Head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/episode222 for all the details.

Onward and upward, my friends!