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Episode 229: Cheers to The Real Role of Practice in Lessons

Well, hello there, studio music teacher friends! Welcome to the Beyond Measure Podcast. Christina Whitlock here: your voice of experience and self-appointed Anytime Piano Teacher Friend.  We’re taking a few weeks here on the podcast to examine things that distract us from doing our best work. Last week we talked about the trappings of business and marketing, and I have another zinger ready for you today.

Before we go any further, I just want to give a big hearty thank you to members of my SuperFriends Community on Patreon. They are truly the backbone of this operation. This show does not just happen. The camaraderie and support I receive from those SuperFriends is essential to getting my work published each week. I know we all love podcasts because they’re free, but this is me encouraging you find ways to support the free ideas you consume. For me, that’s joining the SuperFriends community, even just for a month or two, to see what it’s all about.

Check out the link in today’s shownotes or head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/support for all the info.  Alright, friends: Let’s get on with the show!  This is episode 229 of the Beyond Measure Podcast.

Over the summer, I had the great fortune to attend the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, also known as NCKP.  If you’re not aware, this year’s conference was different than in the past because it opened with an entire day of roundtable discussions.  This was a whole day dedicated to talking shop with other teachers; talking specifically about the future of our profession.  Woah. That was totally my element. It was all the things I love to think about in the cracks of my everyday life, but instead of little thoughts here and there, I had an entire day devoted to hashing out my ideas with other teachers. It was a dream come true. If you were there, you know it was an EXHAUSTING day, but I took away a lot of meaningful thoughts and new connections.

Something interesting struck me at the very start of that day… and then I kept noticing it throughout the rest of the conference.  It seems ANY TIME piano teachers are asked about the biggest pain point in their studio, there is one answer you can count on hearing.  This about it: if you were asked, “What is the biggest problem you face as a piano teacher?” there is one thing it seems like most teachers say. Are you thinking the same thing?  It’s, “My students don’t practice enough”.

And after talking with teacher after teacher that week at NCKP, it became obvious there is a prevailing belief that – if students would just practice more – our Teacher Worries would be alleviated.

Make no mistake about it, I AGREE. Of COURSE I would love my students to practice more.  Students today ARE overscheduled and easily distracted…and YES, they would move further faster if they spent more time at their instruments throughout the week.

…but as we continue this series on the podcast examining things that distract us from doing our best work, I can’t help but think we get hung up on this practice issue and it keeps us from digging deeper.

To me, the practice problem is sort of the lowest-hanging fruit we can pick. It’s the easy complaint. The most obvious excuse for why our students aren’t better musicians.

And, it might be true. When it comes to slow progress, lack of practice at home very well might be the biggest contributing factor.

The problem is, it’s easy for us as teachers to stop there. To say CLEARLY practice is the problem. Full stop. There’s nothing I can do for this kid until they start practicing more.

And THAT – the PRACTICE problem – becomes a distraction from what we, as teachers, can do.

I’m forever reminding you here to keep perspective on the things you have control over and the things you don’t.  It’s important to remember we cannot control what happens in a student’s home outside of their lesson time.  We get them for 30/45/whatever minutes a week and THAT’S what we have control of.

In letting ourselves blame that outside practice time, we let ourselves off the hook for the things WE are actually responsible for.

You know the classic breakup line of, “It’s not you, it’s me?” well, blaming practice time is the opposite, “it’s not me, it’s you.”

AND THAT MIGHT BE TRUE.  Please do not think I’m over here trying to pile more guilt on your plate. We do enough of that ourselves. I also don’t want us to throw our hands up in the air and spend the rest of our careers miserable because our students aren’t practicing and we don’t think there’s anything else we can do.

So, friends, today I’m suggesting IN LOVE that we stop being so quick to dismiss our role in student progress. I don’t want lack of practice to distract us from the things we CAN do during the lesson.

We will continue to encourage practice at home. That means setting expectations and communicating them frequently. It means making sure our students know what practice ACTUALLY looks like. It means providing them with achievable goals and make sure they leave their lessons feeling capable and accountable. Those are all things that fall on us and directly set our students up for success.

But let’s talk about what we can do BEYOND those things.

I’ve talked about practice several times on this podcast. Two of those episodes consistently rank in my top 5 downloads of all time.  Those will be linked in the shownotes for today’s episode because – even though they’re a few years old at this point – they are still great listens, or even re-listens.

Episode 051 is My Practice Manifesto, currently the third most downloaded episode of Beyond Measure. In that episode, I challenge this contradiction I see in our profession. We are often the first people to claim music study is good for everyone, yet we also only want to cater to students who have support systems in place to make practice a consistent part of their week. That, to me, is a conflict. I struggle with the idea that piano study only benefits those with a very specific kind of practice routine when we know everything we know about the benefits of studying music.

Episode 052, currently the fifth most downloaded episode, is titled Navigating a Lesson When Your Student Hasn’t Practiced.  It takes a more detailed look on how to structure your lessons so they’re not entirely dependent on what your student did at home that week.

And therein lies the crux of the whole thing, friends:

A lot of us operate our studios on this mutual expectation that, if a student does their work at home, we will do our part during the lesson.  When they’re not holding up their end of the bargain, we can’t hold ours, right? Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, that’s the dynamic of a lot of studios. We can’t do our work unless students practice. Or bring their books. Or learn their flashcards. Or whatever.

A lot of us DO put qualifiers on this teacher-student relationship. Spoken or otherwise.

That sounds fine on the surface. It makes sense. After all, I’m all about the symbiotic studio relationships, right? We are good for our students and they are good for us. Both are true and both should be acknowledged.

Well, that symbiotic dynamic works in terms of mutual respect and admiration. I’m all for that. I love my students and they love me. Ideally, there’s a clear balance there.

At the same time, the actual leadership of the lesson is up to you. So I don’t think this, “I’ll do my job as long as you do X, Y, or Z” thing is actually the way the works.

Here’s what I really think: I think our job is EASIEST when students practice.  I think our job is MOST OBVIOUS when students practice.

Students who complete their practice assignments fit nicely into our plans. They follow the “ideal” path.

These students allow us to teach what we know in the beautiful sequence we learned it in.

In short, it keeps us in our comfort zone.

If a student comes to their lesson ready to pass their piece… or start the next section, our next steps are simple. We can continue to do our most obvious work.

The thing no one says out loud is this: when a student DOESN’T complete their practice assignments, we have more decisions to make. It’s additional mental labor for us.

We all know; there are SO MANY DECISIONS to make as a piano teacher. We’re choosing what repertoire to play… what kind and how much and how far they’re working this week. We are constantly deciding how far to push and when to back off.  We have to decide what matters in this moment and what we can circle back to later. What concepts to introduce and when…. The decisions are never-ending.

Again, this is the unnamed work of teaching. It’s a lot. So when we have to add MORE layers to the situation… like, what words do I need to repeat from last week? What has my student retained? What do I need to communicate differently? What is my student trying to tell me through their body language? Are my expectations reasonable?

All of those thoughts, plus your very reasonable human reactions to, “ugh. I’m so tired of saying this same thing over and over again.” or, “I am SO ANNOYED. Why isn’t this person following directions?!”

That’s A LOT, friends. And it’s important we name it so we can deal with it instead of letting it fester in the backs of our minds.

Here’s the change-up I suggest: Instead of this approach to lessons of, I’ll-do-my-part-as-long-as-you-do-yours, I recommend getting CRYSTAL CLEAR on your goals for each student.

I’m big on naming objectives. You probably know this by now.

But our primary goals for our students shouldn’t be “to pass level 2B”.  I mean, it could be… but what does level 2B mean?  What skills are required of them in level 2B? And how can you assess whether they are confident with those skills or not?  Because… I hate to break it to you, but playing 2-3 pieces in their method book using a particular concept does NOT mean they fully grasp the concept.

The idea of (quote) “passing” pieces is a modern day construct that – if we’re not careful – gives ALL PARTIES INVOLVED a false impression of understanding. For better or worse.

I’m not against passing pieces… I just don’t allow that to dictate mastery of a concept.

I have one student in particular. He’s a high school boy. Enough said, right? 😊 He is a BRLLIANT musician. He listens to every kind of music imaginable; I really admire his knowledge of what’s out there. He’s introduced me to some really cool recordings. He’s got an incredible ear… and he has a very unique brain. He also doesn’t finish a lot of pieces. I’ve ripped my hair out over this many times over our 9 years together. There’s something within his quirky brain that, once he gets something, it’s very hard for him to keep working at it. He needs to jump to the next thing. There are exceptions, of course, but I used to get really tripped up on the fact that we couldn’t say he mastered 30 pieces this semester, or whatever. Likewise, his parents would be concerned. Shouldn’t he be ABLE to play every piece in his literature book straight through? Especially since we all know how off-the-charts brilliant this guy is?

It’s really been a great case study for me to know what it means to teach the piano, rather than teach the repertoire.

The truth is, he can play the piano very well. He understands theoretical concepts and can put them into action – that’s a big deal. If he’s interested in something, sure… he’ll play the entire thing.  But I’m here to tell you: If I would have dug my heels in (as I’ve done with plenty of students) and said “we’re not doing anything else until you learn this piece from start to finish!” I would have lost him years ago, and he would not have the skillsets he has today.

It’s MUCH MORE IMPORTANT to make sure our students are armed with working understandings of concepts so they can apply those skills to the things that interest them.

And, yes, one of the primary ways we develop those skills is through repertoire. It’s just a matter of keeping your eye on what REALLY matters.

So, let’s say you’re working a student through level 2B in Faber’s Piano Adventures. Can you name the primary goals of that level?  If you’re working students through it, you should be able to.

For now, let me help you out: the Piano Adventures website says, “The four core Level 2B Books present one-octave scales in the keys of C, G, and F major. Crossing the thumb under allows quick travel up and down the keys. I, IV, and V7 chords offer new opportunities to transpose, harmonize, and compose. Artistry is enhanced with connected pedaling and students play timeless themes of Bach, Beethoven, and Dvořák, as well as spirituals and jazzy pieces.”

So, okay… the primary takeaways of level 2B center on playing in the keys of C, G, and F major… including scales and primary chords… as well as transposition and advancing pedal skills.

If your student comes to their lesson and can’t fluidly make it through Beach Party and Riding the Wind, there are plenty of other things you can do besides repeat everything from last week’s lesson. There are 8 million ways we can drill primary chords and check in on scale fingerings and run pedal drills.

Here’s the big takeaway, friends: When repertoire is stuck because of lack of practice, I spend the lesson hunkering down on concepts. Because that’s really what we’re trying to teach, right?  We teach concepts THROUGH repertoire.  But repertoire is not the only way to teach.

And I can only drill concepts because I’ve DEFINED THE OBJECTIVES my students are currently working on. I have a plan for what I want them to learn.

It’s also worth noting, your method series of choice does not solely dictate your student objectives.  Far from it… but they should be PART of the way you’re supporting the objectives. Otherwise, why would you be using them?

Remember: You know ALL KINDS OF THINGS your students don’t know about playing your instrument. The success of their lesson is not determined by what they do at home. I PROMISE you can show them something new or introduce them to something they’ve never experienced before.  And doing so will render the lesson a success.

I’m not saying you should stop expecting students to practice. ABSOLUTELY NOT. But I *am* hoping you will realize that sometimes we default to lackluster teaching because we are presented with circumstances that require us to dig a little deeper.

It’s worth noting: the larger your studio is? The more challenging this is to do because your mental resources are stretched so thin. This is reason 712 I am NOT a fan of teaching a giant student load anymore. Teaching enormous rosters of students makes it harder for you to plan personalized objectives and concept goals. It makes it easier to fall into default lesson plans and that you-do-your-job-and-then-I’ll-do-mine perspective.

Each student comes with their own amount of emotional labor. And when we get tapped out, we default to the easiest excuses… like, “my students don’t practice enough”.

Phew! Okay – have I given you enough to think about today?  I hope so.

Next week we will continue our look at the things that distract us from doing our best work. Just like last week’s chat about business and marketing, today’s thoughts on PRACTICE are designed to help you keep these things in a healthy perspective. OF COURSE business and marketing practices matter for our studio work. And YES, practice expectations matter, too.

I simply want to shine a spotlight on the fact that we let these things take up more space in our minds than they deserve… and I want to help you find a better way. Better for you AND better for the students you serve.

So, on that note, let’s grab our nearest glass and wrap up with a toast!

Studio music teacher friends from all around the world: Today we release a collective SIGH over our frustrations with lack of practice. We acknowledge the multiple challenges this brings to our lives, and we take comfort in knowing there are teachers ALL over the world wringing their hands alongside us.  Even still, let’s move forward with renewed commitment to setting more objectives, and being creative in the ways we drill concepts OUTSIDE of repertoire. After all, we’re teaching more than repertoire here. Our work is important on many levels and we can’t afford to get distracted by things beyond our control. My glass is raised, friends: hear, hear.

Thanks for hanging with me while I tackle a BIG topic here, friends! I always end these episodes thinking, “but I have so much more to SAY!”  If you want to be part of ongoing conversations like this one, members of my SuperFriends Community have the opportunity to gather and learn together every month. Our next session is coming up on Friday, August 29^th.  We’ll be answering each other’s questions AND examining pedagogical opportunities and strategies in Chee-Hwa Tan’s collection, Circus Sonatinas. If you love learning about new repertoire, talking shop with other teachers, or hearing deeper dives than you get in 20 weekly minutes with me here, I hope you’ll consider joining the Superfriends Community on Patreon.  Membership is currently just $6/month, which is kind of ridiculous, honestly. I’m leaving it low as long as I can afford to in hopes of serving more of you. The more people who join, the longer that pricepoint will hold. It’s just one more reason we are better together, friends.

Alright; I’ll be back in your ears next week!  In the meantime, take great care of yourselves!  Onward and upward we go!