At dinner the other night, my friend Ann told me how impressed she had been with her Granddaughter’s piano hands during a Skype call that morning. Later in the day, when a young student’s technique was all over the place, Ann asked, “Gee, would you like to meet another pianist your age?” They Skyped her Granddaughter and the two of them played for each other. The young student was totally inspired.

Recently, I read an article on Edutopia entitled Active Learning Means Using the Body.  Ben Johnson talked about the body as an extension of the brain and active learning where students use their bodies to figure things out. “Students who struggle can get a clue by simply looking around and seeing what other students are doing.”

During Studio Classes, I often witness a student giving advice to another about something we worked on at their lesson. Sometimes it concerns something that the person has worked hard on and conquered. Other times, I am overjoyed to hear that they understand a concept because I have been attempting to help the student hear a particular problem in their own playing for a while with little success.

I learn a lot about my students by watching them play—during lessons and in performance. I can see where they are unsure about musical or technical issues. I sometimes notice shame when things don’t go as planned and know that we have some serious work to do on the non-musical side of things. I watch them bravely pull back from old habits which suddenly appear. I see obvious understanding of the character and structure of the music in their faces and bodies. I witness joy.

 

 

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