Teaching To The Test: A Rant

One of my adult students, whose grandchildren are taking piano lessons, came to me with concerns that the children were not doing anything in their lessons that wasn’t a part of their end of year evaluations. She felt that they were being straight jacketed and missing out on joy, discovery, and creativity—on the play of playing piano.

My brother called me because he felt a friend of his had the wrong teacher. This friend is in his sixties and has come back to lessons since he retired. His teacher has him playing practically nothing until he can write out all his scales and basic theory. My brother said that would be fine if his friend was planning on going to music school 10 years from now. Good for him, but I’m afraid that bit of dry humor may have gone right over his friend’s head.

These are both examples of the mentality that if you can pass the test, you are some kind of expert. But this is false and goes against every lesson that music should be teaching. It also shows some impressive ignorance on the part of the test passer proponents.

First of all, tests evaluate the bare minimum that you need to function. Is that what we want for ourselves? Really? Secondly, music is about lifelong learning and the pursuit of that which is way beyond skills and facts. Music study is not about reciting an epic poem by rote. It is about problem solving, emotional intelligence, and discovering connections to all that is now and has been a part of being human.

Thirdly and lastly, anyone who is retired can play what they want and study what they want whenever they want, period. There are ways to bring theory into a lesson that don’t involve drudgery.

Teaching is about balance. The right thing at the right time. The right thing for the right person. There is no one size fits all. Just because something isn’t on a test or a worksheet does not mean it might not be the most important, most special something a person has ever done. It just might help them make a huge leap in understanding and becoming the unique person that they are—at age 10 or 60.

I was listening to an AltonBrowncast recently in which Alton told George Peterson that making vinegar was a metaphor for George’s business plan. That you must get an idea, allow it to ferment, and then make it part of who you are. Bingo!