I just finished reading Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Steyngart. It is a 1984ish, satirical picture of what can happen when all of our information is distributed through social media. The hero actually reads books–old ones, and they smell! His love has never read a book and communicates mostly in four letter word laced text-speak. Society is shallow and well rounded education mostly a thing of the past.

Go Play! Motivating the New Generation of Pianists by Catherine Shefski gives all of us in the music teaching community similar food for thought. What kind of students are we teaching? Are they consumers or creators? Connected or isolated? Is the ability to play that Beethoven Sonata or Bach Prelude and Fugue the ultimate goal of study? What does it mean to be successful as a musician?

Ms. Shefski states that today’s student’s “live in a world where instant feedback is the norm and access to information has replaced sequential learning” and learners find boredom unbearable without some control over their own learning. Today’s “New Piano Teacher” motivates students through providing the tools of pianism and then “moves in a parallel rather than step-by-step fashion.”

There are some super examples of how to engage your students in this book. One of my favorites was the suggestion to encourage a student who loved alternative rock to create a rock version of a Chopin Nocturne. I actually do similar things with my private and class students. Private students sequence and digitally notate pieces and compositions. Those who participate in yearly theory evaluations send student created & corrected weekly quizzes back and forth via email. In the piano lab, composing, improvising, using Finale, and sequencing on a keyboard are included in major and non major piano classes. Some students fight the use of technology and some students embrace it–same with parents.

I remember years ago when on board sequencers were first introduced, I was teaching a young girl who was studying a Beethoven sonatina. We used about half of our lesson time for a month to sequence two versions–traditional orchestral and rock and roll. She absolutely loved it and learned a lot in the process. Unfortunately, her father, who was a professor of musicology, did not think it was fun, humorous, or at all worthwhile.

I don’t think Ms. Shefski is advocating that we should abandon giving students a fine musical background. I think she wants us to consider the sequencing of that background and connect it into what students do in their everyday lives. I don’t think she is advocating we raise a generation of musical illiterates who create sonic mud pies and expect to be praised for their creations as though they were 6 years old. I think she wants us to use technology to connect learning experiences in a global manner.

About a third of my students are not digitally immersed or particularly tech saavy. Some do not have internet at home and access it only at school or at the public library. Some simply are from families who do not place a high value on technology or who control access in order to create a balanced lifestyle or insure internet safety. Most of them are not easily frustrated by the need to work at something for some time if we keep the goals for each week attainable so they can see positive results from their practice.

The real issue here, as I see it, is that we are in transition. Right now there is a glorious mix of those who learn best with technology and those who learn best in more traditional ways. For those tech savvy students who need constant feedback and more instant gratification, Go Play! has the inspiration a teacher needs to adapt to this new style of learning–to be “Today’s New Piano Teacher”. For those who are more traditional in their learning preferences, the ideas and tips in the book can be used to help a teacher introduce technologically based activities and create an environment for more well rounded learning.

Am I “Today’s New Piano Teacher?” Sometimes–sometimes not. And yes, I am OK with that.

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