Student reluctant to explore beyond lesson books

[quantum]

I have a Grade 8 RCM transfer student.  We are still in the process of selecting pieces.  She wants to only work from the RCM lesson books, and hesitates to buy supplements to them.  I teach her along with her cousins at the cousins house.   

I would like to introduce her to the Bach inventions (the grade book only has one included), plus she has never played Chopin so I suggesed a Waltz. 

She said she's hasn't heard the inventions, so I suggest a couple recordings she can look for in the library.  She has this look on her face and says she would rather just use the accompaning RCM grade book CD's the cousins own. 

She's in Grade 11 at school, so probably around 16 yrs old.  She does plan on going post-secondary, but it seems her willingness to find external resources is not much (she has never even been to the city reference library - you'd kind of think she would need to do so for school projects).

Anything I can do to convice her otherwise?

[amanfang]

What kind of music does she like?  Can you bring your own cd's or maybe bring your own music and play something at the lesson and get her excited about it?  If you can spark her interest through your excitement, maybe she'd more open to trying something else.  If she's never been to a library before, the prospect of her looking for anything on her own is pretty slim.

[quantum]

Well I brought my own Chopin Waltz book and played the ones listed for Grade 8, I also brought my Invention book and played excerpts.  She took a liking to the Op 69/1 Waltz, but then was hesitant to go out and get the music. 

Her response was, "maybe I can do something from my RCM grade book".   

I suggested for her go borrow the Angela Hewitt or Glenn Gould recordings of Bach, again she was hesitant. 

What has me perplexed is that a student of such age that wants to study post-secondary, is so reluctant to go out and get readily available materials.  I mean she will need these research skills outside of piano as well. 

I'm trying to get her creative juices flowing, but it seems she wants to restrict herself.  Maybe I'll suggest she go out and find a "fun piece".  Doesn't have to be classical. 

[leucippus]

Anything I can do to convice her otherwise?

I'm not sure that you should try to convince her otherwise.

You made your suggestion.  She said she'd rather stick with her RCM program.

I would just go with what she wants to do at this point.

She obviously has a program and would like to finish it.  Nothing wrong with that.

If you're her piano teacher it's not your responsibility to do anything more than teach her piano lessons.  If she already has a program that she'd like to finish, then why not just help her finish it?

I'm not convinced that knocking her off track from what she wants to do is necessarily a good idea.  What you see as being "creative" she may perceive as being side-tracked from the original goal that she is working toward.

Everyone's perceptions are different.  She seems to know what she wants to do.  It's not like she's being indecisive.

[pianistimo]

i was similarly uninclined towards bach and chopin at first.  it seems that your last idea may get her more motivated right now.  to pick something she likes and seems interested in.  though, my own teacher actually purchased something for me at that age.  he bought me a recording of glen goulds 24 preludes and fugues.  at the time, i knew it was special, but hardly listened to it.  now it is probably worth a lot!  over time, the appreciation value goes up.  wait for sales at barnes and noble (or those discount cards) and just purchase something for her when you can.  you can even make it part of your own library - and loan it out for a week and then say that you would like to loan it to other students - so to take good care. 

my last teacher let me borrow a scarlatti cd, and a video of murray perahia.  even in college, we are sometimes unable to know what to pick.  i always watch pbs musical events - but live is much better for a young person. tell the parents when a pianist is coming to town and that you want to bring 5-6 students to a concert together.  they should be willing to pay for the tickets, imo, for each of their students. 

i'm thinking, too, that it might be a nice thing to just drive 3-4 students to your favorite music store or library and show them the items that are available.  what if...what if students had a music 'registry' and parents, friends of parents, and friends of the student could purchase these as holiday gifts?  they'd be a list of sorts - printed out with boxes checked as to what they really want (cd, sheet music - and where to order).  just an idea.

[quantum]

Great ideas there.  We have a program in our city where anyone 15 - 29 can see regular season concert by the symphony orchestra for $12.  And these are the $60 and $90 seats that you get. 

She has a goal to finsish Grade 8 in order to get the bonus high school credits.  I let her know there are many more selections you can play on the exam than just what is in the grade books.  I showed her the syllabus. 

It seems more from her comments that she is in piano more to "get the grades done".  Even if my students don't want to continue beyond a certain grade, I'd like them to come away with some knowledge they can use the rest of their life.  Like learning where to find music for nothing more than personal enjoyment.

Is there such a thing as being so goal oriented, that the reason for the goal is forgot?

[lostinidlewonder]

I think I have been fortunate not to encounter a student who treats the music set in the examination books as the holy bible. All of mine are extremely happy to work on music outside of the syllabus simply because there is so much better music out there than what the association chooses.

There are examination bodies which allows flexibility in piece selection and how you are examined. Trinity College for example, www.trinitycollege.co.uk, options might include improvisation tests reather than traditional aural tests, to play a scale study instead of traditional scales or even own composition in place of one of the syllabus pieces.

I don't think students learn music just to get to a certain grade, they must find some enjoyment in producing the music, the must find some enjoyment seeing the reaction of people that listen to them play (if they play well that is ).

I dont think there is no such thing as being goal oriented such that the meaning behind attaining something is lost (Perhaps the meaning can change though). The meaning behind why you want to learn something provides vital fuel for inspiration to pursue the goal. To just say I want a piece of paper which says I completed all grades of music is just a robot attitude. Perhaps there are some people like this, they would be quite plain people I think, afraid to express their real feelings.

[pianistimo]

some girls/and guys are perfection oriented.  they have to have everything 'right' and they know how much time it takes to get this or that - plus do schoolwork - sports, etc.  some teens are so busy that they want to make sure they have 'free time' as well.  she's probably one of those organized people.  but, she's sure to appreciate the value of music more and more with your help.  going to concerts is a way to relax that doesn't put pressure on her - and still promotes musicality. maybe she needs that.  maybe her home life is stressful.  maybe finding practice time is stressful. 

[hyrst]

Hi
If you try too hard at persuading her to do other things, you will quite possibly end up with resistance in other areas.  I would point out to her that a proper music education requires diversity as well as mastering the exam pieces, and explain your point of view - but don't push it. 

However, I would double check why she is refusing to extend herself.  It might be that she feels she has anough to contend with at school - she's at that age when school becomes very demanding - on the edge of future careers, doors closing, etc.  Perhpas she feels she ahs more than enough to cope with, and at this point in time trying to persuade her to do other things will only add pressure.  I would get her to agree to extend her self in the future, when the pressure is off. 

Yet, there could be other reasons why she is refusing, and that she might be embarrassed about.  I would carefully ask her or observe her.  Maybe she is a poor sight-reader and the idea of learning more pieces than she must is intimidating.  Perhaps her family has financial problems or are otherwise unwilling or unable to spend additional money on resources.  Perhaps she is not really interested in music, but believes the achievement woudl look good on her resume, or she is being made to learn.

Instead of trying to get her to see your view, however balanced it is, try and understand hers.  People can't be convinced about something if they don't want to be!   

Maybe, to enrich her music education, you could have her listening to recordings of other pieces by the composers she is playing for the exams - so she can understand their style, etc - rather than introducing her to unrelated composers.  That way, you can justify your insistence as part of the necessary development to pass the exams.

Still, there is no point in investing more energy into her education than she is willing to receive and use.  Even though we loathe to do such things, sometimes we have to back off and let people learn form their own mistakes. 

Good luck
Annah

[Bob]

If she's paying you, I would ultimately go with what she wants.

I would get her to try some other materials that is still RCM but not in her book.

And then focus on enjoying the music.  Find the one piece she likes that isn't on the list at all.

I would emphasize that you want her to play a variety of styles of music.  (assuming you do)  Because of that I would have her do a little Bach at least.  Whether she's heard of it or not, it's too major to skip.  She doesn't have to love it, but she does have to know it exists.

Maybe there's another anthology that has some RCM stuff and some pieces that aren't on the list. 

[penguinlover]

You mentioned that she seemed interested in the extra music, but you couldn't get her to go to the store and buy it.  Possibly there are underlying reasons for that.  Maybe her family just can't afford anything more than lessons and she doesn't want to tell you.  My family couldn't afford much music for me, so I learned what I had.  In college I was hesitant to buy anything extra that wasn't in the required books.  Maybe transportation is a problem.  Who knows?  Ask her.