Relaxed, but challenging - The ideal teaching method?

[virtuoso80]

I will start off by saying that I don't KNOW what the best teaching method is, or even if there is one. But in my experience, the one that works best for me as a student, and the one I strive for as a teacher could be described as 'Relaxed, but challenging'.

I find most students are stressed and critical enough without you adding to it. Piano is a stressful, discouraging thing on it's own  - trying to get all parts of your mind to function simultaneously, while remembering dozens of things you need to correct is enough to make anyone throw their hands up and want to quit.

I once had a foreign language teacher who was as laid back as could be - he generally came in 10 minutes late, brought his dog to class, made it clear you didn't have to worry about grades, etc. But he was effective, partially because he used the relaxed environment to put you through the ringer without stressing you out excessively. For example, he would make us come up in front of the class and speak, and every time we got something wrong, even the most minor inflection, we had to start at the beginning. It was torture, but torture we all laughed about and had fun with, because it was kept light so there was no pressure beyond that inherent in the challenge.

Similarly, if a student is having trouble slowing down to get scales right, I might say, "okay, here's the deal: I want you to play that scale 5x in a row without a single mistake. Make a mistake, and we go back to the beginning and have to start all over again." With an authoritarian, this could be a terrifying prospect, but I pride myself on the fact that I can have the kid smiling and laughing when he makes that mistake.

Is there any reason to do otherwise? I don't ask rhetorically - is there anyone here who thinks that getting to really high levels with piano requires pressure and stress to be put on the student? Or conversely, that there's no need for that kind of 'challenge'? I'm curious to hear some other teaching philosophies.

[lostinidlewonder]

Everyone is different, the best teaching method is what works best for the student.

I do play this game with students (mostly the younger ones), asking them to prove to me they can play a phrase or little part a few times in a row without mistake. If you do a mistake you have to start again. I sometimes try to pressure them in jest "Ooooo come on this is the last repeat don't make a mistake or you'll have to start all over again." It is a fun game to play. I also challenge young students sometimes who don't like to repeat "I bet you can't repeat this part 3 times in a row without mistake, it's too hard for you." If they do a mistake its ok, its like a game "awww nooo you made that small mistake, start again!" and if they really resist repeating I'll challenge them again "this is really too hard for you!" If they complete the task it I express my amazement and commend them, I also suggest that this is a good game they can play with themselves when practicing alone.

Of course it is the tone of what you say that is important, it is hard to present that tone of voice in written words. If you can make it feel like a relaxed challenge it can often help students focus and get the job done.

[topiya]

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[topiya]

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[bernadette60614]

I'd agree...and not only teaching piano, but teaching any subject.

I think of teaching a subject as being a form of parenting.  A wholly indulgent parent will raise an adults who has no self-discipline. A wholly authoritarian (sp?) parent will raise a child who may be accomplished on the surface but joyless in so many ways.

I think that there are a lot of reasons why playing an instrument has declined...and not the least of which is that teachers believe that if a student is terrified they aren't teaching effectively.

[virtuoso80]

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[keypeg]

I think that there are a lot of reasons why playing an instrument has declined...and not the least of which is that teachers believe that if a student is terrified they aren't teaching effectively.

Actually, if a teacher feels a need to terrify a student, then chances are that the teacher doesn't know what he or she is doing and so resorts to shouting, threats, rapping knuckles with rulers etc.  Instead of knowing how to effectively impart a skill, have a temper tantrum.  If you are sarcastic enough, understanding will come, right?

Is it actually a fact that playing instruments has declined?  I think that in the past less people had the opportunity, and those who did take lessons and had mediocre teaching would be convinced that the problem lay in themselves because everybody was isolated.  I had piano lessons for 6 months as a teen until the teacher had a baby.  She cooked in the kitchen while I played.  Thirty years later I learned how key signatures worked.  I didn't know there was such a thing as proper bench height, or that such a thing as technique existed - nothing at all.  In modern times the Internet would have soon set me (and my parents) straight.

I have heard from a few people who play well.  All of their teachers knew how to impart skills, saw their students' strengths and weaknesses, and worked with them.  I don't remember a single one of these people say their good playing came from being terrified.  Though a couple did talk about ineffective teachers in between who berated them when they struggled - fortunately made up by the better teachers before or after.