Challenge with Groundhog Day Scenario

[bwl_13]

I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a piano teacher. I have a few students that I teach weekly since I'm looking into it and have a passion for teaching things I find interesting. I'm still pretty young and inexperienced, but I teach casual beginners looking for a new hobby. I'm looking advice here about a student and any others I might end up in a similar boat with. Here's the situation.

I started teaching this student around February. They were 8 but now they're 9. They came to me through my previous teacher since her studio was full after the student had been studying with my teacher's friend for about 8 months prior. The student came to me with a beginner method book. I was told they don't practice much and are very chatty, normally spending a few weeks on one of the "pieces" from the book. We worked through the book for a month or two The student would only play at lessons and never at home. I know that they have a keyboard, although it's a pretty small one. One lesson in which the student expressed to me how boring they're finding the material. I didn't blame them, since the music there was basically just patterns and the melodies were so simple they bordered on just playing pentatonic scales in one hand in quarter notes. The student said they aren't enjoying piano and find it too boring. I figured out a popular song that the student selected and I wrote a very simple arrangement of it, adding in some chord names so I can play along to make things more engaging. The student was overjoyed and said they would practice now that they're playing something enjoyable. However, we're now in June and are still working through the first 2 bars. The arrangement is only for the melody and the chords were only written to be added. It is not too difficult for the student, after a try or two they almost always get it, but they can't stay focused and lessons often end up with a large portion dedicated to chitchat while I try to redirect back to playing. The student still doesn't practice and every lesson feels the same. We start going through the arrangement, reworking the stuff we figured out last week. Progress is technically present, but lack of any contact with a piano between lessons means it's at such a slow rate that the student is getting bored with playing the song. I guess my question is, how do you get a student like this motivated to practice?

The father, who is present at lessons, asked me near the beginning whether the child is progressing adequately or if they just lack a "talent" for music. I told him that his child is capable, but most piano progress happens at home. His child also believes that piano is just too hard, but I think that's more to do with patience since the moment there's a mistake the child gets upset with themselves. I'm encouraging and don't get upset or impatient. I'm just starting to feel that teaching the same lesson over and over again is getting tiring. I feel like I've tried everything but the student just will not practice.

This post is partially a vent, but mostly seeking advice. I want to see this student develop and I feel as though I've failed as a teacher. Please let me know your thoughts.


I'll also add that the father seems frustrated with his child for the lack of practicing and every week seems visibly deflated in his attitude from when he first comes in to stay for the lesson.

[lostinidlewonder]

Do easier pieces, something that they can solve practically immediately. This is the number one solution.  If they struggle to read then you need to give pieces with just finger numbers with given positions. If they struggle to practice then they must do content which they can do very easily. Humans generally enjoy doing thing they can manage with ease. You then can raise the bar slowly from there. Having to work weeks or months on a single piece is simply crazy and many times more so for the struggling student.

 There is no point repeating the same lessons over and over again to try and attain some kind of quality you judge is required, it just tortures you and the student. Musical maturity can come later, sometimes a student doesn't want to play a piece to your standard and has their own much lower standard. You need to be attuned to this especially with students who struggle to practice on their own effectively. Lower the bar as to what is satisfactory and move on. Some inexperienced teachers will pipe up and say "Oh but you will teach them bad habits, they will think learning a piece badly is fine etc etc". Well keep on trying to push these struggling students to playing at your high standards and they will never get anywhere and eventually will quit from boredom or the mountain of work that depresses them. You build up the students over time not expect them to jump through your hoops perfectly until they can move on, that is like torture for many students. 

Give your student short term goals that they must complete before they are allowed to stop. For example tell them they have to play a small passage 3 times in a row without mistake or they have to start the count again. You can pressure them in a playful manner when they are on their 2nd or 3rd attempt, tease them and say "Don't make a mistake now or you have to start again!!!" If they make a slight error you can judge whether you want to be soft and let it pass or be harder on them and say BAD LUCK START AGAIN.

[bwl_13]

Do easier pieces, something that they can solve practically immediately. This is the number one solution.  If they struggle to read then you need to give pieces with just finger numbers with given positions. If they struggle to practice then they must do content which they can do very easily. Humans generally enjoy doing thing they can manage with ease. You then can raise the bar slowly from there. Having to work weeks or months on a single piece is simply crazy and many times more so for the struggling student.

 There is no point repeating the same lessons over and over again to try and attain some kind of quality you judge is required, it just tortures you and the student. Musical maturity can come later, sometimes a student doesn't want to play a piece to your standard and has their own much lower standard. You need to be attuned to this especially with students who struggle to practice on their own effectively. Lower the bar as to what is satisfactory and move on. Some inexperienced teachers will pipe up and say "Oh but you will teach them bad habits, they will think learning a piece badly is fine etc etc". Well keep on trying to push these struggling students to playing at your high standards and they will never get anywhere and eventually will quit from boredom or the mountain of work that depresses them. You build up the students over time not expect them to jump through your hoops perfectly until they can move on, that is like torture for many students. 

Give your student short term goals that they must complete before they are allowed to stop. For example tell them they have to play a small passage 3 times in a row without mistake or they have to start the count again. You can pressure them in a playful manner when they are on their 2nd or 3rd attempt, tease them and say "Don't make a mistake now or you have to start again!!!" If they make a slight error you can judge whether you want to be soft and let it pass or be harder on them and say BAD LUCK START AGAIN.

This makes sense. I was hoping you'd chip in.

I understand what you mean with easier pieces, but I really don't know how much easier it can get than what I'm doing without it just being very simple patterns which are challenging to keep musically engaging. The pieces from the method book were just that, far too easy while having little to no musical engagement.

However, I'll give it a go. Maybe write out some arrangements of popular melodies that just about everyone knows that at least have a melody. Along the lines of a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Old McDonald.

Thank you for your advice.

[lostinidlewonder]

It is hard to give exact advice since I don't have a complete idea of the skill of this student, but the concept of giving them content they can do super easy will generally help. One thing that stood out to me was that you said  "the child also believes that piano is just too hard", even if you judge that the content that they are working with should be manageable and doable with a little effort sometimes taking a step even further back will help so that the minimal effort they do put in gives larger results.

Even if you go back to writing out 5 finger positions and simply give them numbers to coordinate with, take away the drudgery of having to read notes on a score and get them playing immediately. Write chords underneath the melodic notes (to emulate normal reading) with finger numbers also or circle the melodic notes with colors and specific what chord represents each colored circle. You can write the rhythm on top of the numbers with actual notes or if needed just represent it all with dashes to specific how long notes are held in terms of the beat so they don't have to read notes as rhythm.

Alternatively you can give them sheet music and represent the position as clearly as possible and write numbers on top of all the notes so they can follow those instead of having to read and calculate, something like this:
CDEFG (red) and E_GABC (blue)

from: https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=68656.msg719575#msg719575

I didn't put in the finger numbers but you could write those in with the colors of the boxes and you would use a - after each minum to specify they need to wait (because they may be attached to the numbers more than the notes and without a - they will not hold the note for the right amount of time). Spoonfeeding all the information for them so they can get straight to playing it without having to calculate can help make things easier for them.

Going back to as simple as it can go so the student finally realises that it is actually not as difficult as they make it out to be and all to do with them actually practicing it can be helpful. Try not to talk about them practicing but instead compliment how well they do in the lessons when they go through practice routines with you. The idea is to get them to be self responsible for their studies and that can be more easily nurtured if the work is very easy for them to manage. Kids who don't practice are utterly desensitized to being told to practice, you can show them through example how good they do when they practice, that positive reenforcement can lure them into practicing more alone. It doesn't work for all students, some just hate the piano and are forced into it so your hands are tied in that case. As piano teachers we are of course there to nurture interest in the piano in the best way possible but if the student is totally resistant and doesn't meet you some of the way it's a losing battle more often than not. Don't give up though, if their parents are willing to allow them to do things they don't totally enjoy in time you can get them around, even if that takes several years!

[bwl_13]

Going back to as simple as it can go so the student finally realises that it is actually not as difficult as they make it out to be and all to do with them actually practicing it can be helpful. Try not to talk about them practicing but instead compliment how well they do in the lessons when they go through practice routines with you. The idea is to get them to be self responsible for their studies and that can be more easily nurtured if the work is very easy for them to manage. Kids who don't practice are utterly desensitized to being told to practice, you can show them through example how good they do when they practice, that positive reenforcement can lure them into practicing more alone. It doesn't work for all students, some just hate the piano and are forced into it so your hands are tied in that case. As piano teachers we are of course there to nurture interest in the piano in the best way possible but if the student is totally resistant and doesn't meet you some of the way it's a losing battle more often than not. Don't give up though, if their parents are willing to allow them to do things they don't totally enjoy in time you can get them around, even if that takes several years!

Thanks a lot. This is a really good point and you're right.

All of this is really helpful. The summer lessons will be less frequent but I'll keep this in mind when planning the next lesson.

[quantum]

If the student does not practice at home, practice during lesson time.  Never in a way that implies criticism or punishment for not practising, but in a manner that empowers the student with the tools for them to take initiative and practice themselves.  It is not enough to tell a student to practice, one has to show the student how to practice, show the student what quality practice is all about. 

Take an element of the lesson, one small enough to accomplish in a single lesson, and show the student how to approach the challenges.  If the student is quick to become chatty, you need to be quick on refocusing the students mind towards the task.  Show the student it is possible to achieve improvement within a small amount of time, while using a disciplined focused mindset.  Again, the chosen task has to be of a manageable size to complete in a single lesson, so  that the student can see for themselves that they are capable of improvement, even within short periods of time. 

[bwl_13]

If the student does not practice at home, practice during lesson time.  Never in a way that implies criticism or punishment for not practising, but in a manner that empowers the student with the tools for them to take initiative and practice themselves.  It is not enough to tell a student to practice, one has to show the student how to practice, show the student what quality practice is all about. 

Take an element of the lesson, one small enough to accomplish in a single lesson, and show the student how to approach the challenges.  If the student is quick to become chatty, you need to be quick on refocusing the students mind towards the task.  Show the student it is possible to achieve improvement within a small amount of time, while using a disciplined focused mindset.  Again, the chosen task has to be of a manageable size to complete in a single lesson, so  that the student can see for themselves that they are capable of improvement, even within short periods of time.

I've had a lesson today and incorporated some of what was mentioned here. It has helped a lot. I've never been one to be very critical and I've attempted to show how to practice at home.

One of the issues I found was that the student wasn't as confident in reading notes or finding notes on the keyboard as I had thought. In lessons they were normally quite accurate, but it turned out that the student was under the impression that the notes move upwards alphabetically in both directions from middle C. It was quite a surprise to me, but once we'd sorted that it became a bit easier.

I moved on to arranging an even simpler arrangement for melody and bassline. The student seemed very happy and pleased with themselves at the end of the lesson. I'm hoping this will work out, and I'll continue to learn from this experience. Changing things was definitely a good move.

[quantum]

Good to hear that you were able to make some progress with this student. 

At the learning stage your student is at, sometimes there are gaps in knowledge that cause confusion for the student which they remain silent about.  It is by working in detail with the student, understanding their workflow and thought process that these things may come to light, as you have discovered.  I had a student that had challenges with the orientation of pitch, and that higher and lower pitch means up and down in the score, but right and left on the keyboard. 

Your student may even be using chattyness as a coping mechanism for dealing with parts of the music that they find difficult or overwhelming.  Let your student know, to inform you and keep the communication open when they find difficulties.  Make it clear it is much better to deal with challenges by directly addressing them rather than attempting to distract the mind away from the challenges. 

[bwl_13]

Good to hear that you were able to make some progress with this student. 

At the learning stage your student is at, sometimes there are gaps in knowledge that cause confusion for the student which they remain silent about.  It is by working in detail with the student, understanding their workflow and thought process that these things may come to light, as you have discovered.  I had a student that had challenges with the orientation of pitch, and that higher and lower pitch means up and down in the score, but right and left on the keyboard. 

Your student may even be using chattyness as a coping mechanism for dealing with parts of the music that they find difficult or overwhelming.  Let your student know, to inform you and keep the communication open when they find difficulties.  Make it clear it is much better to deal with challenges by directly addressing them rather than attempting to distract the mind away from the challenges.

This student had this same issue with orientation! It's something I take for granted and didn't consider a young child might not have encountered or considered.

I like your take on communication as well. I found that directly addressing the student gave them more opportunities to speak up for themselves.

It's been a great learning opportunity and there's still loads of learning to come. It's such a joy