Monday, March 10, 2014

Who I learn from...

It is so easy to get locked into the mentality of learning the piano so that you can sit the next exam...

Lesson two of term one, Michaela came to her Saturday morning piano lesson slightly unenthused. After chatting with her, it seemed that she was just not enjoying the piece we had begun the week earlier. 

It became clear to me then that I had automatically started the year off with a new piece from her AMEB piano for leisure book.   This is a wonderful syllabus filled with quite a broad range of pieces from well known classics, film themes and popular songs.  The piece I had chosen had a bright, energetic tone which I thought was appropriate to get the year started.

However, without even realising, I had gone straight into challenging piece.  Michaela is a very smart and bright piano student who diligently practices each week so I had automatically pushed her boundaries... in lesson one!!!

We put the piece from week one to one side and pulled out a series of books that were of her current level so she was able to play them quite quickly. We managed to get through three pieces in one lesson and found a little duet which she is now playing at home with her mother.

I am the first to say that we are an assessment driven society but there I was part of the production line!   Of course I will extend Michaela’s piano skills and as a result move onto more challenging pieces but at a rate that allows a lot of music to be enjoyed and shared in the process... 

After so many years of teaching I am still learning ... learning from my students. 

Christine 


Mother and Daughter play piano duet






Picture: 
Mother MaryAnne 
plays piano duet 
with her Daughter Michaela

No comments:

Post a Comment