Getting out from behind the piano

It's such an amazing instrument.  

Children love to go to it and hit the keys because it gives them instant gratification.

The smiles....

It is so much fun for them.

To master it (and any musical instrument) takes hours upon hours of practice.  

But anything worth anything requires that....

And we have to get away from behind it when we teach.   

Seriously.  

It's like a wall.  It separates.  It's comfortable back there for folks who play it well.  ...but it stands between us and the humans on the other side of it.  

Ultimately, walls don't work.

...Especially for music-making. 

Kids need to experience our spirit...our passion.   When we get out from behind the piano, classroom management is better.  

That means that we have to figure out how to use it and not rely on it completely.  

We need the piano...for sure.

But the longer we are back there behind it, the less we connect to the humans who sit before us.

We have to help them come up with ways to solve the challenges they face in the music without it.  ...And the ultimate goal is for them only need one pitch.  

The rest should be in their brains...

It takes time and lots of effort, but it's possible.

We need them not to need us.  That's the aim of teaching.  

We can do it. 

With beginners, it's about the manner in which we help them do it...It has to be fun for them.  Otherwise, it's drudgery.  

And while we do it, we teach them life lessons.  Really big ones...about failure...about getting back up again when they struggle.   About survival...

In my 26th year of teaching public school children in a Title 1 school, I feed off of the energy of the children who have landed before me, and I love watching them beat the page.

They want to beat the page.  All I have to do is to give them the tools to do it.

If you are reading this on November 11, 2017, several of my S-Cubed Sight Singing Bundles are well over 50% off until Saturday night at midnight!  And if you missed this offer, and you need a price cut,  don't be afraid to ask.  Just email me at inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com.  

Dale