A Music Teacher's Blog

Out of The Mouths of Babes

Tales from the Field: Our Master Piano Teacher Cathey shares that her piano studio has LOL: Lots of Love and Lots of Laughs.

I recently gave a “challenge” piece to one of the brightest five-year-olds I have ever had.  A challenge piece is one that has to be worked on for several months, and is clearly too difficult for the child to play right away, but is within reach after several weeks of practice.

Paul was doing really well with his challenge peice in preparation for a piano recital performance, but two measures were clearly a mental block for him, and I decided to entice him with a few gummy bears I had brought to the lesson. I told him the deal:  if you can play this section correctly just once without stopping or making a mistake, I’ll give you this whole pack of gummies.

He was in. He wanted them, and was ready to go for it, but after five unsuccessful attempts, he was clearly frustrated. Trying to make him feel better, I told him that it really was going to take a lot of work, but when he finally got it right he would feel so-o-o good and it would be the most fun he could ever have. He sat in stony silence for a few seconds, looked up at me in all seriousness, and gave me his reply: “Well then, why don’t you grow your own kids then and you can have fun with them instead of me!”

Post Recital Update: The student performed this peice at our May 16th Piano Recital … and had fun showing the audience that he had perfected his challenge peice.