One thing that seems to vary amongst piano teachers is the idea of what constitutes a “finished” piano piece. At what point is okay to move on? Are a few occasional mistakes okay or should it be perfect? Do you insist on memorizing?
Every teacher has a different opinion when it comes to defining how “finished” is “finished”. The idiom of the carrot on a stick comes to mind; how long do we dangle the completion of a piece before our piano student loses interest and decides they don’t actually like carrots anyway?
Finding a balance between dopamine and diligence
The key is in finding a careful balance between achieving goals vs. diligence. When we achieve a set goal our brain releases dopamine; our “feel good” hormone. Interestingly, the release of dopamine then turns on the areas of your brain that make you want to set goals again.*
As a piano teacher it’s a good idea to keep this chain of events happening! Finish piece… want to learn more! Finish piece… want to learn more! It seems as though we should all be firing off check-marks (read here about why I actually never use check marks) at increasingly frequent intervals!
However, those of you who have worked with children for many years know that kids are keenly aware of how hard they have worked to achieve a goal. The less value we place on their hard work by being too quick to reward… the less the reward ends up meaning; cue the lowered levels of dopamine and therefore lowered desire to start the process again.
So What Are We Piano Teachers To Do?
The answer is actually really simple: do both. Be quick to move on. Be a stickler for details. The key is in doing these two things at different times. Approach pieces in each of these two ways; have some pieces that don’t require a “performance-ready” preparation and have some that do require a “performance-ready” preparation.
Before assigning a new piece to your piano student ask yourself:
a) Do the benefits of learning this piece long-term outweigh my student’s desire for instant gratification?
b) Will the enjoyment potential of this piece be enough to sustain long-term work? (When working with children we have to ask ourselves this question or we’ll all be without students very quickly!)
c) Can the learning outcomes of this piece still be accomplished without expecting perfection?
Explain your criteria for each individual piece to be considered finished so your piano student knows your expectations and watch them rise to the occasion!
Have you discovered “The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo”. If not, click here to learn why a teacher recently wrote us to say, “He is thrilled with the pieces in the first book. I don’t have to do any encouraging, tempting, helping, selling, no holding my breath, no hoping and praying-he is just PLAYING THE MUSIC, with appetite. BRAVO!”
*according to Psychologytoday.com
Kelly Koch says
This is very true Andrea! My goal is to give students a tool to have fun making music, then slip in the teaching and expectations while they are having the fun. The one resource I’m getting good results with is your composing project with Muzzart and Ratmaninoff. My students really want to move to the next lesson, but they have to play the current lesson piece well before we move on. This resource has everything for my students…creative composing (of course), but also sight reading, simple left hand progressively getting more difficult, actually writing notes, and music organization! The best part is that there are 12 lessons! I’m set for a while with this bunch of carrots! Thanks so much for developing this resource. Kelly
Andrea says
Hi Kelly! We’re so pumped that your students love the Muttzart composing book. Thanks for sharing your experiences with it. Isn’t it wonderful that your “carrot” can be the creation of their own music. Forget candy and stickers… bribe them with composing! I love it 🙂 As always, thanks for your kind words.
Barbara says
A great reminder that we can “do both” and that it’s very important to explain the criteria to the student beforehand so they aren’t confused when they are playing at home. I’m not a stickler for doing EVERY song in a book either. If I really don’t like a piece in a method book (OR the student really doesn’t like one) I’ll find something more interesting and show the student you can learn that same element in a more than one way.
To Kelly above: Love your goal. What a great concept sneaking in the learning:)
Suzanne says
I couldn’t agree more. I frequently make decisions about the pieces they are working on– do we work it up to performance or just get the notes and the rhythms right? There have been some instances where a piece isn’t particularly interesting, so we just use it for sight-reading pracice and move on!
I love what you said about rewarding too quickly. This really makes sense. This year, my students set SMART goals at the beginning of the school year. This has helped them become engaged in their own learning process. The reward won’t come until June at the “Awards Recital”. I think they will feel pride in themselves and their accomplishment, and proudly display the award at home….so many little certificates for this and that are still collecting dust in the backs of their notebook. It was time for a change!
Barbara says
Great post Suzanne. Would you be willing to elaborate more on the SMART goals. This sounds like a wonderful idea to get them engaged over a longer period of time. Thanks!