I am a huge fan of stick-with-it-ness. I believe strongly in the benefits of hard work and dedication. I believe that accomplishing a seemingly insurmountable challenge is something to be rewarded and cherished.
But I also know that every piano student has a breaking point; and that teachers run the risk of having their students reach that breaking point when dancing the line between pushing for success and pushing too hard.
If moving on from unfinished piano pieces makes you uncomfortable (as it used to make me!) in today’s post I’m sharing 7 reasons why should not feel guilty about letting go of unfinished piano pieces.
7 Reasons Why “Moving On” Is Okay
At some point, every piano student is going to meet a piano piece that just does not “click”. No matter what you do, it bugs them. Maybe their fingering is wrong, or there is a memorization issue, or there is a stumbling block that happens every… single… time.
You’ve drilled, you’ve asked for more practice, you’ve tried fun activities, you’ve taken it apart and put it back together a zillion times… nothing has worked.
So, it’s time to move on… and that’s okay! Here’s 7 reasons why:
1. Practice Time Will Suffer. Even if your student gets frustrated and drifts off the bench just 10 minutes early every practice session that could mean 40-50 minutes of lost practice time each week! We spend a lot of time getting our students on the bench, so once they are there, we want them to stay.
2. Practicing a Piece That Doesn’t “Click” Reinforces Bad Habits. Teachers only have a short time each week to correct what is going wrong in their students’ pieces. Bad habits in difficult pieces sneak up quickly during a week of practice at home and can be hard to undo.
3. Self-esteem Suffers When Students Continually Fail. Feelings of failure can transfer to negative feelings towards the piano; something neither piano teachers nor piano parents want to happen. However, feelings of success have the opposite effect, drawing kids to the piano (and that success can come in the form of a different piece that teaches the same concepts).
4. Continual Correction In Lessons Hurts The Student/Teacher Bond. If you’re always telling your piano students what they are doing wrong, you miss opportunities to show them what they do really well! As teachers, we can’t help but offer corrections when a piece is going poorly (we need to fix the mistakes!) but the moments where you celebrate success are where your teacher/student bond is formed. And it is this bond is that keeps piano kids in lessons for the long term.
5. The Poor Parents Have to Listen at Home. This sound silly, but it’s true! If your students’ parents are listening to their children stumble, their perception of future success in piano may be dampened. Having a child practice at home should be a joyful part of home-life… not a frustrating one.
6. Time Wasted. The time you spend trying to get that one piano piece right robs you and your students of time that could be spent exploring a wide variety of other enjoyable pieces. Slogging through one piece for weeks, without marked progress, means your students may miss out on other great learning experiences. A teacher’s goal should be to produce a well-rounded pianist… not a pianist who can play one piece really well.
7. The Poor Piece! This “hated” piece still has the potential to be loved one day… but not if it’s been dragged through the mud for weeks. By recognizing the appropriate time to “move on”, you leave the door open for a happy return and for the concepts in that piece to be learned when the student is ready.
Maybe Your Piano Students Should Move On To This Music…
Should our piano students move on every time a piece gets hard? Absolutely not. Should we teach our kids that it’s okay to put some pieces on the back burner? Yes! Each piece of repertoire comes with a massive learning opportunity, but if this learning just isn’t happening.. it’s simply time to pick a new one.
And if you’re wanting a “new one” with a whole lot of spunk, character and fun to turn that frown upside-down then you’ll definitely want to check out Teach Piano Today’s PianoBookClub. With a new piano book delivered to your inbox every month (for $8 US/CDN per month) you’ll never be without the perfect piece for every single piano student.
Kelly Koch says
This is very true, Andrea. Basically, it is realizing that the student comes first! If they are excited about at piece, they’ll play it every day. Period. My favorites are your story-based books in Piano Book Club…my students can’t wait to read more of the story (we both use silly voices) then play the pieces. You seem to just “get” what my students want!
PS Beethoven Sessions just ROCKS. That is all.
Sheila says
Thank you for these gentle,but necessary reminders Andrea. As teachers, it is easy for us to fall into a rut from time to time and forget that the needs of our students must always come first! I will bear this in mind when my student’s return for next week’s lessons.
Andrea says
Hi Sheila – it’s so easy to forget – our job is to teach, and sometimes that can get muddied when deciding what that *means* – knowing when to move on and when to stick it out is something that we are all working on as teachers 🙂
Andrea says
Hi Kelly – it’s so true! If you can find “that piece” then you have a happy, practicing student! If they’re “slogging it out” then you have an unhappy student who is not practicing. So glad you like our unique approach to supplementary repertoire… and that you’re rocking out to Beethoven 😉
Mary B says
I couldn’t agree more. Most songs in the method books are intended to address one specific concept. If the student has mastered that concept, then I always encourage them to move on to the next new thing! If not, then we move to a different song that addresses the concept. Plenty of options out there!
Andrea says
So true, Mary! 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
Rochelle Thompson says
This is good advice, I will try to start following it more this year!
On a completely unrelated topic, I have one parent who literally sits on the bench with her poor child so she can “help him practice”. Any advice from anyone? please….
Alice Pearson Peterson says
I’d love to have some of my parents do that! But sounds like this situation is a problem–an older student perhaps? My younger ones could use the active involvement of their parents.
Jennifer says
Thanks for this, Andrea. This was just the encouragement I needed to remember that sometimes it’s okay to just move along!
Andrea says
Hi Jennifer, glad it was helpful to you 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!
Heidi says
Thanks for the reminder and for permission to move on!
Hope says
I do move on after a while if a piece is not clicking. The bottom line is to keep the students happy. I feel that there are enough good pieces that they master, and it is not that important for them to learn every piece that is assigned. My students always appreciate my flexibility.
Andrea says
Hi Hope – very true! And yes, the joy of music-making is really what it’s all about 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Linda Hyland says
I come to this point more often with my older students who are sometimes more stubborn about giving up a piece than I am. They want to do it, but often don’t have the time they think they’ll have to work on it, or maybe it’s just “that one section.” That’s when I usually suggest that they give themselves 1-2 more weeks on it and if it’s not progressing by then, it’s time to put it away. I always tell them that there is a never-ending supply of wonderful music that can teach them the same skill, so let’s move on and be happy! And yes, I also make sure they finish many pieces! Thanks for your insight on this sometimes touchy situation.
Andrea says
Hi Linda – thanks so much for your comment!
Loni Spendlove says
Thank you for letting me feel better about moving on when I’ve beat a dead horse!
Andrea says
Glad you found it helpful, Loni!
Kathy says
I absolutely sometimes “abandon” a piece and maybe revisit it later. Right now I have a student that was struggling with her Halloween piece last year so we moved on to something else—this year it is easy for her. Talk about a confidence booster!
Andrea says
It’s true! Coming back to pieces you set aside is always an option – and can really help your students to see a concrete example of their progress 🙂
Clara says
I agree to a certain point. But when the student’s mom is insisting on moving into the exam readiness phase and the child has had 3 pieces for 8 weeks and continually – says – I can’t find my book – I had too much homework and each and everytime “WITH” that piece at the lesson is sheer torture. Like they NEVER saw it before. I am running out of options. I can’t just let her play anything she feels – the parents are on top of me to get through exams. HELP!
Heather Jeppsen says
I like this idea, and there have been times when I should have moved on. But I like to check off each piece when they have mastered (or mostly mastered) it. What could I do that wouldn’t say “I’m not checking this off. We’re giving up on it and moving on,” since that feels too much like me saying they’re a failure?! Do you often go back when you feel they’re more ready? Or do you sometimes never go back to it?
Andrea says
Hi Heather – I just write “POP” on top of the piece of music – it stands for “play often please” – this means it’s “on review” and we re-visit it occasionally in the hopes that this slow-paced review has improved it. 🙂
Heather Jeppsen says
Great idea, thanks so much for the help!