My music journal

I opened up Spotify yesterday morning and paused.

What was I in the mood for listening to?

I noticed a new feature: daylist.

"Mystical bard Wednesday morning.

Here are some bard, mystical, fantastical, folkish - inspired by what you listen to on Wednesdays in the morning."

I clicked shuffle and was met by a familiar rousing Celtic tune.

Turns out I DO like listening to this kind of music while I do my midweek admin work!

Late that day, I revisited my 'daylist'. It was now "Dark Broadway Wednesday afternoon."

I pressed play and started listening to a playlist of dramatic, emo, power songs.

I then realized that's exactly what I love listening to when I go on an afternoon walk to get hyped up for teaching.

I couldn't help but smile - I felt heard and understood (pushing all opinions of AI in general aside)

This then reminded me of a lesson earlier this week with Jake.

He'd once been an avid practicer - he used to set his alarm 10 minutes earlier than needed so he could get some practice in before school!

But recently, Jake had stopped practicing as much.

His energy had dipped.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this, so I gave him a My Music Journal page.

We filled it out, reflecting on his most recent pieces and why he liked/disliked them.

Being a teenage boy, he took a little bit of encouragement to get from

"I dunno, just liked it,"

to

"I liked the repetitive pattern 'cause I could really get in the zone."

The reflection on why he DIDN'T like his most recent piece was eye-opening for both of us.

"I've never thought about why I didn't want to play it. I just knew I didn't enjoy it," he admitted.

Turns out he didn't enjoy the unpredictable nature of this piece's left-hand accompaniment.

Which figures - seeing as the pieces he DID like were very pattern-based.

We then delved deeper into the pieces he DID like, and used those to find a new piece that had a similar feel.

I had a text from his mum this morning telling me that she'd come downstairs to piano music for the first time in ages - he'd set his alarm earlier again!

If you'd like to keep a track of your students' feelings and opinions on their pieces, this journal is available for FREE in the Freebies Vault.

Subscribers to BusyLittleTurtle get the password to the Freebies Vault - subscribe here.