I have a friend who's the most supportive ever.
I can tell her I have a new colour nail varnish and she'll be so excited for me.
She'll check in a couple days later to ask if I'm loving wearing the new colour.
If she ever sees it, she'll tell me how much she loves it.
Everyone needs a friend like her.
What's this to do with teaching?
I've realised I've started being more like her in my lessons.
For example:
A student asked to learn a piece because he dad likes it.
Rather than just giving her a straightforward, "Yeah, sure. We can do that." I made a big deal out of it.
"Ohh he will LOVE that!! Big daughter points for you. Wanting to learn something because your dad likes it is beautiful. That's the power of music - sharing your talent with others to make them happy!!"
She was beaming as I was saying this.
She'd been working on it for a couple of lessons and this one bar was tripping her up. She needed to jump from 3rd finger to thumb on the E to reach the higher B in the next bar.
We'd talked in length about it.
We'd circled it. Twice. In two different colours.
We'd done exercises to work on the move.
But every time she reached the B in in the next bar she stops and cries, "I FORGOT IT AGAIIIIN!"
Every time she got down on herself I'd lift her back up.
"I can't do it."
"Correction. You haven't done it...yet. You will!"
"I'm never gonna do it." "Yes you will! And you know why? Because you're determined. And you're dedicated to this piece. You have a bit of extra pressure because you want to get it as good as you can for when you play it to your dad. But pressure can be good. It means you'll work even harder than usual. And it shows how much you care. You've got this."
I reminded her of other pieces where she'd overcome tricky areas.
I saw her yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks (summer holidays).
Before I could say anything she launched into her piece.
She reached the bar and played the finger jump with no problem.
She finished playing and turned to look at me.
I gave her such a big round of applause you'd think I'd just witnessed gold being won at the Olympics.
"THAT JUMP!!!! Not only was it there but it was there with flair. You've told that move who's boss and smashed it. I'm gonna have to see it again, please."
She played the bar in question.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Finger jump QUEEN!" I mimed bowing down to her.
She grinned.
"I think I'm ready to play it to dad, but I wanted to play it to you first."
It's moments like this that make you realise how much you love this job.
Comentarios