Class Piano Observations

We are in week seven of our eight-week recreational music making piano classes. This has been such a great experience. We launched four classes. Three were targeted at adults and one for upper elementary to young teens. Two of the adult classes were scheduled during the afternoon hours.

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Some observations:

1. Students love the classes! They have fun. They enjoy being together. They come in eager to learn and open to try things. I’ve worked hard to create an environment that is conducive to being one’s self. We’ve said from the very beginning and I repeat weekly that we will laugh and have fun together in this journey even while we make mistakes. I purposefully point out my own occasional mistakes just to let them know that no one is perfect, not even a teacher. The result has been an atmosphere where everyone gives it a shot. They’re all at different levels of growth, and we emphasize that is perfectly fine.
2. The fact that we have a variety of levels in the same class has not been a problem. In the beginning, I feared that some of the more experienced students would grow weary that there were others in the class who had no experience. We started together from the beginning putting everyone at the same place of progression. This was a good review for some and they communicated that they benefited from that experience. I’m careful not to point out when someone is struggling or falling behind, but rather keep asking the questions, “How did that go?” And “Is there anything I can help you with?” Sometimes they ask for help and other times they don’t.
3. The students love when I allow time for them to ask questions and even introduce some musical experiences and ideas they haven’t tried. We’ve talked about everything from vocal ranges (helps one to find middle C by ear) to orchestras and stringed instruments. We spent a large portion of a class one week doing improvisation and every one of them kept up and loved it! Private lessons would enable us to tighten or focus and progress faster, but group lessons allow us to explore and appreciate music and grow holistically as musicians and music lovers.
4. Students developed relationships quickly. They are concerned when someone misses. They help each other. They have become friends and share ideas and experiences with each other. Often times, I feel the students leave with more knowledge that they shared with each other than I brought in my lesson plan. I love the fact that I can coordinate and lead this and in terms of relevance of lesson plan, the class topics organically go exactly where they need to go and I simply facilitate.

I continue to learn from each class every time we meet. Recreational music making class teaching has challenged me to be more careful in lesson planning, but at the same time challenged me to think on my feet and adapt to the needs at hand. Most of all, I have the enjoyment to see people discover new things and find joy in learning a new skill and creating music.

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