The perfect student

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/economics/cameron/success.html

A sampling: Click above for the entire article:

The "A" Student - An Outstanding Student

• ATTENDANCE: "A" students have virtually perfect attendance. Their commitment to the class is a high priority and exceeds other temptations.
• PREPARATION: "A" students are prepared for class. They always read the assignment. Their attention to detail is such that they occasionally can elaborate on class examples.
• CURIOSITY: "A" students demonstrate interest in the class and the subject. They look up or dig out what they don't understand. They often ask interesting questions or make thoughtful comments.

The "C" Student - An Average Student

• ATTENDANCE: "C" students are often late and miss class frequently. They put other priorities ahead of academic work. In some cases, their health or constant fatigue renders them physically unable to keep up with the demands of high-level performance.
• PREPARATION: "C" students may prepare their assignments consistently, but often in a perfunctory manner. Their work may be sloppy or careless. At times, it is incomplete or late.
• CURIOSITY: "C" students seldom explore topics deeper than their face value. They lack vision and bypass interconnectedness of concepts. Immediate relevancy is often their singular test for involvement.

Marketing piano lessons

1. Book yourself solid, by Michael Port


2.Promotion your teaching Studio, by Philip Johnston


3.Reinvention by Brian Tracy


4. Time Power by Brian Tracy


5. Snap Selling, by Jill Konrath


6. Success Magazine


An excellent start for all of those wishing to increase the size of their studios. I have used them all to profitable effect.


David Story

Parents: How to raise a creative genius

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/22/motivation.kids/?hpt=Sbin

What motivates a passion for learning, and achievement? High achieving kids say that they have a natural drive to challenge themselves, but parents have also opened their world with opportunities to excel.

Parents should observe and cheer on their children, but should not be attached to outcomes, said said Robyn McKay, a psychologist and creativity researcher at Arizona State University. Some kids will rebel and drop an activity if they believe their parents have too many expectations about it.


See link above for more details.


Cheers,
David Story

First Meeting and lesson with a transfer student

First impressions count.

• At the first class clarify the goals and intentions of the student
• Understand why they are changing teachers
• Establish or reestablish your credentials to teach what they want to learn
• Outline your expectations
• Get their name right, and confirm you have the correct contact information
• Immediately engage them is work

Cheers,

David Story

Publicity Hamilton Ormta

Professional Presentation Part One

1. A professional has a business card that is not homemade, and is specific to teaching.

2. A professional has a website that is:

• Bright and Cheerful
• Owned by the professional i.e. your own domain name
• Full of content: the more expensive the purchase the more people will read
• Constantly evolving: Google loves this
• Linked, lots of links, both inbound and outbound: Google loves this
• Not cheesy in it’s look or worse BORING: Prospect killer--you look cheap or amateurish
• Highlighting student successes: Blow your horn
• Making it easy for the prospect to buy: Ka-ching $$

3. A professional protects their image.

Cheers,

David Story

Professional Skills and New Students

September 24ths workshop I gave at Long and McQuade Burlington was a lot of fun. A full house of teachers shared ideas on student retention and professional happiness. Key ideas: its about the students, communicating with parents and professional skill development.

Each new skill attracts a new type of student. Each new type of student = a growing and diverse student body = more income. Each new skill broadens our reach and the depth of our knowledge. New skills keep us fresh.

Cheers,
David

Workshop Friday September 24th Long and McQuade Burlington

Five days to go to Friday morning’s workshop at Long and McQuade Burlington. I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with colleagues on helping our students achieve more satisfying results and exciting musical experiences, including 80 things a student should know before attempting grade 1 piano and improvisation in classical music.


Free: email Karen kthornton@long-mcquade.com


David Story

Piano Poem

Piano

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.


In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

D. H. LawrencePublish Post

Practicing, “Meeting Yourself”

Quotes from “The Art of Practicing” by Madeline Bruser


“Passion, confidence, and vulnerability are evidence of musical talent” pg 9


A fine teacher told me “ones talent can only be discovered by focused and correct practice and study. You may never golf like Tiger, but imagine how well you’d play with his training and practice regime.”


Cheers,


David Story

Kids who love piano

Here are some thoughts on helping your children succeed at piano/music lessons.

1. Be clear of your goals and communicate these with me.
2. Make sure you leave enough time in their weekly schedule to practice.  The amount of time needed depends on their level and goals.
3. Supervise and support your child’s practicing.  One of the most successful strategies is to cheerfully help your children complete their homework correctly.
4.  Take your children to concerts.  Southern Ontario has an embarrassment of riches available seven nights a week. Play good music around the house. Children love what they know.
5. I take requests!  I encourage all students to supplement their studies with pieces of their choice.  After all, for most students this is their primary goal.
6 Encourage your children to participate in recitals and exams. This is a positive experience for most students, though I caution to add, not everyone. We must use our good judgement.
7. Repetition is the mother of learning. Learning to play the piano is both an intellectual and athletic skill. It takes time to develop both.  Encourage your children to take the long-term patient approach.
8. Participate as a family in other artistic outings and activities: consider trips to the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the opera, a jazz concert, a piano recital at McMaster University, a country and western show or Scottish tattoo at Copps Coliseum, the list goes on. If you attend church, synagogue, or mosque ask the musicians if your children may sit quietly with them while they work.

Cheers,

David

Video Practicing, Recording your practicing on your laptop

I may be the last person on earth to try this.


Record your practicing on your laptop.
Listen and watch


With myself, I discovered a few things:

1. I have tension in my jaw.
2. I have minimal tension in the arms.
3. The second time I recorded, the performance was much improved.
4. I will be trying it with students this week. (I will carefully delete the file at the end of the lesson.)

Cheers,

David

Student Interview Questions

When interviewing prospective students we owe to them and ourselves to assess our compatibility. The following was suggested to me.

1. If they are 8 years old and up, ask them to write on a piece of paper why they want music lessons, and what they hope to accomplish, while this is going on exchange pleasantries with the parent. Then interview the parent in light of what the student wrote.

2. If they are a transfer student listen to them play their favourite piece and then play a duet with them.

Cheers,

David

Income Tax tip for Busy Teachers

I had a conversation with some colleagues this week concerning income tax instalments, paid quarterly.They were remarking how "painful" writing that check can be.

A few years ago, the fine folks at Revenue Canada and I came up with the weekly pay plan. It works like this. Divide your upcoming tax liability by 52. Tell Revenue Canada to withdraw this amount weekly from your bank account. They will be happy to oblige over the phone.

Cheers,

David

Keeping fit

We typically sit all day at our jobs. Some of us travel in this line of work as well, eating on the road. Many juggle child rearing responsibilities with the job. Meals are often rushed or skipped. This stress leads to weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks and other lurking disasters.

One day we look in the mirror an unattractive stranger looks sadly back.

Speaking with some of our more fit colleagues I created the following list.

Diet

• Eat fresh
• Eat regularly to keep blood sugar stable
• If it comes in a box or is served by a teenager in a cardboard hat: don’t eat it.

Exercise

• Get a competent trainer, follow the plan
• Some do Yoga
• Speak with the doctor if it has been a few years since you did vigorous physical activity, before putting on the runners. I don’t what the next blog to be an obituary. :-)
• If it took twenty fives years to get in the shape you are now, it will take some time to remake yourself.

Work load stress

• This is a tough one for piano teachers

A wiser man than I said. “Don’t tell me you know what to do, tell me why you don’t do it.”

See you all at the gym and juice bar.

David Story
In the Saskatoon airport lounge

The Future of Classical Music

A very interesting article on the Classical music business.

The record label Naxos has gone from budget outsider to industry leader in its 20-plus years of existence. But what does the future hold for any record label at a time when CD sales are plummeting and dowloads are stagnant? Naxos’s founder and CEO, Klaus Heymann, is one of the most candid and straightforward executives in the business, and he’s tailored his long-term goals to the realities of today’s market; his goal, he says, is to be “the last man standing.” He spoke to me while in the States for marketing meetings about the Naxos’s future.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-classical-beat/2010/07/the_future_of_the_recording_in.html

Be sure to follow this link afterwards.

More music is being recorded and released than at any other point in history. Yet music copyright is completely insecure, and piracy rampant in the current climate. So what does that say about pro-copyright and anti-piracy initiatives?



A sticky debate indeed. One of the major reasons for copyright law is to ensure the continued creation of intellectual property. Yet more musicians are in the game than ever before, and music fans couldn't be happier with the abundance.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/072710stand

Cheers, I think.

David Story

Children Today

I remember a time before computer games, cell phones, instant messaging, IPads, iPhones, Internet surfing, Youtube.com, inflated school grades, unlimited free downloadable musical files, and instant communications.

Instead, we had: wall-to-wall television, radio, telephones nailed to the wall, bootleg cassettes, top 40 charts, hippies with guitars.

Okay, we still have hippies with guitars, except we now call them singer songwriters. Same chords, same banal sincerity.

And, old folks still worry about young folks.

Teaching young folk when you are an old folk has always presented a few challenges. But, the basics remain. Teaching, inspiring, and succeeding with still children requires:


Confidence
Competence
Enthusiasm
Experience
Knowledge
Trust
Faith

Cheers,
David Story

Upcoming: more book reports on teaching

The Music Exam Experience

I’ve just finished a week on the road, travelling in southern British Columbia hearing many piano and voice candidates.

A few observations

For the well prepared and enthusiastic student it is an awesome experience. In a world of faked experience it is a truly real and exciting.

I’ve learned five year olds can successfully and joyfully complete a grade one exam.

As always, Adult candidates are the most emotionally intense musicians, bringing the day’s emotional baggage into the exam room. But it is to their credit they persevere and succeed in spite of it.

Teachers are usually more nervous and anxious than their students

Pity the poor teenager. The desire is there, the talent is there, but often the skills are underdeveloped. Why? Speaking with their teachers the usual list of reasons comes up: over commitments. They are expected to get good school grades, have a part time job, social life (mostly on-line, the average teen in my studio is on line upward of 40 hours per week!), volunteer work (now required in many school districts) etc.

Cheers from Kamloops

David Story

Picking a university

It is that time of year: Picking a university


From a recent email

A family I teach in Hamilton have a son who graduated from MAC recently. He just finished his MBA at Columbia in NYC. Paul, another student is about to graduate with his PHD from University of Chicago, he went to MAC. MAC is now in the top 100 schools in the world.

The Ottawa school has a co-op, which I’m told is an advantage.

At MAC costs are potentially lower: i.e. Housing. Large student loans really cramp a young person’s start in life. This comes from other former students.

Roger, another student went to York, for music, he is working on his PHD in music/brain research in England.

Jim, Western University, is going to UofT for a doctorate in music.

The conclusion: It’s the student’s ambition and well focused plans which make the biggest difference, with the student debt factor being a significant determinant in post grad studies. This advice comes from other students and family members who have piled up debt and are now saddled with a school debt mortgage.

I hope this helps.

(The first names of the students have been changed.)

“I want to play the drums!”, “Piano is dumb!”, “Piano is for girls!”

We have all heard these comments from time to time, usually from early teens. What to do?


“I want to play the drums!”

Without blinking, I always start by asking a few friendly questions.

1. “What kind of music would you like to play on the drums?”
2. “Do you have friends who play the guitar?”

A statement “I want to play the drums!” often alerts us that the music we are teaching the student is becoming increasingly irrelevant or our approach needs a little rethink for this particular student. Remember they love music or they would simply quit. And, playing the drums really is fun.

“Piano is dumb!”

1. "What do you mean?"

Some possible causes of stress:

1. Overscheduled pressured student- hockey, band, piano, friends, homework, Facebook, etc. They love the piano; they just don't have time because of other commitments. Talk to the parents, quick.

2. Sitting still in a room by yourself, for extended periods of time, practicing music that you don’t understand when your friends are running around the mall, and having fun online is pretty hard to do when you are 13. Someone once told me that most kids quit piano when the music on their iPod doesn’t match what is sitting in front of them on the music stand.

“Piano is for girls!”

Believe it or not I’ve heard this.
My response, “I’m not a girl”.
He quit anyhow.

Cheers,

David Story

College and University Preparation

Five questions I consider before giving my approval.

1. Are they artists or musicians?

• An artist creates, a musician plays what’s put in front of them. Two completely different skill sets. (An artist knows they are one, musicians always ponder this question.)

2. Preconditions of success

• They have the “rage to master” as outlined in the book “Talent is Overrated”
• They have faith in themselves which is grounded in reality
• They have access to resources; musical training is expensive

 3. What’s the endgame?

• Lady GaGa adoration
• Schoolteacher
• Industry professional
• Medical school
• Or a drugs, sex, rock ‘n roll fantasy?

4. Are they prepared?

•  They have a history of focused accomplishment
•  Entrepreneurial talent
• Adult maturity is becoming evident

5. Charisma: how big is their talent?

• Dave’s definition of talent? “Can you hold the attention of a room full of strangers for 90 minutes? 89 minutes won’t cut it. “

-----------------------------------------

Part of the toughness, determination, and vision required to succeed, as many of us have uniquely done, precludes the need for approval.

Cheers,

David Story

Selecting their next teacher

I can think of a few situations this may be necessary.


■They’re moving
■You’re moving
■You’ve taught them all you can
■It’s not a good fit
■They’re off to music school
■You are downsizing
■They want to learn something you don’t teach

Whatever the reason, the next teacher will assess their ability, progress, and potential and our teaching effectiveness. Possibly an embarrassing prospect. The next teacher will be impressed with our work if the student has learned the basics, has mastered the technique at their level, has learned how to practice and they still possess the joy to play that attracted them to music in the first place.

When I interview a prospective transfer student or I’m evaluating a student in a professional situation some of the things I’m looking for are:

■Enthusiastic attitude
■Good hands (technique)
■The student can clap accurately the rhythm in the music I give them (shows me they’ve worked on the basics)
■They are clear on their objectives (clarity of purpose)
■They can play a few favourite pieces (indicates their musical preferences)
■They have a few favourite pieces (an excellent indicator of enthusiasm)
■They listen to the music they want to study. (If they want to study classical music they enjoy actively listening to it. Ditto for jazz, pop, whatever.)

In the book “Practicing, A musician’s returned to music” by Glenn Kurtz, Kurtz muses with regret the technical deficiencies he brought to music school.

Wynton Marsalis in all his writings stresses the work ethic, a good heart, and mastering the basics. His books “To a young musician” and his latest, which I finished recently, “Moving to higher ground” harps constantly on these themes.

So, I suggest they interview teachers and select the one who stresses the basics, is student focused, and has a history of success in the area the student wants to work. Find a teacher who will stretch them, challenge them, and encourage them. Seek one who is creative, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Cheers
David Story

Linchpin, Are you indispensable? By Seth Godin, Book Report

Artist: Someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. Not all artists can draw, but all artists can see. And, an artist takes it personally.


Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does.

(Possibly a brilliant book. Or maybe just a new spin on Tom Peters.)

It is interesting to note how the corporate world is being challenged to adopt the artisans’ philosophy: do something remarkable that matters to someone. Work with your skills to touch people emotionally, change them, challenge them, and thrill them.

The book challenges people to think outside the box. Personally I think this is impossible. You are either creative or not, courageous or not. I can’t imagine the people he is challenging to be different could ever take the leap. A charming read non-the-less.

Any thoughts?

BTW, Seth Godin has a great Blog at http://sethgodin.com/sg/

Cheers,
David

Assessing talent

It came up again this week, talent.


We have all heard it from time to time, “does my kid have talent?” or its variation, “Do I have talent?"

Do you mean, I respond, “Can you/they win American Idol, become a pop culture commodity and benefit financially from excessive adulation, and live the life of rich and famous?” Probably not.

Or do you mean, “Do you/they have the ambition, desire, patience, focus, clarity of purpose, time, money, access to resources, and family support to realize your/their potential?” I don’t know.

Or, do I respond, “After you/they have put in 10,000 hours of focused practice lets revisit the question.”

Or, do I respond, “How big is your/their desire?”

Others have stated: “talent is ability“, let’s keep practicing!

Cheers,

David Story

Creativity

Some ideas I’ve collected over the years:

• Don’t be afraid to fail
• Work, work, work
• We are all a product of our influences, so choose well
• Work long enough to get some results
• Hang with creative people
• Turn off Facebook, Twitter, MSN, etc. Use the time to work
• Attend events (concerts, galleries, lectures, workshops, etc.) outside of your range of interests. Let some fresh air in.

Cheers,

David Story