Save Time by Spending Time
by Mary Gae George

Teaching a student to play the piano is a vast and inspiring undertaking.

There is a significant issue, however, that we must address if we are to do the student and the subject full justice. That issue is the time restrictions under which we work in bringing the wonders of this huge, magical subject into full, undeniable glory. Whether we are aware of it or not, this limitation is present, affecting every moment, influencing everything we do, and do not do at each lesson.

This pressure of time can suggest a “once over lightly” approach. But a closer look reveals that in doing so, we are spanning information without giving it support. Unsupported information is like building a bridge without the necessary engineering to withstand the weight of its being used. Not only is it difficult to enjoy the beauty of a bridge when you know it might collapse at any moment, but you are not likely to drive onto it. It is a closed road in your mind.

Unsupported information in education severely limits the students’ involvement, imagination, confidence, and motivation. Furthermore, the students become dependent on the teacher to fill in all those missing links. Despite good intentions, the students make mistakes in their practicing and must therefore be corrected. Time, precious time and confidence are lost.

Take an un-retouched “picture” of where time is being spent in your teaching. Record a number of lessons, listen objectively (stop watch in hand), and map the time that is spent teaching versus the time spent correcting or coaching. To clarify, lets list a few of the activities in each of these three categories.

Carefully study the list you make to determine the root source of both your success and the areas you want to improve. Remember that much coaching and correcting can be avoided by giving students a firm foundation to begin with. Armed with information, the necessary skills, and an imaginative approach to their music study, students need little coaching or correcting and thus have time for more of your teaching at their lessons. This is a bonus for both of you. Remember also that the construction of a bridge does not start above water, but rather deep down below the surface of the water.

A good motto, then, for effective teaching is this:

        “Save time by spending time”

The more we invest in making students aware of and involved in the musical language including how to study and “speak it,” the more we can teach them instead of coaching or correcting them.

This concept is a key component of the author’s Positive Pedagogy, and leads to efficient use of lesson time and encouraging progress for students. General concepts such as not correcting errors in a student’s performance but rather addressing the root cause of the error also saves lesson time and avoids future mistakes on the part of the student. This is especially true when you invite the student to help discover the root cause of an error. By lavishing time on anything new we can reap the rewards of an informed and motivated student.

Throughout these Pedagogy Guides, you will find articles and demonstrations based on the principle of saving time later on by spending time in the beginning. Look through the details of these articles carefully to see how a strong, supportive framework is being created in the process of structuring a lesson on something new.

Group instruction gives us more time with students. We can have the luxury of an entire hour with a group instead of pulling five or ten hurried minutes out of an already rushed private lesson to explore new issues and skills. Furthermore, the input and interchanges between students makes for a more balanced, meaningful experience. Enthusiasm is contagious. New ideas and possibilities are the spark that ignites that enthusiasm. That spark spills over into the students’ private lessons and their home practice.

Avoid letting the pressure of time tempt you into doing the thinking for your students, for this makes students dependent upon the teacher. It is also tiring for the teacher, trying to compensate for all that the student does not know or do. Music students need to be able to work autonomously as soon as possible in order to build their confidence and sense of accomplishment. At each lesson or class give students tools of thought, vivid experiences, and intriguing questions that launch their responses and quicken their determination to find effective solutions in their study of music.

You are also urged to take time to keep a journal of the ideas that work best for you and your students. No matter how effective and clever these ideas are, they have a way of slipping away when we are not watching.

In closing this discussion, let us remember Plato’s proclamation:

“The Beginning is the Most Important Part of the Work.”

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