STUDENT QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1

I think it is interesting that if you practice a lot your piece gets better! I would be interested in hearing how you write all that beautiful music. Also I would be interested in how to handle the frustration when a piece is not going well.

Alicia, age 9

MARY GAE GEORGE answers

Somehow your message reached me, even though the e-mail forms on our web site had stopped working. (I guess they wanted a break to celebrate Halloween.) It must be magic that got your message to me. That should make us both very happy!

First of all, I am delighted that you like our music. We wrote the music with the hope of pleasing good students like you. We also wanted to help students learn as much as possible about music, so that they could learn all their pieces well and play them beautifully.

You asked a very good question about what to do when a piece is not going well.

Because I do not know you and have not heard you play, Alicia, I can only tell you some things that would help most students master their pieces efficiently.

Shall we make a list? I like lists, do you?

1. We all must practice regularly, every day. Our muscles learn more slowly than our mind, and our muscles forget more quickly. That is why it is important to practice every day.

2. Everyone must think before starting to play, so that we will not turn our mistakes into bad habits.
You and your teacher can add to this list of things to think about:
a) Tempo and rhythm
b) Dynamics
c) Mood
d) All the signs in the music
e) Phrasing
f) Fingering
g) Recognizing patterns
h) How far can you play with great control?
i) Solving problems
j) Avoiding problems

(I will be interested in what you added to this incomplete list.)

3. We must be ready for the music we are learning. If the music is more advanced than our skills, we will not be able to learn to play efficiently and beautifully. Your teacher is an excellent teacher, so I know she will plan carefully what you need to study in order to keep advancing at the piano. Please pay close attention to what she teaches you, and then enjoy putting your new skills to work in learning your pieces.

4. Plan your work carefully for the week. Decide how much you need to accomplish each day in order to complete your assignment. Then take pleasure in completing your plan for each day. It is exciting to come to your lesson well prepared.

5. Develop good study methods. Students often hope that playing a piece many times will make it improve. That will happen, but it takes forever! It is much more interesting to take the piece apart, learn the hard parts first, use the metronome to keep your tempo steady, and gradually increase your tempo when you are 100% secure and musical in each part of the piece.

I can tell you are a good student, Alicia. For one thing, you took the time to read the article on our web site. And then you even responded to it. Brava!

So you see, magic works! And so does choosing the right music to fit our skills, and working to improve our skills every day.

May I suggest something to you? You and your teacher can select a piece to master in three weeks . Let your teacher guide you in this selection; it is easier for a teacher to do this for she knows the skills you have really learned. Then follow the study plan she gives you very carefully. Let me know how you make out with this project.

Thank you for writing, Alicia. Have an exciting year with the piano!