The Perfect Piano Student
THE PERFECT PIANO STUDENT
(How YOU can be the student that every teacher is looking for)
I sat down and thought about the characteristics of what I consider to be the perfect piano student. What would the perfect piano student do that is different from other students? Following these tips increases the fun factor for you and for your teacher.
The perfect piano student sets long and short term goals. This gives you focus and purpose for your lessons and your practice time. An example of a short term goal would be: ‘Play this 8-bar passage with the correct notes and rhythm before the end of the week.’ Short term goals will give you something that is easily achievable and will help you feel like you are accomplishing something. Short term goals should line up with your long term goals. An example of a long-term goal would be this: ‘I want to perform this Beethoven Sonata at the end-of-the-year recital in June.”
Notice a few things: 1) Your short term goals should build up to your long term goals. So if you are having trouble coming up with short term goals, work backwards from a long term goal and break it up into manageable chunks. 2) There should be a time limit written into your goals. This gives you a measurable finish line to work towards. 3) Share these goals with your teacher and your parents–it helps with accountability!
The perfect piano student is teachable. This means being open to learning whatever and whenever from whomever you come into contact with. It means having a curious mind–actively thinking about what you are learning and how you are learning. Part of being teachable means being humble enough to recognize that you do not know everything about your subject. A big part of being teachable is also learning to listen. Listen to what your teacher has to say–don’t play while your teacher is giving you instructions. I am always impressed by students that take notes themselves or will grab a pencil to make a notation in their music.
The perfect piano student attends every lesson. It’s so hard to teach students that miss lessons. Piano playing improves incrementally–that means that you are slowly building on your musical foundation and adding to your skills layer by layer. Just like athletes don’t “cram” practice before an Olympic event, we need to practice regularly. Part of this is attending EVERY lesson wherever possible. Having a weekly lesson gives you feedback on your skills and allows your teacher to correct mistakes before they become ingrained problems. Having sporadic lessons kills your forward momentum!
The perfect piano student practices the golden rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Sometimes you wish this wouldn’t even have to be said. Be polite and courteous. Your piano teachers are giving up their own practice and personal time to help students. If you have to miss a lesson, let them know ahead of time, wherever possible. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve received a text, 5 minutes into their scheduled piano time, “Um..I can’t make it today.” And usually, may I say, for a reason that they knew about many days in advance!
The perfect piano student stays at home if they are sick! Piano teachers count on staying healthy to earn their income. This should be common sense, but it happens often enough for me to re-state it here. A good rule is: If you stayed at home from school, you should probably stay away from your piano lesson too. Depending on your situation, most teachers are quite happy to schedule a make-up lesson. Teachers teach a whole slew of students and getting sick can mean some serious lost income for them!
The perfect piano student respects the studio or piano teacher’s policy. When you first sign up as a student, you are often given a policy to read over and agree to. If you are not, don’t be afraid to ask what the teacher’s policy is on missed lessons, absenteeism, payments, etc. and then abide by those rules. It’s true that there are special exceptions here and there which most teachers will discuss on a case by case basis, but please don’t abuse your teacher’s goodwill. It is difficult to be self-employed and hard to count on a steady income from piano lessons. Be prompt with your payments and pay late fees without argument.
The perfect piano student is prepared! It is so nice to teach students that attend their lessons with their music books (yes, I actually have to include this in the list ??!!), a pencil and eraser, and a notebook to mark down their homework! Another part of preparation is attending your classes well-rested and hungry to learn…not hungry for food. It’s hard for anyone to concentrate if you are hungry or tired. Special bonus: make sure your nails are short! 🙂
The perfect piano student PRACTICES! As one of my students told me, “Practicing makes piano lessons more fun!” It’s so great to teach students that have practiced their assignment for the week and come back prepared to learn something new.
The prefect piano student is enthusiastic! I love teaching enthusiastic, motivated students. It’s no fun to teach a student that thinks playing piano is a chore. Having a fun, exploring, curious mind makes teaching rewarding.
Is there any such thing as the perfect piano student? I am lucky enough to have students that do many of these things! It sure makes my teaching easier (and like I said before), more enjoyable! Are you doing these things?
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