How do we help our students become confident and skilled as a pianist and make piano teaching meaningful and rewarding.
Written by Scott Lam on 2nd April, 2020
Our lifetime is limited. Of course we can focus on just enjoying everything in life without worrying about achievements. However it should not be the case when it comes to education or studies. We want to improve fast and be able to achieve something after we spend time and effort committing to piano lessons and practice.
If a student always just want to enjoy playing without the commitment to put in the hard work, I identify them as unteachable. Without the patience and persistence one will not be able to achieve the technical skills to express themselves on the piano. Without the goal of making improvements, the role of the teacher becomes redundant. On the other hand, if a teacher dose not have the knowledge and experience to help students to improve fast and easily but just focus on having fun and enjoyment during the lesson time, sooner or later students will feel that they are not getting better and they still cannot perform on the piano confidently. They might eventually lose interest and quit.
So how to help students to improve their piano playing fast? From the teachers' prospective, there are two things we need to do: firstly, using a systematic method to help students understand music and improve their technical skills in the most efficient way; secondly, help students to build confidence and ambitions in piano playing through organising students concerts and participating in competitions. The two must be implemented together. Otherwise performances and competitions can be frustrating and discouraging if students cannot play the piano well in the first place and blindly practising and trying to improve without having the opportunities to perform in front of audiences could make piano studies dull and dry which can lead to loss of motivation.
The great thing is these days with the well developed technology, teachers and students can get access to many piano pedagogical courses easily and piano players can also find audiences easily by posting videos of their performances on the net. Of course live performance would be still preferred and the amazing experience of listening to a wonderful performance live can have a life time impact on many of the listeners.
Being gifted and hard working are very important factors for a piano students to succeed. However, the guidance of the teacher and parents is even more important. Parents provide the environment to give their children the best opportunity to grow as musicians and pianists while teachers have the responsibility to make students become interested in music, enjoy listening and playing music, and help them improve fast with a systematic method.
Over the years my students always show appreciation for my teaching because not only I try to be the most supportive and encouraging teacher, but I also give them clear and firm instructions to improve step by step in a very efficient way. They become confident performers and enjoy playing the piano more and more. Piano skills allow them to explore the sound world of different nations in different time period. I find my job very meaningful as I know the skills and knowledge I impart to my students can change their life in some way.
Scott Lam
Scott started learning the piano at 15 and while in his 30s he was awarded the most outstanding private teacher (keyboard grade 7 to licentiate) by the Australian Music Examination Board AMEB NSW in 2017. He understands what is the most efficient way to make students understand music and improve their technique. He is now sharing his systematic teaching method that can benefit both piano teachers and learners.
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