Sounding off on motivation
Pete Jutras Ph.D., NCTM, is Assistant Professor of Piano, at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music of the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, where he serves as Piano Pedagogy and Class Piano Specialist. Prior to his recent move to Athens, Pete maintained an independent teaching studio in Dallas, TX for ten years. His research on adult piano students has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, and he is a frequent presenter at national and local conferences.
“Born Free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows, born free to follow your heart ...” *
This will date me, and it might cause a few chuckles, but I’ll admit it — I have crystal clear memories of playing “Born Free” on the piano when I was six or seven years old. I might have been taking lessons for a year when my teacher assigned a simple arrangement of this movie theme. I loved that song, and I would sing it to myself over and over for hours. I don’t know why, but at that time and place something about the tune captivated me. Playing and hearing “Born Free” was fun, and I’m sure it helped to keep me interested in the piano. Maybe my tastes at that age weren’t as refined as they could be, but if that tune helped hold my attention and lead me on to bigger and better repertoire, does it really matter?
As teachers, we are constantly working to keep our students motivated and interested in their piano study. We know that a variety of other interests compete for our students’ attention, from increased homework to a growing array of video games, online pastimes, and media outlets. What can we do to keep our students interested in practicing when they face so many other options? Where can we find the true source of motivation?
It would be easy to fill this column with psychological theories of motivation, but instead I’m going to ask you, the reader, for your help. If you’re reading this, it is likely that you are an accomplished musician. At some point in your life you began to study music, and you stuck with it. You may have been tempted to quit on occasion, but you made it — you’re still here! You are a model of success in music study. So, the question is — what motivated you to keep going ? We’re all fond of joking that we are not in this business for the money, so I’ll ask the question another way — what did you love about music that led you to choose it as a profession?
For me (and I suspect for many of you), the fundamental issue is one of sound. Ultimately, I loved the sound of some pieces so much that I would work for hours, weeks, and even months to teach my fingers how to recreate these sounds. As I grew older, I would revel in the sound of extended harmonies in Romantic repertoire and harmonic sequences in Bach and Mozart. I loved the feeling of movement and pulse generated by rhythmic patterns and ostinatos. Pop and jazz tunes with interesting harmonic progressions intrigued me. Whatever the style of repertoire, it was always some aspect of the sound that was inspiring and motivating.
Your students all have this love for the sound of music. I would personally argue that every human being has this love of musical sound. No matter what their musical background, every person has a favorite song that is meaningful to them. This is universal to all cultures, and we all know that the right music can be a source of inspiration, emotion, and passion. The sound of what we play can be a powerful motivator, and it is something we must take advantage of in our teaching.
Sound inspires emotions, and research has shown that emotions can enhance memory by triggering the release of certain hormones. The brain remembers learning experiences that generate emotions better than those which simply present material in an academic way.
In today’s world, our students are surrounded by sound and music. Many of them have iPods™ or MP3 players which place thousands of songs in the palm of a hand (see page 52). Some students spend free time (perhaps too much!) playing video games, which have a constant musical soundtrack. Movies, television, and advertising are all accompanied by music that fills our ears with sound. All of this listening provides valuable opportunities for us to connect material from the piano lesson to the daily sounds of our students’ lives.
Ask your students to bring in their favorite “listening” music. Could you encourage them to figure out the meter while they listen? What about the tonality? Perhaps they could notate some of the rhythmic patterns. Assign “normal” technical patterns like scales and arpeggios to be played in the rhythms of some of their favorite songs. Encourage them to figure out some of the melody by ear. When you teach chord progressions are you also teaching your students to hear them in the popular music that they listen to? Provide your students with the joy of discovering that the concepts you teach in the lesson are present in all of the music around them — not just piano repertoire.
When you assign piano repertoire, are your students given practice activities that relate to the sound of a new work? Students are often excited at the prospect of learning a new piece, but they can quickly grow frustrated if they feel like what they are doing at home doesn’t sound anything like the finished piece. Slow practice, hands alone work, and isolated sections can be useful and productive practice techniques, but they often result in sound that is far removed from the intent of the piece. Some strategies that might help the student stay focused on the sound include playing just the downbeats up to tempo, blocking harmonies, playing just melody and bass lines (“skeletal” practice), and creating images or stories that help focus attention on the dynamics and large-scale shape of a piece. There doesn’t have to be a new technical challenge in every piece you assign — instead try assigning a piece that is easier to play and have the student focus more on the execution of a quality sound.
The esteemed pedagogue William Gillock was fond of saying that there was no better motivator than great repertoire. As we teach day after day, we must never lose sight of our own personal love of sound, or of our student’s love of sound. Students will stay motivated and spend more time at the piano if what they hear when they sit down to play sounds good !
* From the 1966 Motion Picture Born Free . Music by John Barry, Lyrics by Don Black
In the current issue
Much of the current issue relates to the use of sound and its importance in the learning process. Our cover story with Dan Coates is an excellent example of the importance of using sound to teach. All of our students hear popular music everyday, and Dan Coates is a master at capturing the essence of those sounds in arrangements that inspire and motivate.
Our Reading column discusses the importance of experiencing concepts before defining them academically. In teaching music this typically translates to hearing and feeling musical content first. In the Technique department, we see how starting with ear-training and familiar sounds can help promote technical progress. Our new Jazz-Pop department provides a primer on the sound of the Blues, whose sound has influenced much of the popular music of the last century.
In a second article on Recreational Music Making (see the Summer ’07 issue for the first), we are reminded how fun and relaxing it is for adult students to make enjoyable sounds. Speaking of adult students, in that department you’ll read how adult students are inspired (again through attractive sounds) to make the extra effort to learn and perform concerti, with the supporting sound of an orchestra.
Both the Repertoire and the Rhythm departments have interesting articles on the preparation of more advanced music, but they both mention how important (and motivating) it is for students to have the right sounds in mind throughout the learning process. Finally, our Technology department discusses some of the innovative ways we can use technology to deliver sound to our students and help them work on advanced repertoire.
Every article in this issue has some connection to the importance of sound in the learning process, and there was no directive or plan that this should be the case. The fact that all of our departments independently mention the role of sound is further illustration of just how important and essential sound is to our teaching and learning.
Sound off!
How does our magazine “sound” to you? Your input and feedback help to make this magazine a vibrant community of companions. Please let us know what you think, either about the magazine in general or about specific articles. We would like to run more letters to the editor in future magazines, and we would welcome your comments, questions, reactions, and ideas. Please write us at editor@keyboardcompaion. com or send your letters to Pete Jutras, Editor-in-Chief, Hugh Hodgson School of Music, 250 River Road, Athens, GA 30602. I look forward to hearing the “sound” of your voices on all matters, large and small!