Wednesday, September 28, 2016

No Such thing as Talent? talent vs. hard work

The advent of the Suzuki method and Suzuki's philosophy of "every child can" marked a shift in thought about musical talent. Before Suzuki it was largely thought that you either had musical talent or you didn't and there was nothing you could do about it. Suzuki believed that every child, given the right environment, instruction, and hard work, could learn to play the violin (or any instrument) to a very high level. He argues that so called "talent" is largely a product of environment (explains why children of professional musicians often seem to become good musicians from an early age), and that if the ideal environment can be created (exposure to great music via recordings and concerts, singing in the home etc..) anything is possible.
I don't entirely agree or disagree with Dr. Suzuki's philosophy. I do believe that pretty much anyone can achieve a high level of playing if they work hard enough. However, I think that anyone who has taught a significant number of students would agree that some students just seem to "get it" more easily than others, regardless of the amount of practicing they do. I have a self-professed (parent confirmed) non practicer in my studio who has been able to progress almost effortlessly to the middle of Suzuki violin book 2 with pretty much zero practice outside of our lessons (she might practice perhaps for 20 minutes one day every other week). I have another student who has made similar progress with about one hour of practice per week. I also have a student who practices about two hours each week who has struggled much more than the above students to get to the same level in about the same amount of time.  These students are all approximately the same age and started their studies in very similar school programs as more or less the same time (with 2 in the same program). None of their parents are musicians or particularly involved in music or in their children's practice. So how do you explain the differences in their progress vs. practice? If I had just the latter two, one could argue that one practices more effectively and efficiently than the other, but how do you explain the non-practicing student?
I think in some ways we do students a disservice by equating more practice exactly with more progress. Does more practice generally lead to faster and better progress? Absolutely. However, some students will inevitably progress faster than others with the same amount (or less) of practicing.
While I would never put a limit on student achievement, I do think that acknowledging  the fact that some students naturally learn things faster than others can actually make students feel better about their progress. When students express frustration about their rate of progress relative to other students   I acknowledge that some things come more naturally to some students, I also let them know that in most cases, with enough hard work, they can achieve just as much as their more naturally "talented" classmate. 

Suzuki vs. Anti-Suzuki

I have a series of blog post partially written and waiting for editing and publishing. Reading through them, I realized that many of them might seem rather anti-Suzuki method. While I am sometimes critical of certain aspects of the Suzuki Method, I don’t want to give the impression that I am anti-Suzuki. I recognize the numerous wonderful things that are done in Suzuki programs and private studios around the world and I personally use many aspects of the Suzuki method and materials in my own teaching. In fact I have Suzuki training in books 1-3 and have plans to take more training. What I do worry about is that with the overwhelming number of Suzuki violin/viola teachers in my area. I think there is a danger in having fewer options for non-suzuki lessons. For one, not all students have parents able or willing to be the practice partner for their child. Also, for many students who begin at slightly older ages, say 9 and over, parental involvement many take away the ownership of the musical experience from the child. I think it is vitally important to question whatever seems to be becoming standard practice, which at least in my area, seems to be Suzuki based violin/viola instruction, to make sure that the standard practice is properly serving all students, not just those who thrive under a particular model of instruction. 

One of the things I absolutely love about the Suzuki method is the sharing of teaching ideas amongst teachers via teacher training, online forums, Facebook, teacher get-togethers etc... I really wish this were the case for all private violin teachers and that there were more public discussion forums and teacher courses for more non-suzuki methods. There unfortunately seems to be quite a bit of polarization between those teachers who are Suzuki and others, many of whom seem to be anti-Suzuki (if you can trust online comments). I think there is far more grey area between absolutely 100% supporting every aspect of the Suzuki method and saying the the method is useless and that "nothing good" has come from Suzuki instruction. For some reason, much of this discussion seems to be missing from public forums (although I am certain these teachers exist) the discussion seems to take place on Suzuki forums where teachers issue disclaimers about certain aspects of their teaching methods that are "non-Suzuki" by way of explanation. On the other side of the coin, when the Suzuki method or materials are mentioned on non-Suzuki specific forums (such as violinist.com) someone always seems to chime in with an anti-Suzuki comment. I wish there were a forum or class where it was more acceptable to discuss these things frankly in terms of how a teaching idea has helped a teacher teach a certain aspect of violin playing than being couched in "Suzuki" vs. "non-Suzuki" terms. We need free exchange of all ideas in violin teaching, not just those that follow the Suzuki method. 

Monday, September 26, 2016

Joy vs. Achievement

If you talk to almost any beginning music teacher, they will tell you that one of their goals for their students is to foster a "love of music," or "enjoy music" or any variation thereof. I certainly agree with this and would really like for all of my students to take away a real love of music and the violin/viola. One thing I struggle with, however, is how to balance the enjoyment factor with the very real and sometimes tedious work it takes to get posture, bow hold, intonation, rhythm, etc.. exactly right. I do think that enjoyment is ultimately more important than technique (if a student quits because they aren't enjoying lessons, it doesn't matter how beautiful their bow hold is). However, so much of what is truly fun about violin playing such as: playing in an orchestra, or chamber group, attending summer music camps, or playing really interesting and great music, comes only after mastering a fairly high level of technique. This doesn't mean that their isn't joy in playing Twinkle or Go Tell Aunt Rhody, just that to be truly hooked on violin playing often takes experiencing what is truly possible on the violin.
I had a conversation once with a colleague in which we both expressed that we wished every student would stick it out long enough to get through, at a minimum, Suzuki book 4 level. It is at this level that I think students really start to get a glimpse at what is possible on the violin/viola. By this time they generally can do vibrato, they understand the basics of shifting (and know that they can shift up the fingerboard to find more notes, make passages easier, and change tone colors), and are starting to use more complex bowing techniques and off the string strokes. While there is, of course, a world of playing that is far above the level of book 4, at this level they at least have a glimpse at what is ahead and can decide whether or not it is for them. This is also the point at which they have probably played long enough not to lose everything if they quit and want to go back to playing later. They can also possibly play in the 2nd violins of the lower level amateur orchestras, thus making it more likely that they will continue playing and enjoying music.
At the other end of the achievement spectrum are the students who have been bitten by the violin/viola bug and are passionate about achieving their musical goals. I worry about these students in a different way. Having been in this category myself, I know how easy it is to get caught up in the competition aspect of playing at a high level. To be so focused on the next Youth Orchestra, All-State, Concerto Competition, etc... that their is no time to truly enjoy playing and practicing. It is also very easy for more fundamental practice (Scales, etudes, truly polishing pieces in their entirety (not just the 1st few pages or 1st movements)) that long-term technical and musical development suffers (replaced by reams of youth orchestra parts to learn).
Something that I, and I think many teachers, struggle with is how to balance helping students achieve at a high level, without squashing the joy and passion that led them to choose the violin in the first place. Most of the students who truly wish to play at a very high level will often push themselves to achieve and seem to accept the grunt work as simply part of the process (and some even enjoy it). It is the students just below this level, who have the potential to be high achievers, but haven't yet been "bitten by the violin bug" and truly inspired to achieve that can be the most difficult to teach. These students seem don't seem to understand the work it takes to achieve at a high level or haven't really been exposed to higher level playing enough to know what is "out there" in terms of musical opportunities. Hardest for me, are the students who have ambitious playing aspirations, but their parents remain indifferent to their interest and force them to focus on schoolwork or sports instead of music.
Most of the students I have had who are driven to achieve on their own, are the ones who are exposed to, or seek out high level playing. I find that especially the students who attend summer music camps (just day camps are enough) seem to see a higher level of playing from students at or around their age, which can often inspire them to achieve more. Students who frequently seek out performances on youtube (or better yet live performances) also seem more inspired to achieve. I am always looking for ways to encourage students in this area, and may need to find more ways to bring these experiences to lessons, such as watching clips together, or spending a bit of time demonstrating more advanced repertoire.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Ownership: Part 2: Self-Evaluation

In my last post I talked about how the concept of the "Suzuki Triangle" and excessive parental involvement can inhibit students in developing ownership of their playing/practicing. Another aspect of ownership is the skill of self-evaluation.
I think that often teachers are the barrier to students' development in this area. Both in lessons and at school, the pattern is for students to do their work (practice, homework, etc) and turn it in to (or perform for) the teacher for evaluation. While feedback is, of course, a necessary part of learning, the danger in this pattern is that students don't even try to evaluate their own performance, but simply wait for their teacher to tell them how they did. In the case of violin/viola playing, this can result in students who don't actually listen to the sound coming out of their instrument, because they know their teacher will tell them how it sounded.
I have unfortunately found that my high school students are much worse at self-evaluation than my younger students. The younger kids may be less sophisticated in their evaluations, but they are often much more willing to engage in a dialogue that includes their perception of how their playing sounds (the best evaluations usually come from the 8-11 age group). Among high schoolers I find most will shrug and mumble "I don't know" when asked how their performance of a piece went, wanting me to be the one to give the evaluation.
So, why do I ask them, if they don't want to respond? I continue to ask students for their evaluation of their playing, because when I can get them to engage in a discussion about what went well and what didn't, not only do they learn better what to listen for and how to fix their own playing, but I learn a lot about what they understand and how they are processing and using (or not) the information I am giving them.
I remember many lessons (admittedly more as as a college/grad student) when I really wished my teachers would ask me what I noticed first. I found it slightly insulting when professors/teachers would point out obvious errors like wrong notes, an out of tune passage, or a missed entrance, because I felt that they must have thought I was so stupid or unmusical as to not be aware of these things. If given a chance to point out those errors myself I felt that I would have been better able to demonstrate my knowledge and awareness of my performance and to honestly ask for help in resolving any technical limitations that resulted in these errors (I think that many more errors result from technical limitations than from lack of awareness than we realize). I would love for my students to have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and awareness before I jump in with any unnecessary comments or corrections.
I also think that it is really important for students to give feedback about their own playing rather than relying on their teachers, so that they can actually understand what they are supposed to do. I think most musicians have had at least a couple of encounters in lessons or coachings when their teacher asks them to so something they don't really understand fully. The student dutifully repeats a passage over and over, getting feedback after each attempt until their teacher says "that's it!" while the student (relieved they finally got it "right") has no idea how their last attempt was different from the 10 previous attempts or possibly has some idea, but has no idea how to do it again. That is not effective teaching or learning.
In a situation like private violin lessons where a student only has contact with their teacher once a week, it is vital for students to be able to successfully self-evaluate their playing so that they can get the most out of their practice and lessons.
I would love to figure out how to encourage my students to more readily offer their honest assessment of their own playing. Currently I try to follow every initial performance of a piece in a lesson with open ended questions asking them what they think. If they are reluctant to give any feedback I might ask them a more specific question about some aspect of their playing or the piece we have been working on. I also sometimes record a video of their performance of a passage or piece on my phone or iPad and watch it with them, then ask for their feedback (it's often easier to hear things on a recording). I'm always looking for new ideas to encourage students in this area.