Duct Tape and Piano Lessons.

Usually when I teach piano, I try to "teach" only when necessary.

I tell her, "I'm not going to tell you what you played wrong. But play that line again and try to figure it out yourself. Then tell me what it is." I tell him, "You improved so much on that passage. What is it that you think you did really well on?" I usually let her finish the entire song, no matter how many mistakes, so that she doesn't begin to correlate mistakes with FAILURE. I usually let him play his favorite piece without interrupting because music should be joyous.

I do this because of an article I read about a year ago. The article, written by a piano instructor, advocated this method of relinquishing the need to control the process of education. The writer began experimenting in her private lessons. She began bringing duct tape (figuratively speaking). She decided to say nothing.

Well, of course, the verbal necessities were still employed. "Let's have you start on page four." "Now to Chopin." But anything that was of a subjective nature, anything that would be labeled critique (be it positive or negative) was considered off-limits. She did this because she realized she had assumed incompetence or inferiority in her students. The experiment lead to a powerful seven word revelation: the student must be her own teacher. The results: fascinating and humbling. Each student knew exactly what they needed to work on/drill/express apart from any external input. And each student felt adept and valued which, in turn, increased motivation to practice and to excel.

Today it hit me. If I can give this grace to those I teach, then I can give that same grace to myself.