About Noteworthy Piano Studio

At Noteworthy Piano Studio students are given caring and nurturing instruction that will provide a satisfying experience as well as challenge to succeed. A quote from a recent Piano Pedagogy seminar, "Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Personalized Instruction -By very nature, private piano lessons give individual attention. Keeping a positive attitude and enthusiasm for tasks help to motivate even the reluctant student. Remembering to think past negative verbalizations to underlying causes can improve the teaching atmosphere as well as create a better result from the lesson itself.

“I don’t want to” simply stated could have a meaning of “I have no clue how to begin”. “Do I have to?” means “I didn’t try this at home, I am frustrated because I have forgotten the joy of accomplishment. It seems too hard. Please help me.” “I’m tired.” – “Please make this fun for me, I haven’t practiced and I need to enjoy learning.” A student who comes in with a list of excuses for not practicing is really saying, “I want to play piano instantly. I want to push a button, sit back and enjoy the music. I want it to come from my hands effortlessly.” OR they sincerely desire to practice and feel that since practicing is a pleasurable activity, they need to finish the “work” activities or social responsibilities before taking the time to practice. Some students practice for long periods and come back to the lesson needing many corrections.

The lesson is not long enough to compete with the length of the entire week of practicing. Helping the student realize the need for correction without discouragement is a tender task. If the student realizes that I, as their teacher, know best and will accept my advice, I have a good chance of helping the student succeed. I do not think it is healthy to force numerous corrections week after week. The student is demonstrating that they do not think it needs to be fixed, or perhaps the mistake is so ingrained, it is best to move on.

Being truthful with the student about their talent and education without accenting a mistake as a failure is particularly important for a lifetime pursuit in music. We all make mistakes and we all fail, but what we do afterwards can make a big difference in the outcome. Infatuated praise is not honest, but starting out with positive aspects of the student’s playing is very important for helping them to accept the corrections. Studies have proven that people tend to remember more negative statements than positive ones.

Students who take ownership of their piano lesson will have success. Allowing the student to have input in curriculum choices is a step in that direction. ‘Student directed learning’ has been a big subject in educational psychology in recent years. This method encourages the teacher to take a back seat as the student drives. The teacher is in constant communication but the student is determining the pace and direction. Some teachers have students write their own assignments and marks in their music. I personally do not do this, but will often ask a student to mark something in their score. Using different colors can help to know when a problem is identified and if it has had time for correction. One method I use is to number assignments for the next lesson so the student will have a priority list for practice.

Noteworthy Piano Studio
Westmont, IL 60559

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