I was thinking of a particular student whose eyes lit up when I showed her by rote a piano tune called Sneaky Ape. But the fire in her eyes dimmed a little when I showed her how to hold her wrist and fingers. That was two weeks ago.
I recalled the above incident today. Clearly that student’s fun loving energy was aroused when I showed her something that was fun to her. I wondered why can’t all piano lessons be like that?
I can certainly recalled a few times when some students have great craic (an Irish word for fun) during lessons. Why can’t fun permeate throughout most of a lesson? Instead, most lessons seem to be serious. If I recall my piano lessons with my three or four teachers, they are certainly serious. Yes we would have the occasional chat which provided a brief respite. But beyond those chats, lessons are almost always very focussed, serious and full of concentration. Not that that’s a bad thing.
But why can’t there be a few more laughs during lessons?