I normally write about things pertaining to piano lessons and music education, but today I am branching out and sharing my thoughts about some holiday movies I have recently watched. If you are celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, there is still time to watch one (or two) of these before January 6!
 
Top pick: Christmas Angel (2011), available on Amazon Prime
 
Honestly, I was not expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. The blue collar storyline focuses on a young lady who has been out of work for a while, and she accepts a job working as her neighbor’s personal assistant. The neighbor is not who he appears to be, and a handsome reporter starts asking questions. It is a low budget, slow paced film with relatable characters and a moral that could’ve been written by Dickens himself.  The dialogue is awkward and realistic, and the fact that the movie lacks the flawless decorations, designer clothing, and obligatory cookie decorating scene that fills most holiday movies was refreshing. If you are looking for a heartwarming story that is free from the classic holiday movie tropes, you will enjoy this one!
 
Runner up:  A California Christmas (2020), available on Netflix.
 
I liked this movie in part because it actually portrays a somewhat realistic view of a life on a farm.  The movie is about a spoiled young man who is sent to purchase a struggling ranch in CA, but is mistaken for the ranch hand and ends up working on the ranch and falling for the young rancher and her family.  I grew up on a farm in East TN, and I spent much of my childhood collecting firewood, chasing chickens, and milking goats. (Unlike the characters in the movie, we did not have a vineyard, but we did have a wild blackberry patch that we picked from every summer).  The movie, created by and starring a real life married couple, has many funny and tender moments and although there are some baking scenes, it once again manages to tell an interesting story without throwing in too many holiday tropes.
 
Runner up: Midnight at the Magnolia (2020), available on Netflix.
 
This is a sweet and funny story about two radio hosts who have been friends since childhood who pretend to be engaged for a publicity stunt and (surprise!) actually end of falling in love.  The movie has more holiday tropes than the ones mentioned above, but the writers used these tropes to build the characters and move the story along in a natural way.  And it was refreshing to see the beauty of healthy family and friend relationships, in a world where so many relationships are unhealthy or fractured. 
 
Skip this one: Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (2020), available on Netflix.
 
I love musicals, and I normally enjoy cheesy, quirky movies. But this movie is terrible. Let me preface this review by saying I grew up in East TN and spent many, many days at Dollywood. Like many of us, I consider Dolly an honorary grandmother. I have listened to the podcast Dolly Parton’s America, and I genuinely enjoyed the movies about her life and her previous Netflix film, Dumplin’ (2018).  So I write this statement with love: Dolly, you can do better.
The characters are incredibly one dimensional, the music ranges from terrible to mediocre, and the set is obviously fake.  The narrative is all over the place, jumping from character to character with dizzying speed.
The story is about a small town that is owned by one woman, and in the opening scene she announces she is selling the entire town to a developer who plans to build a shopping mall. The townspeople are understandably upset, and while they hold hands and sing inspirational songs in church, Dolly visits the town owner and tries to convince her to change her mind by singing songs with lyrics like “light your lamp.”
I am not sure why the writers, producer and director who worked with Dolly gave this film a green light. It would have been better for everyone if they had said “This is not the same level of quality we have produced before.”  Hopefully before Dolly’s next project starts production, someone has the guts to look her in the eye and say, “We can do better.”
 
That’s a wrap for the 2020 holiday movie reviews. Now you can skip the deliberation about what to watch and use that time to bake some sugar cookies. Save me one with icing, please!
 

                                Reflections on gratitude during a pandemic year
 
            2020…what a year! As I have been reading Thanksgiving posts of social media, I have noticed a similar theme of gratitude and grieving.  This mixture of emotions was especially poignant  in my heart while watching the Macy’s Day Parade yesterday.  On the one hand, it was encouraging to see the detail and creativity put into creating and decorating the
floats that would only be viewed through a screen. But the emptiness of the floats and the streets, the quietness resulting from the absence of cheering crowds and marching bands and
Broadway singers was a stark reminder of the toll this disease has brought upon
this country and the world.
            I have similar emotions of gratitude and grieving every time I watch a virtual choir or orchestra performance. How wonderful it is to see musicians practicing and recording in their own homes, and to hear the finished product! But I am also sad because I know that, no matter how good the technology is, it will never replace being in the same room and hearing the music live.  I miss singing with my choir. I miss going to recitals at the university and local churches.

            But in the midst of sorrow, there is much to be grateful for.

I am grateful for sound engineers and camera operators and people who have spent hours learning how to use video and sound editing technology to put together the virtual choirs and orchestras.  I am grateful for opera companies who are using baseball stadiums to put on operas, and orchestras that are putting up plexiglass partitions and streaming their performances online.  I am deeply grateful for the wonderful community of teachers around the world who I have connected with via Facebook, who have shared ideas, videos, and resources online. Connecting with other piano teachers around the world via weekly Zoom meetings was so encouraging professionally and personally during the spring and summer months. (Many thanks for Zohara Rotem for hosting these meetings). 
My students and I have also benefited from the composers who took it upon themselves to write new music that would be interesting to play and accessible to teach online (thanks Wendy Stevens, Diane Hidy, Keith Snell, Carol Matz). 

            Because of the pandemic, I have become a better teacher. 

I am learning to be a better business owner.
I have a deeper appreciation for the way music connects us, even when we are physically apart.

I have made new connections with teachers all over the world.
 
And so, even though I cannot be thankful for the pandemic itself, I am grateful for the way it acted as a catalyst to encourage me to grow.
 
May we all continue to view obstacles, large and small, as opportunities for growth.
 
Happy Thanksgiving! 

Recently, I have been having conversations with parents and students in my studio about goals and expectations. When the older students have more homework each school year, or the beginning student is resisting practicing at home, it is normal for parents to ask, “Is continuing with music lessons worth it.” The answer is yes, and and the reason is because the musical skills and life skills are worth the investment.
                  When you invest in music lessons, and your child invests time in practicing, it is just that: an investment. And the investment is not only into learning the skill of playing the piano, but it is also an investment into the life skills of setting long and short term goals, cultivating daily habits, critical thinking, and perseverance, and many others.
                  Like monetary investments, the return you get from piano lessons depends on how much you invest.  If your child only practices once or twice in between lessons, they will not get much enjoyment out of lessons and their musical progress will be slow. For a visual reference, look at this chart a teacher created and gave me permission to share:
                  You may be reading this thinking, “I agree with these reasons, but I am overwhelmed and don’t enjoy the power struggle when I suggest practicing.” Here are some practical suggestions for parents and students who are trying to fit in daily practicing:




​













You may be reading this
thinking, “I agree with these reasons, but I am overwhelmed and don’t enjoy the power struggle when I suggest practicing.” Here are some practical suggestions for parents and students who are trying to fit in daily practicing:

• Make it a goal to touch the piano every day
• Put a jar on the piano, and each time your child practices, put a penny or marble in it. When the jar is filled, do something special to celebrate.
• Leave  a coloring sheet or checklist on the piano, and color an object or put a check for each day of practicing.

 
Please, do not allow your child to quit because things are difficult. The rewards of playing music are worth the investment. 















​

The fall semester has been going for about a month now, and I have had a wonderful time hearing about all the summer adventures from my returning students, and getting to know my new students.  Several of my students were not able to take lessons over the summer, and so I have been coming up with creative ways to help them access their long term memories.  I know from learning about the brain that nothing we learn is ever truly forgotten, but the information may be stored in a way that makes it difficult to access.  So, I have pulled out rhythm games, note naming games, chord identifying games, and the half and whole step cards to review pentascales, major scales and minor scales. I am thrilled to report that the review games have worked, and my students have not only remembered what they learned last year, but they are excited about moving forward and learning new concepts.
        What is the connection with review games and the title of this blog post? It is simply this: every child moves at their own pace.  This is one of the Suzuki philosophy points, and it is important to constantly remind others (and myself) of this idea.  I may play a game twice with one student before they understand the concept and we move on.  With a different student, we may revisit the concept (through the game) 10 or 15 times before they understand the concept.  Each child is a unique person with a different learning style and there is no magic number of repetitions that guarantees understanding.
          Our culture is obsessed with competition, and not all competition is unhealthy.  But in the realm of private music lessons, we all need to remember that learning music is not a competition or a race.  Studying music is an incredibly personal and individual journey. And each person gets to set their own pace and move as slow or as fast as they are comfortable.  My job as a teacher and your job as a parent is to walk alongside them, encouraging, leading, guiding, and sometimes just enjoying the view.  

I’ve been pondering on musical milestones during the past few weeks Recently, one of my students, Charlee, played her book 2 graduation recital.  A graduation recital, in the Suzuki world, is an important milestone to celebrate the culmination of learning all the pieces in a book. At the recital, the student plays through all the pieces from memory.  To prepare for the recital, the student and teacher spend time reviewing and refining the pieces to make them as musical and historically accurate as possible. 

To learn all the pieces in a book takes countless hours of practicing, and great mental concentration.  The skills of persistence, hard work, and attention to detail are skills that students begin to develop from the first lesson. The attention to detail required to learn Bach minuets is developed as the students learn to play Honeybee and Lightly Row with Alberti bass.

A graduation recital is a wonderful achievement, and I am very proud of Charlee’s work and dedication. I am equally proud of my beginning students when they can play Variation 1 from beginning to end with high bounces, switch from the C major chord to the G major chord, or play the F major scale hands together.  As my students and I approach the spring recital, I am reminded that we would not be celebrating the milestones if not for the patient, dedicated practicing of students on a daily basis and the parents who come to lessons and listen to their children practice at home.  

Several years ago, one of my teacher friends reminded me, "A recital is a celebration, not a test."  It is a celebration of the persistence and commitment put forth by the student, parent, and teacher.  So let's celebrate! 

What is your child’s motivation to practice? Is he or she motivated by their love of music and learning, or are they practicing so they can get a sticker? If your child's only motivation comes from the prospect of getting a sticker, he/she is extrinsically motivated. If your child practices because he/she loves to practice and enjoys music, he/she is intrinsically motivated.  
 
Extrinsic motivation is defined as motivation that comes from an outside source.  Examples include praise from the parent or teacher, stickers, prizes, etc.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within the person.  For example, I practice Haydn sonatas because I enjoy practicing the way the music sounds, and I enjoy the particular challenge of this sonata. 
 
There is nothing wrong with extrinsic motivators. In fact, they can be a great teaching tool. I am thrilled when my students want to finish a piece so they can get a sticker.  This school year, I have been giving my students the opportunity to see their progress by keeping a studio practice chart and letting my students color one image when they’ve practiced three times a week, and a different image when they are willing to do the extra work of memorizing  (the photo at the top is the March practicing challenge). I change out the images each month to keep it interesting. 
 
Coloring challenges and stickers are fun, but my ultimate goal is for students to love music for music’s sake, not for stickers or coloring incentives. Learning to practice consistently teaches the skills of time management, setting a goal, and perseverance, among other things.  These are important skills that translate into all areas of life, not just to learning an instrument.  As the child gets older, they will encounter many, many times where they have to put in a great amount of time and effort into a task, and they may not receive any external reward or praise for it. 
 
Younger children are constantly learning and developing new habits (both good and bad), and those of us who are older and more mature should be quick to praise them for accomplishing tasks and following instructions.  As the children grow older and more mature, they will hopefully develop some internal motivation, and not rely only on external motivation to keep going.  Learning to enjoy something for its own sake is a process, and that process takes time. Doing something well is its own reward.
 
The satisfaction that you get from working diligently and achieving a goal is worth the effort, regardless of whether anyone else notices what you did and applauds your effort. 
 
But until that maturity is developed, I will happily hand out stickers and have coloring challenges available.
 



​

Recently, I have been working on duets with two of my students. I think we have all been a little surprised about how enjoyable and challenging the process has been.  My students enjoyed the first duet so much, I have assigned a second one. 
 
Why are duets beneficial?  First, duets expose any flaws in rhythm and tempo, helping the performers to develop and strengthen their counting skills.  When you are playing a solo, you can make many slight variations in tempo and rhythm without it adversely affecting the music. But when you are playing a duet, it becomes very important to be rhythmically precise, or else the entire piece can get thrown out of whack.
 
Second, duets strengthen the ability to listen to two separate parts simultaneously. I often ask my students, “Are you together?”  If one of them says, “I don’t know,” I say, “Listen again.”  The students must know concentrate on their own part and listen to the other part simultaneously.  This is an important skill that does not come naturally to anyone, but the skill can grow with practice. 
 
Third, duets provide a sense of togetherness.  Playing piano is most often a solo endeavor, and every so often pianists can feel lonely.  The beauty of duets is that the pianist is not alone.  Suddenly, you are working with someone else towards a common goal.  You are sharing the journey with a friend, and that makes the reward much sweeter.
 

 What are you investing in?
​
Recently, I have been very frustrated by the slowness of my computer.  Then, I realized that my hard drive had years and years worth of files that I no longer need and forgot to delete, and my inbox had emails going back to 2009! So, I’ve been deleting a lot of files and emails, and my computer is working more effectively now. 

            Interestingly, I have a hard time deleting emails from family members. Before we all had smart phones and a group text thread, we would email each other to discuss mundane, everyday things like July 4th celebrations, grocery store lists, planning baseball game attendance, etc.  And I don’t want to delete the record of those conversations.

            Why do I feel compelled to save the emails of those ordinary conversations?  We live in a digital age, where photos, tweets, and status updates can disappear with the touch of a finger.  One bad tweet can create a national controversy or ruin a reputation.  One Youtube video can turn an unknown person into a sensation overnight.  In contrast, the emails that discuss ordinary activities are records of something precious and long lasting: my relationship with my family members. We have a lot of history together, and we’ve shared life together.  We have invested time, tears, sweat, laughter and hard work into big events like weddings and births and mundane events like checking the air pressure in the tires before a road trip.  These relationships cannot be deleted by the swipe of a finger.

            My question to you is, what are you investing in?  Are you investing time and effort into learning an instrument? Are you investing in your relationship with your child by listening to them practice, and helping them practice?  Are you investing in the musical community by going to local music events? In this digital age, where so much of work and “life” occurs between the lines of code, will you make an effort to put down your phone or tablet, walk away from your computer, turn off the TV, and make an investment? Invest your time and energy into something or someone that cannot be erased. 
 

New Year Practice Challenge
 
This fall, once we got back into a regular schedule after the hurricane, the studio practice challenges were very successful.  Most of my students completed the twenty day practice challenge, and in December the ornament challenge made my studio doors very colorful (see picture). This semester, we are doing a longer challenge of 100 days, but I will still be keeping track of each twenty day segments on my bulletin board. Here are some suggestions on how to make practicing a regular (and fun) part of your routine.

1.  Be consistent. Don’t try to do it all in one day.  If you leave practicing until the day before your lesson, you will be overwhelmed and frustrated and stressed out.  Instead, set a daily routine, and try to practice at the same time every day.
2. Be practical.  If you only have ten minutes, identify the measure/section that is the most difficult and work on that for ten minutes.  This method is much more effective than playing through the whole piece once, stumbling during the tricky spots, and getting discouraged. 
3. Be time savvy.  If you are able, break up your practicing into several small chunks over the course of the day.  Try to practice for 10 minutes before school, 10 minutes after dinner, and then 10 minutes before bed. Your brain works much more effectively when concentrating intensely for a short period of time. 
4. Be organized.  Make a schedule and put it on the fridge or bathroom mirror.  Do not underestimate the power of a visual reminder.  If you are so inclined, put a sticker on the chart for every day that you practiced. 

Music can be very rewarding, but like all things, the output is directly affected by in input.  The reward is worth the effort. 

Happy Practicing!
​
“Do not hurry, do not rest.”  Suzuki

​I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of listening in relation to piano lessons.  Specifically, what role does listening to a recording have in daily practice, and why is listening important?
 
Listening to recordings is important because it gives the student an objective to work towards. The student needs to know what the music is supposed to sound like, and then, through coaching by the teacher and parent, they learn to evaluate their playing and say “I am not playing this like the recording, therefore, I need to alter my playing.”
 
A recording helps the student learn the tone quality, notes, rhythm, phrasing, and form. One of the many aspects of learning music, especially for beginning students, is learning to recognize patterns, and recognize when the pattern changes.  By listening to recordings, students learn to hear the difference between a question phrase and an answer phrase long before those terms are introduced. 
 
Another important benefit of listening is that it helps the student internalize the musicality of the music.  I can sit with a student and say “This is the end of a phrase, so it needs to be soft,” or “there’s a crescendo in the music, and I need to hear it!”, but those instructions don’t have much meaning if the student is not familiar with how tapering at the end of a phrase sounds, or how much to crescendo. 
​
Music is much more than the symbols on the page.  And while it is very important to learn to decipher the symbols on the page, it is easy to forget that there are other aspects of music that go beyond learning to read the symbols on the page. Music is a living entity, full of emotions and meanings that are difficult to express with words.  

                                                As Hans Christian Anderson said,
                                              "When Words fail, music speaks."