Cynthia VanLandingham
President of
PianoBears.com
Each year I give a Fall Harvest Recital Party for my piano students and celebrate the beginning of a new school year of piano growth. This event is especially important to welcome new students who often have less than accurate pre-conceptions about piano lessons. Mainly these come from vicarious experiences they've absorbed unconsciously from TV and the movies that generate unrealistic expectations, which can set them up for failure and disappointment. To prevent this, my job is to open their eyes to a new world of piano learning that's even better than the one on TV. This new view is based on the three R's: Realistic, Reliable, and Renewable.
Before I go any further, please set aside any pre- conditioning you may have absorbed from television and the media tending to politicize the term, sustainable growth, and associate it with a partisan agenda. My agenda is to help piano students achieve their musical dreams by languaging the Three R's into their vocabulary to give them a posistive, long-term perspective. Below are three steps to creating a new world of learning for piano students using the Three R's.
Realistic - Realistic expectations are sustainable because they're based on a long-term perspective supported by long-term goals, which bypass short-term expediency. Becoming realistic begins with three words, "I Get To." Start by replacing all "Do I Have To's?" with "I Get To's."
Reliable - Reliable expectations are sustainable because they allow learning to happen the way it's supposed to, over time. Becoming reliable begins with three words, "Keep it Simple." Start by making a list of the simple things that support learning, e.g. go to lessons, bring your books, turn off the TV.
Renewable - Renewable expectations are sustainable because they are an energy source. Relying on renewable energy begins with one word - "Love." Passion is irresistible, and contagious. Sharing my joy and love of music is the best way to impart this value to children for a life-time.
Why do the three R's create a world of renewable, sustainable learning for piano students? What does this have to do with my Fall Harvest Piano Recital?
Well, learning to play the piano is very similar to the sustained effort involved in planning and growing your own garden over time, and then sharing the harvest with your family and friends. The modern world has provided spectacular advances in technology with a new vocabulary to go with it. Unfortunately, it has also tended to leave children a little less connected to their inner world of wonder, curiosity, and passion, where deep and lasting growth occurs gradually, over time. Additionally, it has given kids the notion that any achievement which doesn't come instantly is the result of failure. The Three R's remove these artificial roadblocks to long-term success. Here is a simple story to illustrate the perspective student's need to achieve their musical drems.
In our back yard we have some very large blueberry bushes. They were very small when we first planted them, producing only a hand full of berries. Now, 15 years later, we harvest a freezer full of blueberries every summer to enjoy and share. Many times we could have dug them up and planted more spectacular shrubs to instantly add more appeal to our yard, but we always believed that one day they would grow into big blueberry trees and give us lots of yummy fruit. And after some years of care, they do!
Nurturing your child's or your own musical talent is much
like the sustained effort involved in growing a garden with love and care. It takes time and patience, and a belief
that one day your dream will come true. Why Believe in a plan so simple? Because simple efforts mixed together with
love are a reliable source of sustainable growth that make a powerful difference, over time. To learn the best way to share the gift of music with
children visit Amazon.com with this link Piano Adventure Stories
for Children My exciting Piano Adventure stores for children ages 5 to 11 feature the loveable characters, Mrs.
Treble Beary and her passionate, new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. In these beautifully illustrted,
inspirational stories children follow along with Albeart to Mrs. Treble Beary's piano studio in Musical Acres
Forest. Here they learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand and appreciate!
Piano students laugh and giggle while reading "Little Bear's Musical Garden" and "Little Bear's Piano Goals."
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