Early Morning Inspiration

I'm up earlier than usual this morning, so while the sun has yet to peek over the horizon, my pajama office hours have officially commenced. The coffee is brewing, the family are sleeping, and I'm deciding how to spend these quiet hours alone productively. It occurs to me that this might be a good time to practice piano. Why not? I have a practice pedal on one of my instruments, I'm always lamenting my lack of practice time, and it may be nice to have worked through a new sonata exposition or memorized a section of an older piece by the time people start to stir.

In some Alfred edition of some composer's work, I once read a list of tips for effective practicing - by Maurice Hinson I believe. One of the tips (and this one cracked me up) was never to practice while anything stressful is on your mind. I asked myself, "When is that?" Well, maybe it's right now. It's Sunday morning, there are no students on the schedule, and this is likely to be a relaxing day. If there ever was a time when I am free of stress (except for the slight annoyance that I'm not still sleeping), it's probably now.

So, here's the plan: I'm going to pour myself a nice cup of coffee, lock the middle pedal down, and have at it. What's on the practice menu? Something old (a Mozart sonata), something new (a bit of Dohnanyi technique), something borrowed (a student's Grieg), and something . . . blue?

The Perfect Teaching Day

In my world, the perfect teaching day includes the following 20 elements:

1. Good hair (if you knew my hair, you'd understand)
2. A clean teaching studio
3. Lesson notes from the previous week
4. Sharp pencils
5. A tuned Steinway and Yamaha
6. No distractions (phones ringing, random noises, etc...)
7. A lovely manicure (you'd be surprised how mesmerized little girls can be with my hand gestures when the nails are neatly polished with a princess color. It's a guaranteed trick for getting them to observe carefully. And of course my nails are always trimmed short.)
8. Students who arrive and depart on time
9. Students who remember to bring all of their books
10. Teachable moments that happen by surprise
11. Some Brahms
12. Laughter
13. Breaks for teacher so she doesn't feel exhausted by student number 8
14. Something wonderful from Starbucks
15. The discovery of a delightful new teaching piece
16. Overdue items returned to my library
17. Students who show evidence of having practiced throughout the week (why didn't I think of this one back at number 1...or 2?)
18. Any parents who sit in have their cell phones turned off and observe without interjecting
19. I meet each student at his or her level
20. My students leave my studio knowing something they didn't know before.

Who is the Pajama Pedagogue?

I am a piano teacher. I have pajama office hours in the morning with my freshly brewed coffee. This configuration suits me perfectly. I love helping students discover how to make beautiful piano music, and I continually add to my teaching toolbox by reading journals, going to workshops, and experimenting with new ideas.

I have over 40 private students, and each has a completely unique skill set and learning style. I try to adapt my teaching style to accommodate this diversity, and often remind myself that I must meet each student where he or she is . . . at each lesson.

I'm not one of those teachers who likes to (or must) get the day's teaching over as quickly as possible by scheduling students back to back with no breaks. I much prefer spreading the schedule out so that I can regroup, stretch, write lesson notes, check e-mail, and recharge for the next set of lessons. I'm a better teacher that way.

Why a blog? I'm not exactly sure. My prediction is that I will brainstorm new ideas here and discuss teaching and business issues that are on my mind. Piano teaching can be a solitary occupation, and there may be other pedagogues out there who will be interesting in reading some of what I have to write. We shall see...