R: “I’m awesome.”
It’s the sweetest response my student makes when she acknowledges a mistake. My other students have their own quirky interjections.
A: “Yup, jk jk.” “I was just testing you.”
B: “Oops, I heard that. My bad.”
C: “Ha. That one again.”
Waiting til the end of a piece to air my critique makes both my student and I present to the moment. I want them to call their own mistakes out before I can mention them. When I’m not with them, they need to recognize the weak spots during their practice and enjoy fixing them.
X: “I know what I need to fix there.”
Miss JNET: “Keep playing. Good save. Glad you caught your mistake before I called it.”
R likes to say that she’s awesome when she makes a mistake. I find the moment endearing and I prefer it to being apologetic. She was stumped over a sequence of notes yesterday. I watched her try to suss it out and waited before offering to help her. Juxtapose that to another student who’d exclaim,
“I’m so stupid. Arrrrgghh.”
Frustration can become so thick that the piano lesson atmosphere feels muggy. A piece gets played stilted by not only oopsy notes but also self deprecating talk. Constant apologies also take up time.
My stopwatch is on. I measure the time spent on feeling upset and distracted by a measure of notes. It is my hope that my student can pick themselves up, let go of the mistake, and show me they can play the rest of the piece. Some will find their resolve faster than a previous lesson. Some will need a pep talk to snap out of their frustration. Once in a blue moon, I will be concerned and need to alert the parents to their child’s self punishing talk. The plight of wanting perfection all the time is disappointment. It’s heavy to wrestle with during a piano lesson.
What exactly is this “perfection” that demands that you call yourself stupid when you fall short? Sadly, if my student can’t free themselves from the snag of perfection, they quit piano. A process like piano lessons that seeks mistakes to correct and addresses weaknesses is too much work for someone that is too delicate.
Make a mistake. Own it and correct it. Tell me you’re awesome in the midst of all that and I will agree with you....you are awesome.
JNET