Piano Lessons with Rebecca

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Five practice tips (for piano parents)

    1. Set up practice charts so that your child can see his/her progress. Time and frequency are two very common (and relatively easy) ways to measure and quantify practice efficacy. Completing a wall chart that documents the time spent playing as well as the frequency of practice imparts to your child that practice should happen…

  • Practice is hard

    When I was a child, I used to practice the piano standing up. Why? That way I could run to the kitchen (where there was a clock) to check how many minutes had flown by. Once I hit the illustrious thirty minute mark, I would proudly pronounce to both my parents that ‘I just practiced…

  • The problem with private one-on-one instrumental lessons

    In a recent lecture I gave to undergraduate pre-service teachers, I concluded by saying a single provocative statement: ‘when it comes to education, we should all think more about the f word.’ Of course, the ‘f’ word referred to fun. Why was I saying this? In research conducted by Charlie Williams (an iOS developer, musician…

  • Gamification – Some thoughts

    I originally posted this in my master’s blog but I thought I’d post it here again, because the contents are very applicable to my views on game-based learning and gamification. In this post, I will write about what a scientific study says about gamification in educational contexts. When I first became acquainted with the word ‘gamification’ I…

  • How the culinary world affected my teaching (Part 1)

    Here’s a little story about me: after completing the second year of my music degree, I decided to pursue my other love, dream and passion: food. I grew tired of scholastic deadlines. Essays, exams and assignments loomed over me, like a storm cloud waiting to burst. So I took a break and started to work…

  • Emergent and Progressive Play in Music Education: Ideas into Practice

    Some time ago, I completed an online course known as Understanding Video Games where I was acquainted with a Roger Caillois‘ definition of ‘play’ and ‘game.’ ‘Playing’ referred to activity that is unstructured, improvisatory and free. Conversely, ‘gaming’ referred to activity that was goal-orientated, containing rules and structured. Kicking a soccer ball around is an example of play, whilst…

  • Some reflections of late…

    I spoke to my piano teacher over the phone the other night, and I told him about some of the things that I found to be trying in my teaching. He listened very earnestly and then told me that I seriously didn’t need to work that hard, that it was important for me to enjoy…

  • Piano Parties

    I started a piano club, the whole purpose of this is to make music a communal experience. When kids belong to bands, chamber ensembles, orchestras and even when they take part in other activities – be it in sports or being part of an art class or book club, they rub shoulders with other like-minded children. On…

  • Lessons learned from my piano teacher

    I started taking lessons with my current piano lessons about six years ago. At the time, I was still in high school – a teenager. I suppose most of us look back at those awkward years and we try to forget them. Still, I have grown tremendously both as a person and as a musician under his…

  • Lessons from Miss Rebecca: Methods, Approaches and Philosophies Part 1

    I was once asked by a parent – “what method do (I) use?” and more specifically: “am (I) a Suzuki teacher?” My short answer was “no” but after some thought, my long answer would be: Although I am familiar with the Suzuki method, I have no credentials in that area and even if I was…

  • Performance Tip no. 1 – Practice Performing

    Practice Performing Practice playing your piece from start to end, without stopping. If you make a mistake, as tempting as it may be to go over it, don’t. Practice it from start to finish. Once you are good at that, practice the piece with dotted rhythms, hands separate, soft and slowly, loud and slowly and…

  • A post for parents: Quitting … before you quit, here are some things to think about

    Amongst children and teenagers, wanting to quit is not uncommon. This is not something exclusive to piano. It happens to students of other instruments, interests and sports. Having said that, I recently read a dissertation on perceptions of practice from young piano students… and apparently the music lesson cessation rate is the highest amongst those…

  • More Ideas… apologies for not posting or updating this blog

    Hello All, First and foremost – thank you for all that attended the piano party. Sorry that I’ve neglected this space, and also neglected student pages – somehow the final weeks of the semester lead to a total neglect of this blog. Here are some things that I am thinking about – any feedback would…

  • Talking About Music

    Today, I found myself in a class discussing gender performance and gender roles on musical instruments. I read a very interesting article by writer, musicologist and professor Suzanne Cusick and I presented my findings in class. In a lot of my classes, we are encouraged to participate, in fact attendance and participation in discussion is…

  • Stuff I learned from Miss T – a high school music teacher

    There are certain teachers who inspire you and influence you in a positive way. For me, my love of musicology started when I was in year nine. The class I was in, resembled your typical public high school music class – mixed ability and ill-resourced. We had a girl who had taken piano lessons for…

  • Practice Myth no. 2 – Practice Should Sound Good

    In the lead up to a performance, practice should eventually sound good but for most of the time practice would sound fragmented, full of mistakes and repetitive. It’s practice! Not performance! I remember in the lead up to an audition, one of the songs I was learning contained a broken diminished 7th chord. My accompanist…

  • A post for parents: Quitting … before you quit, here are some things to think about

    Amongst children and teenagers, wanting to quit is not uncommon. This is not something exclusive to piano. It happens to students of other instruments, interests and sports. Having said that, I recently read a dissertation on perceptions of practice from young piano students… and apparently the music lesson cessation rate is the highest amongst those…

  • Practice Myth no. 1

    The more you practice, the better you will be This idea is quite a common one – people seem to believe that practicing every day, for very long hours makes you very good at playing your instrument. To some extent this is true BUT what matters more is WHAT you do in your practice and…

  • Lessons from Miss Rebecca: Methods, Approaches and Philosophies Part 1

    I was once asked by a parent – “what method do (I) use?” and more specifically: “am (I) a Suzuki teacher?” My short answer was “no” but after some thought, my long answer would be: Although I am familiar with the Suzuki method, I have no credentials in that area and even if I was…

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