Feeding Student "Needs" for Better Results

As teachers and parents, we can engage our students with many of the tools that also correlate to marketing research. 

Ideas from Kantar on modern marketing, International data, insight, and consultancy company

Consumer Need States

1: Surprise Me      2: Help Me

3: Reassure Me     4: Educate Me

5:  Impress Me.    6: Thrill Me 

The basic idea in modern marketing is to create a need so you will buy a product. We can use the same research to better engage our students and concert patrons. We want our students to own their music and to need it as part of their lives.

Surprise Me: When a student is lethargic or tired then taking a break to do 10 jumping jacks engages them and helps get the blood flowing to their brain so they can focus. Working on a tricky passage with rhythms, pizzicato, or different bow strokes helps avoid boredom. Playing a short passage backward engages the brain. For small children, you can do “follow me” activities like playing while walking, playing on your knees, or dancing. For older students needing a posture reminder, have them play a short passage on their toes to get their upper frame open or in front of a mirror. 

In both lessons and practice, how can we be more engaging and provide a little excitement?

Help Me: For a beginner, you can have the student do the fingering while you do the bow so they only have to focus on one thing. For an older student tackling a hard passage for memory, you can figure out if the passage is built on a chord or a modulation. Doing a little analysis of the intervals and differences between tricky passages can help the memory process.

Reassure Me: Dr. Suzuki didn’t always say the student played well, but he showed respect. He listened attentively to what the student did and then acknowledged their effort. Help students identify their progress so they can be proud of their accomplishments. Some students struggle with a good bow hand. When it is right, be sure to comment on how much better they are doing. Some students struggle with note reading.  Help them say the letters, do note treasure hunts, and figure out the correct finger. When they sightread through a new piece remind them how much better they have become with the note reading.  You can use videos or audio recordings to record milestones and when they see their progress it is very reassuring. 

Help students learn to play the music that comforts them. They can use their instrument to calm down and to deal with strong emotions.  Help them find music that they can listen to that helps them emotionally. 

What is your go-to music for calming down?

Educate Me: Music is a chance to engage the student with history and art.  When learning the Two Grenadiers we talk about the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky and how Napoleon thought the French could take over Russia. As you might know, the piece is the story of two French soldiers.  It starts with the sad minor music and then moves to the optimistic major section with the French national anthem.  

When we play Gavotte from Mignon I show the students some of the ballet paintings by Degas. 

When we play the first Seitz concerto I show them the Fragonard painting with a lady in a swing to get the flow of up and down for the 2nd-page passages.  

I use lots of questions in my teaching to help the student learn to make decisions about their own playing and to keep them engaged.  John Kendall said, “Ask, Don’t Tell”.  Which fingering do you want here?  We try a few options and the student decides.  Do you want to review piece A or B today? Do you want me to listen and take notes, play the piano, or play the violin with you today on your performance piece?  

Impress Me: Classical music is prestigious and the students understand that this is a valuable thing for them to do. I encourage them to dress up for performances. I encourage them to attend performances.  We have enjoyed going to concerts by Yo Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, and many others. Sometimes this meant taking a carload of students with my children and their friends to Las Vegas or Salt Lake, but it was worth the effort for the inspiration. There are numerous online resources so concerts and artists are more accessible than ever before.

Thrill Me: Finding music that connects with a student is a big challenge, but worth the extra time and effort. Stephen Sharp Nelson of the Piano Guys talks about his favorite music making him feel like he is flying.  That is how I feel about the Brahms 2nd Sonata and the Beethoven Spring Sonata. Help students find their special music for playing and also for listening. When I was in high school we went to California for a regional orchestra experience and got to play the Shostakovich Symphony #5.  Whenever I hear the finale I still get chills. 

     What music makes you feel like you are flying?

(This was the 2nd part of my workshop presentation for the Suzuki Association of Utah in January.)

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