You asked and I listened! The number one requested topic from my recent survey, was how to get students motivated to practice. There’s a good reason this is the top concern for piano teachers worldwide, because when students don’t practise, they don’t progress.
So, how do we get our students to practice?
When students are making progress, they are usually motivated to keep going. This is why how students practise is even more important than how much they practise. The more we model effective practice in lessons, they more likely students are to practise that way at home. If we encourage good practice habits, our students make speedy progress and are therefore encouraged to continue.
Michael Griffin is a renowned educator, speaker and writer. His most recent book (Learning Strategies for Musical Success) talks about just this issue, how best to learn and practice a musical instrument. I’m so excited to have Michael on the podcast to share his wisdom about motivation, mindset and practice.
Take a listen to amp up the practice in your studio!
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why kids don’t practice
- How to get parents involved with practice
- Why we need to get explicit about what good practice looks like
- The three essential elements of good practice: repetition, slow practice & chunking
- How you can reverse the roles in your lessons to demonstrate practice techniques
- How to foster autonomy in your students
- Why our relationship with our students affects their motivation
- What growth mindset is and how it affects piano students
Items mentioned in this podcast:
- Learning Strategies for Musical Success
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
- Carol Dweck’s TedTalk about the growth mindset
- Growth Mindset infographic
- Coach’s Eye iPad app
- What I’ve learnt from asking more questions in music lessons
- Access to Michael’s Dropbox
Watch the full interview here:
Practice Pack Download:
Thank you for Tuning In!
There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, and I’m grateful that you’ve chosen mine.
Being a full-time teacher myself, I know how busy teachers are and how much time, effort and passion we put into our students. Sometimes, the last thing we want to do in our time off is listen to more piano teaching stuff! So, well done for using this time for self-improvement.
Whether you’re at the gym, on the bike or in the car, I know that you and your students will get lots out of what you learn in the long run. Just make sure you try out some of the ideas before they get lost in the business of your next lessons.
If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons on the left of the page.
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What are your top tips for getting students practising?
Is there any of Michael’s ideas that you can’t wait to try?
Was there anything we didn’t talk about that you think is essential in the quest for perfect practice? I’d love to hear your ideas below!
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10 Comments
Hi Tim
I hope your members have enjoyed access to my resources folder. I keep adding to it – lots of interesting material.
I write to let you know that I’m moving this to my new website Professional-Development.com.au – so the link best be upgraded.
Kind regards,
Michael Griffin
Thank you so much Tim for all you are doing re. your many piano teaching ideas for teachers and students all over the world with your great podcasts. I enjoyed Michael Griffin’s interview today. Helping students to practice successfully is a skill that takes a lot of patience and understanding of the needs of each individual student. Teaching self motivation is what it is all about. Each student is different. Their differences and how we approach these differences are what makes it so exciting to teach them.
Almost forgot – as Tim said, free postage for my range of books including ‘Learning Strategies for Musical Success’ email me mdgriffin63@gmail.com
Thanks Michael – the amount of information you’ve shared and your offer of free postage is such a great help.
Hi Kate – here’s the link to my Dropbox folder. I hope you find some articles of interest. If there’s anything specific you’re looking for feel free to contact me mdgriffin63@gmail.com Kind regards, Michael Griffin
Hi Tim,
Great podcast – I loved Michael’s insights and they fit with what I am trying to focus on at the moment in my studio. The ‘Fly on the Wall’ idea was interesting…going to try it with a few of mine!
Did I hear you mention at some point that you were going to make a few of your own practice ideas/resources available? If so, where would I find them? Also Michael’s dropbox info?
Thanks!
Kate
Hey Kate – great to hear you enjoyed it. I’ve done the fly on the wall a number of times and it’s terrifying!! Students will “practice” for about 30s before they give up most of the time!
You can get my practice resources by clicking in the blue box above on this page “Practice Pack Download”.
Sorry – you’ll have to remind me about Michael’s dropbox info – I might have missed a resource I was meant to share. Please let me know 🙂
Thanks Tim – I agree, I think I might be in for a shock with some of my students’ practice ‘regime’…
For some reason the blue box is not showing on my laptop but I could access it on my phone, so have requested the download there.
Michael had said he had lots of his info in his dropbox, and was happy for you to put the link on the show notes so we can access it – sorry, I have not got a chance at the moment to go back through and find the moment in the podcast. I hope I understood that correctly – if so, it would be really good to have more of his stuff to read!
Hey Kate – dropbox link added in the links section above 🙂
Thanks Tim – will have a look.