Effective Instruction for Music Learning Success

Just how is a preschooler, especially age 3 or younger, taught to play the piano? There are 7 keys which are not present in other music instruction they are:

1. knowing how children learn, view the world and attend to the task at hand. Their teachers have to truly understand Preoperational² thought, emotion, learning and action. More importantly, their instructors must continually be aware of the newest Developmental research.
2. having a solid understanding of how the above changes, sometimes as often as week to week. Children do not remain the same; they grow. Furthermore, due to the observational learning component of our program, the longer the child is in our program, the stored knowledge the child has grows exponentially, which can come into play at any point. We always have to be ready.
3. possessing a working knowledge of the psycho-physiology of all aspects of instruction. This is the mind-body connection, and it is ever present in piano lessons. When children are bored, they act out (play with the piano keys, blow 'cheek bubbles,' etc.). When they are stressed they often freeze. When they don't understand, they cannot tell you verbally but tell you in their affect (their emotions). One has to know how to truly 'read' a child.
4. knowing how to set up the learning environment for the child that promotes self-activation. Self-activation is simply deciding what to do, then doing it. Children do not need to be pushed. They don't need the threat of being graded on their music performance to reach new heights in their instruction. All they need is the belief that the task at hand is attainable by them and they need instruction that helps them reach their goals.
5. being able to work with parents AND children, not just children. Parents are incredibly important, since they make day-to-day judgments and have to help the child understand the assignment and do it. They have to wear many 'hats,' meaning that they must be a teacher to the child, a mentor, someone who sets limits when the child tests, and they must understand why children act as they do.
6. continual self-examination, or watching one's own reactions to the child's demeanor. There is never a reason to become angry or upset at a child. If they are not doing what the adult wants them to do, then it is up to the adult to change the situation.
7. Ignoring buzzwords, like "focus," "aural vs. visual learner," etc. Using labels diminishes communication and makes the unspoken assumption that the label summarizes the entirety of the person. Once we start seeing students who "do not focus" or "are an aural learner," we are no longer listening and learning. We are trying to fit them into a category.

Five major perspectives have guided most research in child development and we make ourselves aware of this research. Therefore, our psychologically-based, fluid approach is:

UNIQUE: The unique approach we offer was developed and created by Marcie and Mark Zinn, the co-Directors of the Academy. There are no other piano programs like PPK elsewhere in the nation. Our curriculum is guided by Child Research.

STRUCTURED: Our multi-modal, mastery-learning approach involves many facets: direct instruction, playing by ear, and two other basic elements: the basis of the development of functional musical literacy (good sight-reading skills), and the nurturing of ones ability to simply play the instrument (play the piano). We combine a variety of methods to reach children, and most of our instructional blend is being flexible with that blend; that is, structuring every aspect of our program to interface with the uniqueness of every child.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: Traditional piano teaching is very widespread, and it is very common for teachers to not know what to do when children do not act as 'expected.' Traditional teachers do not have training to help them with normal issues of childhood. Another common approach in some newer instructional methods is to avoid the necessary components of music instruction (i.e., teach reading much later, ignore technique, etc.) to make it 'fun.' These approaches are not logical, and are definitely not borne from true scientific research, since there is no reason that musical competency is not fun; it is the manner in which the instructor approaches the child and what the instructor asks the child to do that is important! The interaction with the child is paramount, with the content of the instructional system running a 'close second.'

Instead of becoming upset or using disappointment or other negative emotional states to control student progress, we take time to understand the reason for the problem. There is never a reason to become angry or upset at a child. The cause of the particular issue requires that we understand their point of view so we can aid them in moving forward. We have psychologically relevant interventions to target personal behaviors that enhance or impede the situation. Second, we tailor every aspect of what we know to each child's individuality. No one is alike, so we cannot treat children as though they are like someone else.

SUCCESSFUL: PPK^TM operates year-round, continually building on children's basic and advanced skills so they can utilize these skills in learning their piano pieces. Because of our unique program, out students typically gain, on an average, two or three traditional-teaching grade levels within one year, and do so with 5-15 minutes of practice time at home.

• Preschool Piano Kids^TM focuses on skill building, which leads to masterful concept formation, in each of the following areas:
  • FLUENT PERFORMANCE: PPK'S nationally recognized program for children combines a unique blend of child psychology and relevant aspects of Performance Psychology to create a positive self-concept. Said differently, our students learn to love performing, instead of dreading it.
  • KNOWLEDGE BUILDING: early music reading skills, comprehension of musical style, listening skills and performance skills are what we teach. We synthesize several modalities of teaching, all of which can be taught to others. We teach parents to teach their child at home so the child will have continual mentoring throughout the week. We actively consult with parents so they learn how to handle problems as they come up at home.
    
  • STUDY SKILLS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS include precise instructions, recordings, computer-generated assignments, organizing materials,  performance practice, book use, memorizing, and task-switching. Task switching is a term from Cognitive Neuroscience, and it means the ability to switch from one brain area to another in order to best carry out the task at hand. For example, if one learns music, one uses a certain brain area, but to perform well (and enjoy it), one must switch to a completely different brain area!. See our article about Cognitive Neuroscience and Research.
    
  • POSITIVE TRANSFERENCE A term from psychiatry, transference is simply the tendency to map one's expectations from prior interactions, onto present interactions. Transference is like expectancy, but runs deeply in one's sub-conscious. At PPK! we deliberately and systematically create relationships with each and every child so as to facilitate POSITIVE TRANSFERENCE*. One must be able to go into every performance situation with the expectation that the audience is excited about one's playing.

STATE-OF-THE-ART.  PPK is dedicated to bringing piano students and their families state-of-the-art technology where every teacher's advanced sub-specialty training is always available. Our expert team provides knowledge and skill within a comfortable environment. Our teachers are available at any time with up to date information. With our immense depth of expertise, our clients are always successful in their endeavors.

As one of the most highly advanced music instructional systems, we are proud to say that we are able to teach children to utilize the correct brain area to perform the task. We teach students to perform, work with the score (read), and do all aspects of our program easily because we know, from neuroscience and psychiatry research, which brain areas carry out these tasks. We need not rely on a model whereby we claim that we teach music as language. Music is not a spoken language, and professional musicians to not utilize the language areas of their brains to perform. They do use the language areas to LEARN their music then switch to another brain area to play their music. We teach children how to SWITCH brain areas to carry out the task. That way, they always have the enjoyment that one wants when one enrolls in music lessons to begin with.

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1. We carefully pace what we teach. Therefore, some concepts are left for young beginners (ages 6 and older). For example, reading staff notation is difficult, so preschoolers do not learn actual staff notation until about age 5 or older. Before that, they are learning other ways to read music plus learning the subskills necessary to read music, to be more prepared for staff notation later.