This post is about the piano teachers' conference we attended this last summer, July 2013. We had not yet gotten to finalizing our notes during the activity of finishing summer lessons, beginning the school year and prepping for both Ribbon Festival, Christmas recitals and spending wonderful times with family during breaks! So, belated, here is Phil's account of the National Conference in Keyboard Pedagogy.
The NCKP was in late July and was located in Chicago. It takes place every other year, and Krysti has been there once before. This was Phil's first time.
The purpose of this conference is to bring support, insight, refreshment and inspiration to piano teachers specifically. Other conferences may be for private music teachers of all studies in general (Music Teachers' National Association, which also has state and district conferences) or for public/private school music, band & choir teachers (Ohio Music Educators' Association), but this conference is targeted especially for piano teachers. There were a wide range of topics addressed including teaching theories, studio practices, business management tips, stress reducers, discussion forums on topics peculiar to private piano teaching, international reports, and even considerations for students who are special needs.
Pre-Conference: Wednesday, July 24
We decided to arrive in Chicago earlier in the morning to enjoy a little of the city. We parked first at a downtown area garage, then decided to do a little strolling on Magnificent Mile. Our garage had a deal when you purchased $10 or more on merchandise from certain stores your parking fee was reduced, and so at Nordstrom we found a pair of 80's mirror sunglasses which looked totally awesome on me! Some of the stores there are a Disney store, an Apple store, a Garmin store, some fancy clothes and jewelry stores, etc. We also peeked in the Ghirardelli (they give you samples!) & Hershey's stores for fun. One peculiar business we stopped in was ("Lush"? something like that.) a soap and lotion place. There were attendants who offered free hand massages with their products. They used a pumice-like soap to cleanse and exfoliate our skin, and kept a bowl of very warm water for us to rinse with. The guy massaged our hands as the soap did its cleansing work, then after rinsing offered us lotion samples of differing thicknesses/weight. Maybe if we lived in Chicago we would come and buy organic soaps and lotions. Later, we visited the Water Tower Place to look around. We almost had lunch there, but we did have a little bit of a time crunch to avoid breaking into the higher parking fee tier. We decided to make a beeline to Giordano's Pizza on Superior Street. This is true Chicago deep dish pizza. You order your pizza when you come in so as to shorten the wait time while you sit, though it still takes a while. The place is adorned with pictures everywhere of famous people and Chicago events and the like. I spied one large print sentence which said something like "In good we crust" or some play on words like that. I remarked that they didn't say something a little more sacrilegious, like "Man does not live by bread alone, but by the toppings you put on it."
After we finished being out on the town, we returned to the car with a little time to spare, and then left to head to the Lombard area, where the conference was. It's further West of downtown a good ways. The room was nice although we had some trouble checking in. It seems they didn't have the rooms available.. even though we had reserved them through the conference some time ago. Whatever the case was, we eventually got to our rooms on the 11th floor and started settling in.
We had arrived for the pre-conference which was one of the highlights by itself! The Keynote Address was by Scott Price, who launched us forward with a rousing and heartening speech reminding us of our dedication to service, and why we do what we do. He wanted us to remember the value of being a private music teacher in that we almost have the position of a "surrogate parent," acting as a guiding, mentoring, nurturing influence on our students. Children young and adolescent crave attention and affection, and we are there are there for 30, 45, or 60 minutes a week to invest in their lives, teach them a skill, praise their achievements and encourage their progress. He advised us to know what the students need next before they know they need it. Next was Marvin Blickenstaff, famous renowned piano teacher who was awarded the MTNA Achievement Award (kinda like AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award). He spoke of "Beauty and Beasts" in the piano studio. He shared a little of his piano history, including the fact he wanted to quit piano because his older brother had been allowed to quit at 7th grade. But it only took three lessons to change his mind and totally excite him! His piano teacher "Fern" had over 900 people attending her 100th birthday party, so she had a huge span of influence over her lifetime. The audience may cheer at the fast, showy and loud pieces, but it is the beautiful music that brings both tears and healing. Marvin advised us on how (and how not) to verbally assess our students and to save the word "beautiful" for moments that truly are. Beauty in music is a technical aspect, much the same as a beautiful dance or Olympic performance is done with good technique and physical execution - it can't just be done because you want it to. Some "beasts" he pointed out included: only playing a few pieces a year which is too narrow a focus, or playing a new piece every week so they have done a hundred things but have nothing to play well; studio atmospheres which can either be overly critical, harsh and highly demanding, or can be just fun & games, loosey goosey and not accomplishing anything; or typecasting boys as doing fast & loud pieces and girls doing quiet melodic pieces instead of allowing them to explore the full range of music. There were other aspects as well but I can't retype the entire conference!
One of our other favorite addresses we listened to was Alan Walker's presentation of Franz Liszt as the "Ambassador of his time." This was a thoroughly insightful lecture seeking to debunk some myths of Liszt as the "Elvis of his time," meaning that he was flashy or vain. On the contrary; he held a rather poor opinion of himself, but was humble and giving. Some things about him: He said something like "Because music is from nature and even of God, we must give back," and he very much was a gracious giver. He gave to charities, he visited hospitals, prisons and asylums to give music therapy, he contributed articles to magazines and wrote books, he worked with music clubs and organizations, he never charged for lessons, and he lived a life of poverty. He also suffered personal loss and ridicule in his life, eventually leading him to escape to Rome and take holy orders. He would have committed suicide had the Scriptures not said "Thou shalt not kill," which included himself. He understood that musicians do their best when for a higher cause. He felt that music was his calling in life, not just a trade or profession. He was like a priest, connecting man to God thru music, stating that the "musician is the bearer of the beautiful." It was truly inspiring to hear so much of Franz Liszt that we never knew, so much so that we bought all four books of Alan's about Liszt's life. (We hoped we might get autographed copies, but we never saw him in the exhibit hall.)
Day 1: Thursday, July 25
As the conference proper began, we went to events like workshops, presentation sessions, and music showcases where you get a free tote bag of music books and the writers talk you through them and how to best use them. (That's part of the fun of conferences: free stuff!) We first went to the Hal Leonard showcase to see their new releases in Theory, Technique and Repertoire. After that we saw a session by Jane Magrath on intermediate to lower-advanced core piano literature. It was good to get a sense of pieces which either junior high or high school students should be working on before they truly reach the advanced level (things like levels 8-10 in our favorite repertoire books). I think we found that several of the pieces in the list are things we already have or teach, so it was good to receive that validation. Later, one of the workshops which was much appreciated was named "Stress-Free Business Practices For Your Studio." It was actually in two parts (which means piano teachers are very stressed). It exposed some of the narratives that we encounter and unwittingly accept - example: a mom calls 15 minutes before lesson and says "Susie won't be at lesson because we have a volleyball game tonight and then they're going out to eat after the game. Can she come at 9:45pm?" If we agree to this, then we declare that our own lives are less important than theirs and our schedule is dictated by them, plus our own family/unwinding/dinner time is unimportant. And really, if they're asking for another time, we should charge them for an extra time if we're being honest. Anyways, the lady giving the presentation had some nice ideas, and several of them are things we're already doing, so again there was some good affirmation. To finish the day, we attended the evening concert featuring MTNA National Piano Audition Winners. Each of these three students were incredible. They played pieces which were outstanding. There may have been a part or two when I said to myself "Hands aren't supposed to move that fast... --are they??" Chopin and Ravel were favorite composers among the students, as half the pieces we heard were written by them. But still, I hear those pieces, get spine tingles, and again I think to myself, saying, "Who writes stuff like this? How do they even conjure up compositions this crazy??"
Day 2: Friday, July 26
We started off going to see Randall Faber give a showcase on the Faber Piano Adventures, which is a favorite curriculum of ours. He focused on the beginner-elementary levels and supplementary materials. We use a couple different piano teaching methods, including Faber Piano Adventures, Helen Marlais' Succeeding at the Piano, and others here and there. It's really nice to watch the author go thru a book you are very familiar with and give you the bigger picture as to what it means, find out how it applies to this part or that part, and ultimately what higher concepts of musicality or technique you can infer when teaching the pieces in the book to your students. (it's kinda like getting a sermon over something you already know and you get a new facet of it.) Later that morning we had the pleasure of seeing Jarrod Radnich give a concertino and brief presentation. He played his famous Virtuosic Piano Solo pieces of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Harry Potter" (as seen on YouTube) for us - Live! - and explained a little on how he wrote them and what his observations and goals are. He's said to be "the force that is making piano cool again." I just remember his immediate remarks after finishing "Pirates" -- which doesn't seem to be getting any easier for him -- he said something to the effect of "I can't help but imagine Billy Joel when I play this song, because every day for the rest of his life, he has to play 'Piano Man' for his fans and the world at large. If I knew I was going to be playing this every day for the rest of my life, I wouldn't have done it so fast the first time..." The other presenters at that session gave reports on programs in foreign countries which form children's bands/orchestras and bring children together to make music, or about a piano teaching program at a women's correctional institution. There was also a banquet honoring Marvin Blickenstaff for his career and service. But at $100 a ticket, we felt it more prudent to seek sustenance elsewhere.
Day 3: Saturday, July 27
This was the final day of the conference. We went to go see a music showcase in the morning and we received our tote bags of freebies, but Krysti's coffee cup decided it didn't want to work anymore shortly into the program. That resulted in spilt coffee (HOT spilt coffee) and a return to the hotel room to redress and regroup. Returning to the conference, We listened to the keynote address for the morning talking about "the road ahead in piano study for the next generation." We then went to the second session of "Stress-free Business Practices for your studio." Like I said before, piano teachers get very stressed. We all tend to commiserate over the same issues, those being: ignorant parents who don't pay, don't bring their students on time and ask for free makeup lessons. Makeup lessons was a primary topic for part two, and other topics included creatively dealing with the double-booked student (a segue from makeup lessons), and communication with parents - essentially nurturing them to help give them a better perspective. Other discussions were: smoothly shifting to larger lessons and fixing those vexing problems like students arriving to early or staying too late, establishing "office hours" to separate home and office life, and developing canned responses to deal with parents who ask the same questions or making an easily accessible FAQ . The last session we attended was conducted by an acquaintance of Krysti's from Bluffton University, Melissa Martiros. She was the accompanist for Camerata Singers before I arrived there. She gave a presentation on "Pedagogical Strategies for children with Special Needs." The session gave an overview of conditions listed in the IDEA, or the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, some insight into understanding these conditions, and coping with/adapting ourselves to such students. Krysti and I have both dealt with special needs students. One example: generally speaking (though not universally true of course), autistic students like/need to have a routine, so I often run the lesson in the same order from week to week with only slight changes. They may tend to have a need to move or make motions. To them, it's a type of physical release for internal pressure. (In extreme/severe cases, to order such a student who moves frequently to stop and remain still may be considered torture to their minds and bodies, and even physically "restraining" or guiding them in any fashion could trigger unbridled and perhaps violent responses.) Another example is that autistic students need to have all the ducks in a row, every rule must be followed and there can be no contradictions or exceptions, otherwise the system is null and devoid of merit. I have one student who has Aspbergers, and I have noticed he sometimes has bouncing tendencies though certainly not bouncing off the walls, and in the past he has gotten up and moved around and played with things distractedly. Sometimes he gives facial reactions if I mispronounce a word in a song or vocal reactions if it appears there's an impossible note which can't be played for some logistical reason, but I find so long as I keep calm and matter-of-fact about what's going on and admit any mistakes I may make, there's no problems. As per Melissa's suggestion for coping with autistic movements, I simply allow him to burn off any energy he may have, and I give him an instruction, letting him come to do it in his own pacing. He does a good job and progresses in his material. Thus with that, our time at the NCKP came to a close!
As this was the last day, the exhibit hall booths packed up in the early afternoon. We didn't stay for the closing recital in the afternoon, but opted to start heading home. That was a rather lengthy ordeal, given we ended up leaving during rush hour. The highways were more clogged than bad arteries, so we decided to take a bypass, going thru some outlying areas to find an alternate highway. This was more or less successful, though certainly not easy or streamlined. However, in the end we got home, hugged our kitties, and were thankful for another successful trip and break for a weekend.
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