A Memorable Lesson

Amusing things that happen at lessons and recitals

Sometimes our students do or say things that are just too funny or memorable not to share!   Often they will tell us things about their parents or families that I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be a topic of conversation -- if only they knew!

One of my students (a 6 year old girl) came to her piano lesson very distraught.  I asked her what was wrong and if she needed my help with anything.  She immediately began to cry very hard and told me that her mother left them!   She said that now she had to live with her older brother.   I replied that I was sure their mother didn’t really leave for very long but the little girl insisted that she was “gone forever and went very far away.”   Generally she had wonderful lessons and was a very happy child. 

Since my studio is in a school, after trying to reassure her, I walked her to the guidance counselor.  After talking with both of them for awhile; I went to my next student.   The counselor worked on getting her more settled down and then took her back to her classroom.  After trying but failing to reach her parents, they set in motion an investigation of the situation.  

A couple of days later, we found out that her mother went to another son’s graduation from basic training in the Army.   It was in another state and she was staying for the weekend, hence the “far away and for a long time” comment from the little girl.  We were so relieved when we found out the truth.  This poor little one felt like she was deserted!  If only we had known the whole story right away, we could have been much more helpful to her.   She had me, the counselor, and her teacher feeling so bad for her and really coddling her for a couple of days! 

This little girl is now an adult with children of her own, and we have a good laugh about it now.  Some of what we hear from our little students is preciously exaggerated but also very real to them!

Stopping the Summer Slide

....from Sally's Studio

One Week Down!

I am at the end of the first week of fall piano and guitar lessons.  With the exception of one student who came to tell me that she isn't going to continue with lessons (5 minutes after it should have started), all is going well.  After the challenge of the scheduling process, things went quite smoothly.  Due to changes in their school schedules, I have had to adjust lessons several times but it has now stayed constant for almost two days!  Hallelujah!

Ready for Action

Many of my students took summer lessons and after taking a few weeks off at the end of the summer, are ready to jump right in again.  It is so rewarding to see my more advanced students eager to get started on their challenging pieces for competitions.  

Summer Slide

Other students though, obviously haven't touched the piano since school let out last spring. I even had one 6th grader who, even though she has been playing "pops" during the summer,  couldn't remember many basics!  She was crushed at how much she had forgotten.  It will take some intensive reviewing to bring these students back up to speed.  I will use games (our Whirligig games of course!) among other things to make the review process more fun, but it still takes precious time.  

Mandatory Camp?

I am considering a mandatory end-of-summer camp for those who don't take summer lessons.  The band director and I have been holding music camps for the last few years and they have been very successful.  It would definitely make the first few lessons in the fall much more enjoyable for both me and my students.  

So many people spend the summer running from one sporting event or practice to another.  Several of them had tournaments every weekend as well!  It always frustrates me that they can find the time to do that but not a few minutes to get their children to music lessons.  I understand the value of being involved in team sports and physical activity -- I just wish it was not at the expense of their cultural arts training.  

It would sure be nice if we could find a way for them to coexist!  

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