Service Helps Students Find Joy
Service helps students find joy in performing
Is it possible to pair joy with performing as students learn to play the piano? When it’s done right, I regularly see it as joyful if we focus on service as the source of the performance.
Few people find joy performing in a recital format. There are just so many nerves, you can tangibly feel them in the room. Maybe it’s just me who feels all those nerves of students and parents at recitals
but any time there are lots of people (with extended families) who don’t know each other, the room becomes fairly formal and stiff. Yeah, that typically isn’t conducive to finding joy when learning to perform for others.
Service, not performance
One of the most common ways I see teachers attempt to teach performance is in offering smaller recitals, like just for their students.
While that is a huge improvement over the large recital gatherings as this performance learning curve begins, I’ve found real success in something else, something I call Service.
Rather than a recital approach, I begin from the earliest days of lessons to encourage service on the piano. I explain to students of all ages that when they share their music with others, it spreads joy. It’s the focus itself that changes the performance experience. Rather than my students themselves being the focus, it’s in the sharing of their music with others. It can be a neighbor or the mailman, their friend, or what about Grandpa? We have random service contests during the year. Students begin looking for opportunities (people) to play for when they are motivated to keep up with their peers on the classroom charts.
Helping students find joy in performing
Consider the source of the performance. Is it in a recital format with the nerves you can feel in the room, lots of people with families who don’t know each other, and just lots of people in general? Yeah, that typically isn’t conducive to learning how to find joy in performing.
One of the other most common ways I see teachers attempt to help is in offering smaller recitals, just for their students. While I feel that is a huge improvement over the large recital gathering, I’ve found real success in something I call Service.
Rather than the recital approach, I begin from the earliest days of lessons to encourage Service on the piano. I explain to students of all ages that when they share their music with others, it spreads joy. It’s the focus itself that changes the performance experience. Rather than my students themselves being the focus, it’s in the sharing of their music with others. It can be a neighbor, or the mailman, their friend, or what about Grandpa? We have random service contests during the year. Students begin looking for opportunities (people) to play for and are motivated to keep up with their peers on the classroom charts.
Happy Birthday as Service
Because everyone we know has a birthday every single year, we find lots of opportunities to play piano as service when we learn the Happy Birthday tune. How many times does someone read “happy birthday” via text or even in a card sent on their birthday?
When my students call friends or family to play “Happy Birthday” it always gets an enthusiastic response. It is a joyful thing for the receiver and the student. No one calls this a performance, but I assure you they are playing for others with joy.
My students love reporting their services in class each week. They don’t even realize how they’ve grown by performing them. It’s a
win for the students and a win for the friends and family they serenade. Hearing from Grandparents though (at our annual recitals) I know they appreciate this challenge to share music because they are often the biggest beneficiaries. Yay for the best cheerleaders of a child’s Service, right?
