Helping Students Benefit from the Exam Critique

By Kirsten Levorson, NCTM

This year our newsletter articles have focused on Getting Started with the Piano Exam Syllabus – highlighting the tools and resources available to help prepare your students, diving into the technical skills, and detailing what to expect at an actual exam.  Today we’re going to address one more important aspect of the exam experience:  helping your student get the full benefit from the adjudicator’s written comments.

Self Evaluation

At the next lesson after a student takes an exam, I like to start by asking the student to evaluate their own performance.  “How did the exam go? Tell me what it was like for you.” Often, students will tell me details of how they got to the site, whether or not their parent got lost, how they were running late or arrived early and had to wait, or where they went for ice cream when it was all over.  These details paint a clear picture of the student’s state of mind at the time of the exam – whether they were calm or stressed, excited or scared.

I ask about the performance, often zeroing in on a specific challenge they had worked to overcome. “Did the keyboard skills go well? How was the memory on your Bach piece?”

The student who was well prepared for the exam is usually quite self-aware and knows exactly how things went.  They can tell me whether the instrument helped or hindered their efforts to play with dynamic contrasts, and they can tell me right where their fingers stumbled or their memory slipped.

Reading the Judge’s Comments

After hearing the student’s view of how things went, I’ll bring out the critique and we read comments together.  Sometimes we have to decipher hard to read handwriting, and sometimes a word or phrase needs explanation.

The judge’s comments are a wonderful opportunity to confirm and expand a student’s awareness.

· When the comments reinforce the student’s self-evaluation, commend the student. “Yes, the judge agrees that you could have made the contrasts between loud and soft even bigger.”

· Comments that suggest areas for improvement can open the student to new ideas. Young students are often focused simply on whether or not they played the right notes, and a judge’s comments about dynamics, articulation and phrasing can help a student expand their idea of what makes a musical performance.
· Sometimes the comments reinforce a concept or skill that you as the teacher have been trying to convince the student is important – it’s helpful for the student to hear it from another source.
· Sometimes a judge’s comments will actually contradict your own philosophy or musical ideas. That’s a great opportunity to talk with students about subjectivity in musical interpretation.

The Value of the Learning

At the end of the conversation, I like to set aside the critique and draw the student’s attention back to the experience itself.  “Wow – you really learned a lot of music for this exam.”  I sometimes flip back in their assignment book and take note of how many weeks (or months) they worked on a particular piece, or take note of a new skill they worked to acquire. I congratulate them for taking on the challenge of the exam and working incrementally toward their goal. 

These conversations are great ways to congratulate students on their accomplishments, set some next goals, and reinforce the idea that it’s their daily commitment to practicing that makes their musical dreams come true. The MMTA Piano Exam Syllabus and testing program is a valuable tool in my studio, providing the structure and opportunity for students to learn and grow.

What to expect at the exam

by Kathleen Teuber Younker

Preparing students for piano exams for the first time might seem a daunting task, but if you follow a few very straightforward steps, the exam experience can run smoothly for both the teacher and the student.  The biggest questions that may run through the teacher’s mind are, “Am I teaching my students the right things?” and “How can I prepare my students so they are ready on time without stressing them out?”

            

As for the first question, the first step is this: Let the syllabus be your guide.  Read and re-read the guidelines for the level you have chosen, and go to the MMTA website to see if there are any corrections that pertain to that level.  The second step:  find a mentor, that is, a teacher who is experienced in preparing students for exams.  Most experienced teachers will gladly help another teacher get started because they are so enthusiastic about the program themselves.  Don’t hesitate to contact this person with questions, even if you think they are stupid.  There are no stupid questions when it comes to exams.  It is better to get it right than not to be sure.

            

The second question on how to prepare the student can be dealt with in a variety of ways:

1. Start early.  If you think a student is ready to prepare for a spring exam, begin preparing in the fall.  The keyboard skills for the level you have chosen can be continually perfected throughout the year.  Some of the repertoire can be started in the fall.  If your precocious student learns it quickly, it can be set aside and brought out when it is needed.  There is nothing so confidence-building for a student as bringing out an old favorite and realizing how quickly it comes back.
2. Try to choose pieces that might be used for other purposes, as well.  For example, if your student has a Contest piece, you may also be able to use it as an exam piece.  If your students are involved in the Federation Festival, they might be able to use one of their exam pieces as their “choice” piece for Federation. 
3. Build their confidence.  Students who know exactly what to expect experience less anxiety and conversely, more confidence.  At some point before the final preparation begins, make sure they have the “Piano Exam Preparation Sheet” and, for level three or above, the “Oral Questions Worksheet”.  Both of these resources can be found in the Piano Exam Preparation Packet, which came with the syllabus. In the last month before the exam, do a series of mock exams in the piano studio so the students know exactly how it will be conducted (keyboard skills first, then repertoire, questions, and finally sight reading).  Make sure to place the “Keyboard Skills Practice Test” (also found in the PEPP) in front of them during these mock exams, because it will be placed in front of them during the real exam.  They are sometimes terrified when they see the figuration of their chord progressions in print, so showing and explaining it ahead of time alleviates their stress on this point.
4. Explain to your exam candidates that there is only going to be one person listening to them during the exam, and that person is also a piano teacher, so in a way it is almost like going to a piano lesson. 
5. Prepare them for the little things that might go wrong (what to do if they get stuck in the middle of their piece, what to do if the piano isn’t to their liking, etc.), but more importantly, prepare them for what you know is going to go right:  that is, in this exam there are no surprises.  What they experience in their exam preparation with you in your studio is the same as what they will experience in the exam itself.  And of course, one of the most important things that will go right is the learning that will have taken place, and the feeling of accomplishment in having developed skills they might not have developed without this worthwhile goal.   

Syllabus Savvy

by Elaine Wipf

How is your Syllabus Savvy?  Are you able to maximize the teaching resources of the syllabus?  The syllabus, PEPP, and resource list are valuable tools that will help you with many aspects of teaching.   Certainly the syllabus helps with exam preparation, but the syllabus also is a wonderful resource for planning curriculum, evaluating student level and needs, and determining the available options for printed music.  The syllabus is truly a teacher’s helper.

The syllabus is in three sections, the Syllabus (repertoire lists and requirements for each level), PEPP, and the ResourceList.  These three sections work together to help guide you and your student through exam preparation.  The syllabus contains level appropriate lists of repertoire.  This is a great way to plan curriculum, not only for the current level but in planning ahead for advancement.  Even if your student is not preparing for the exam, you can be sure of making a quality selection of repertoire if you use the syllabus lists.  

Using the syllabus also provides you with an opportunity to evaluate your student’s level and progress.  Since each level includes appropriate technical skills, theory requirements, sight reading, and questions about style and form, you can be confident that your student is developing into a well rounded musician.  Also included in each level is a list of student expectations, so you and your student can evaluate their progress and readiness for testing.

The PEPP section (Piano Exam Preparation Packet) will help you assess readiness, and also build student confidence.  There are practice keyboard skills tests, and charts that help you track the progress of your student.  Even if your student is not taking the exam, the keyboard skills tests can be used for in studio testing and awards.

The last section of the Syllabus consists of the resource list.  Are you wishing to locate a specific piece?  Or are you wishing to know which pieces from the syllabus are in a specific book?  Many teachers use the resource list to make cost effective selections by finding books that contain pieces from the current level, and an advancing level for the future.  The resource section can help you locate, and plan your selection of printed music for your students.

The MMTA syllabus is a guide for exam preparation, but it is so much more.  Get the most from your syllabus and use it to plan repertoire, locate repertoire, evaluate your students, and plan a curriculum that is balanced and well rounded.  Be a Syllabus Savvy teacher!

A Student's View

This is a college application essay written by Jared Funk, student of Kathleen Tueber Younker.

I started playing the piano when I was young. When I started learning music, my teacher taught me rhythm by having me stomp and clap to the beat. This meant that my repertoire consisted of what I could stomp and clap. Now I am currently working on the piece "Through Moanin' Pines", an early advanced song. It has always interested me how I could go from all my musical talent being stored in one finger to reading pages of music covered in ink. I think this also applies to my high school education because I'm ready to finish the “stomping stage.”

           

When I went to my first lesson, everything seemed intimidating. There was a tall lady who kept telling me what to do, large machines with unusual buttons, mysterious charts, graphs, and tapes. I never thought I’d be able to comprehend what was going on and what I was doing. I was forced to do some odd rituals similar to a dance. It all seemed so suspicious. Soon after that dreadful day, everything changed: that tall lady, weird machine, everything. Step by step, I began to grasp the concepts behind this thing they call music.

            

My piano lessons started with simple games so I would understand things like rhythm or how long a beat was and gradually transitioned into chords and scales. At first it didn’t make any sense. “Why do these particular buttons work together but these don’t?” That was the general question asked by my 5-year-old brain. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t even the half of it. I had to press buttons at different pressures, speeds, and timings. I had to use more than one hand at the same time or use the pedals with my feet. All these tasks didn’t seem possible to do simultaneously. Those thoughts persisted until the moment I could actually do it. It was magic! Everything seemed supernatural at that point. It was time for the show: Lights, camera, action!

             

I’ll admit it. When I started playing piano, I loathed performing at recitals and concerts. Performing was pure agony. My teacher, however, insisted it was important. I could not understood why. Couldn’t we just learn music and keep it to ourselves? Now I understand that without something to strive for, without a testament to what we’ve accomplished, we’ll never have the motivation to finish it. That one idea, motivation, has meant a lot to me. The same idea that brings doughnuts and cake to people’s minds is what allowed me to accomplish great things.

              

I’ve been taking piano lessons for over 10 years, objectively speaking, but the impact from the simple practice of learning music has gone much farther than time. I’ve spent so much time pressing those keys of white and black no unit of time can do it justice. In retrospect, it's funny how this abstract concept of music, combined with this oddly shaped machine became such an influential part of my life.

              

Every once in a while my extended family comes in with their little troop of toddlers. They see that magical box of musical  wonder and start banging on the keys just to see what happens. I see in that moment a fraction of what I was like, how much I’ve changed. Then almost immediately one specific question pops up, “Can you play?” That's all I need to hear. There’s nothing left to do but bang on those keys.

Getting Started

by Kirsten Levorson
Originally published in the January 2014 issue of the MMTA Newsletter

The Piano Exam Development Committee would like to thank all of you for responding to our survey this fall with helpful feedback about this program! Your responses are being reviewed to guide our work. Our first impressions: You affirmed the value of this comprehensive program, and you want tools to help you make this program even more accessible for more students.

As a result, we’ve decided to make “Getting Started with the Syllabus” our theme for this year. Our newsletter articles will detail a variety of ways teachers use the syllabus with their students, discuss the tools and resources we use to manage syllabus planning for our students, and give tips for mentally preparing students for the exam experience and for interpreting the adjudicator’s comments so that the student gets the full benefit of the program.

One comment that we heard many times from survey respondents was, “the syllabus provides the framework for my curriculum; I use it with all my students, even if they don’t go to the site and take the test.” That really sums up the value our members find in the syllabus.

So how do you get started using this fabulous curriculum with your students, if you haven’t before?

 1. Some teachers get started by using one part of the exam with all their students. It might be the technical
skills, or it might be the sightplaying. Students can prepare these portions of the exam and test them
separately if the comprehensive exam seems too daunting for a first step.

2. Some teachers learn the syllabus level by level. One year, they enter a bunch of students in the Prep level.
The next year, those students advance to Level One and a new bunch of students start Prep. Each year, the
teacher is simply learning the requirements for one new level of the syllabus.

3. Some teachers use the syllabus just for their hardest working students.

4. Some teachers limit the choices – for instance, having all students at a certain level play the same
repertoire selections.

5. Many let repertoire selections do double duty – contest pieces can be substituted, so that a piece the
student has already learned well can be the start of a full program.

6. Use your mentors. If you don’t have one, find one or ask a committee member for help. Check in
with a mentor when you are planning repertoire selections, and ask questions when requirements
seem confusing.

7. Volunteer on testing days. It’s a great way to get some hands on experience with the program. Helping at
the desk, you will see how things work and what you can do to make it a good experience for your
students. You’ll have time for conversation with seasoned teachers, too.

8. Check out the resources available to support the syllabus: 2010 Resource List helps you find syllabus
pieces in many anthologies; Piano Exam Prep Packet includes sample skills tests plus reproducible planning
forms; Style Characteristics Chart helps students prepare for oral questions; reproducible Keyboard Skills
sheets are available for Prep and Level One (more coming soon). All of these are available online at
www.mnmusicteachers.com on the Teachers Resources page.

Boost your learning curve

by Elaine Wipf
Originally published in the February 2010 issue of the MMTA Newsletter

As our students are busy with exams, contests and festivals, we see their learning curve soar as they rise to the challenges presented.  They give their best effort to achieve these goals.  If we expect our students to bring a desire to learn and diligent effort to their musical endeavors, should we expect less of ourselves?  As teachers we must continue to learn and continue to grow.

While learning may include the pursuit of a higher degree, this certainly is not our only option.  Our learning curve can be developed in many ways.  Here are 10 ways to boost your learning curve in 2010.

• Teach a piece you have not taught before! – You will approach it with freshness, and you may discover a new pedagogical gem.

• Play through new music! – This may include playing through lesser performed works of standard composers, or playing works by recent or newly discovered and published composers.

• Learn and master a new piece! – What is that piece you have always wanted to play?  Now is the time to dig in and start practicing.  Working through the difficulties of a challenging piece gives fresh insight into your students’ struggles, and you may discover a new approach to a practicing dilemma.

• Listen! – There are a variety of opportunities to listen to music including, recordings, concerts, You Tube or iTunes.  Online opportunities can help you find recordings of lesser known works.  This is one learning activity that you can do while driving.  Have you heard all of the Chopin Mazurkas?  The Debussy Preludes?  Try listening to several different recordings of the same piece.  You will be amazed at what you learn!

• Read books! – There are many wonderful books about composers, musical style, keyboard literature, piano pedagogy, psychology of learning, and a wealth of other topics that will boost our learning curve. Make a list of books you want to read, then select one or two of them and start reading.

• Turn on the computer! – There are many e-journals available.  “Googling” a topic will produce a wealth of information. There are websites, and chat rooms that are specifically purposed to help music teachers.

• Attend the MMTA convention! – Clear the dates now (June 7-8) for the upcoming MMTA convention.  I am always inspired anew by the sessions, and the interchange of ideas with other music teachers. 

• Attend other pedagogy seminars, conferences and master classes! – There are a myriad of opportunities both close and far.  The costs of transporting and staying at a conference are decreased by finding other music teachers attending, and sharing the cost of gas and motel.

• Keep in contact with local groups of music teachers! – The MMTA local groups often provide continuing education opportunities in their meetings.  The contact of professional with professional always sharpens our skills.

• Go back to school! – This will guarantee challenge, learning and growth. You can opt for a degree program or audit the classes! Some pedagogy seminars offer the option of credit.

The opportunities are there.  Seize them!  How is your LEARNING CURVE?

Hands off teaching

By Kathie Younker
Originally published in the MMTA Newsletter, April 2012

I once had a student who, whenever I took over the piano at a lesson, acted a little annoyed. I couldn't figure out why, because everyone knows that demonstration is worth a thousand words, right? I was at the peak of my performing ability, and I had a lot of skills to impart. I knew how it should sound, I knew the historical framework of the music, and it was a time saver for her to listen to me and do what I did. I had gone to wonderful workshops and master classes where the master played and the student (sometimes after a few tries) duplicated the style, the touch and the expression, in fact every nuance, exactly as demonstrated by the master.

I didn't learn from my student that I should try a different approach, but it always weighed on me in my subsequent teaching. As I began to teach more and more advanced students, I realized that I had to make a choice: either I had to teach only those pieces I had under my fingers or I needed to be willing to teach pieces I couldn't play as well as my students could. I am a person who bores easily of teaching the same pieces all the time, so I chose the latter, and thereby made an amazing discovery. I discovered ways of teaching that transcended my technical skills. I became the orchestra conductor who doesn't need to grab the oboe and show the oboist how to play, but rather, respects the oboist enough to realize that he will figure out the means if he is inspired by an idea.

Therein lies the challenge: how does the teacher impart the knowledge without taking control of the piano? How does the teacher relinquish control of the piano and still earn his/her salary?
Imagery, gestures, stories, lyrics, and singing are all wonderful ways to get the students' creative juices flowing. Imagining what is going on in the piece (what story is it trying to tell, or what impression is it creating?) is a way to really get the student actively involved. Gesturing a phrase with the arms, or dancing the dance while the student plays, helps get the feeling of the forward motion as well as the rhythm and accent of the dance. Gesturing the type of touch in the air or on the keyboard gives them a strong visual idea of how the muscles and joints move to create a given sound. Writing some extra dynamics or even a breath mark can spark their expressive imagination.
Improvising lyrics and singing them while students play also helps them feel the drama or the humor, while at the same time gives them an understanding of where the piece has to breath. A little history lesson can help a lot to give them a sense of the style of the particular period or of a particular composer. The more I did this type of teaching, the more I discovered new ways to impart my ideas creatively, and the more descriptive and alive I became with my teaching.
I discovered that a 'hands-off' style of teaching validates both the student and the teacher:

• It shows respect for the student's creative ability and recognizes the student as a partner in the learning process.
• It helps you the teacher (or the adjudicator) be a little more open to the student's interpretation of the music, since if you aren't spending your teaching time drilling the student to learn your interpretation, you will be spending more time listening.
• It gives you the teacher a guilt-free-but-effective alternative teaching style when needed, for example, if you are ill or incapacitated physically, if the piece the student is learning is not under your fingers, or if you have a student who prefers to keep control of the piano.
• It gives students confidence and a feeling of independence as a musician, which goes a long way in making them confident performers. There's nothing more confidence building than the feeling that they can play a piece better than their teacher.