Reflections on Festival & Ratings
Sunday, February 27, 2022 by Bonnie Synhorst | Uncategorized
su·pe·ri·or
/səˈpirēər/
adjective
1.
higher in rank, status, or quality.
2.
having or showing an overly high opinion of oneself; supercilious.
noun
As I will be posting the results of the festival in the coming days, I’d like to encourage all students and parents to reflect upon the rating that the students were working toward. Some of you will see this word, Superior, circled on your rating sheet and others will not. So before you know what your result is, please take some time to reflect.
In light of recent world events, I have a rather negative view of measuring one's status against another human being, so I think it’s also imperative that the students (as well as parents) know that the judges were not comparing you to the other performers—-they were comparing you to YOU. They (and collectively, we) can usually measure up your potential to play the pieces you presented to a certain level and then compare that perceived potential to the quality you have shown. It is actually the quality of the performance presented that is deemed to be superior, not the quality of your performance in contrast or comparison to the other students.
And to those students that did not receive superior ratings—you have been given a gift. It doesn’t seem like it and you will be crushed, but I want you to think about this strongly before the ratings come out. Did you really do your best? Did you really, honestly present the best preparation to me and to the judge. If the answer is no—-if you procrastinated and did not follow the direction and advice, you know what you should have received, but will probably be pleasantly surprised that the judge still saw your potential. Just remember that potential is NOT achievement and therefore not superior. But your gift is the chance to learn from the experience. You see, if they had told you that what you did was superior, you would simply think that the minimum or shoddy preparation is status quo for next time. Now you know what you need to do in order to achieve Superior results in the future. What a wonderful opportunity!
Lastly, we should also consider the second definition of ‘having or showing an overly high opinion of oneself’, and be reminded that, with great ability comes a heavy responsibility. How can you encourage and help your friends displaying a humble spirit? Talent is worth nothing if not utilised properly. Ability is wasted if it is only self-serving. Some may hear this week that, despite the rating, they are not really superior as there is still room to grow.
I’ll step down from my soap box in a moment, but these experiences are why we teach. Not to show you how to read the notes or how to make pretty sounds on your instrument, but how to think for yourself, make decisions, reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of those decisions, and to use your experiences to grow into a wonderful and sensitive human being.
a person or thing superior to another in rank, status, or quality, especially a colleague in a higher position.
The Importance of Routine in Practice
Monday, August 23, 2021 by Bonnie Synhorst | Practice Tips & Tricks
Now that we are a few weeks into school, routines should be settling in and the newness of everything wearing off. Of course, your music teacher wants to hear excited voices proudly proclaiming how much they are practicing and enjoying their new routines with music included. But more often than not, we instead hear that the students are just too busy. While this is partially true, too busy (more often than not) is just code for ‘music practice didn’t make the short list’.
We want the most out of our lessons and, more importantly, we want children to develop good habits and routines along with their genuine love for music. Maybe we think the best way to do this is let them choose how, when, and how much they will practice, but in reality children are always looking to adults—parents, teachers, and mentors—for guidance and approval. So the challenge then becomes how to encourage without nagging and how to set routine without a feeling that practice is punishment.
I think it’s important for parents to realize that all the child’s actions and reactions to how they address their music practice is a result of what we model and how we encourage (or sometimes don’t encourage). Remember that children want support and have a very strong sense of what’s fair or unfair. They are burdened with many responsibilities and, however small we think they are, they weigh heavily on small minds. Although we can’t take away the stress of children having to complete too much homework, we can model for them the sense of satisfaction we get when completing difficult tasks and conversely, let them know the ramifications of our bad decisions when we procrastinate. Sometimes we think these adult problems are not for little ears, but the way we address them can serve as a model of good or bad behavior and decisions that little eyes are always watching.
Rather than allow your child to simply go to the instrument and practice whenever they feel the urge (often they won’t with so many other options for fun and distractions), help them to establish a healthy practice routine. Now—-when I say practice routine, this is not to mean that the child must sit and be tied to the instrument for 20-30 minutes or more. Routine simply means scheduling in time to practice. For some students, this may be 5 minutes in the morning before walking to the bus, or 15 minutes after they have their afterschoool snack. The important thing is to establish a time for the activity at always takes place. Maybe they always practice after eating dinner. If they never skip dinner, they also would never skip practicing if the routine is tied to the non-skippable activity. And thus, practice becomes part of the other activity—-dinner is always followed by after dinner music.
Alongside with routine comes encouragement. Think for a moment how motivated (or not) you would be if you were always told how bad you were at something or how much better you’d be if you worked harder. Yeah—super unproductive and discouraging for children to hear. Now think for a moment of a favorite relative or teacher telling you how much they enjoy and appreciate how hard you worked on something regardless of the results or outcome. Did you continue to try, even if only to impress the adult and get more kind words and praise? Of course you did! So why is it that we are so quick to point out our children’s shortcomings and how short they continue to fall from our goals and aspirations for them? Now think for a moment about the goals and aspirations you have for yourself that you are modeling for them (if you aren’t, maybe you should), and how hard you work for people that continuously tell you how bad you are at something.
So how can we help our children rather than hinder them? Well, let’s start by being attentive and kind, and then compliment their efforts. When they are practicing, rather than noticing and calling out every wrong note or rhythm, instead only find the things that were good. Even if it sounds something like “your creative application of rhythm made that piece super interesting!” This, at the very least, indicates that you were listening, but also supports their effort. Now a good follow up to that would be, for example, if they use the metronome and the piece’s rhythm improves, let them know that you hear progress—-“ Wow, you are working so hard and I can hear the improvements in the rhythms! It sounds like what your teacher played! I’m proud of you for trying so hard on this difficult thing.”
Be mindful on what it appears children are giving up in order to accomplish practice. Help them by not giving appearances to them that they are missing out. If your other children are all watching tv or playing video games while the musical child practices, of course they will soon resent this practice time and want to do the ‘fun’ activities instead. Consider that practice time for one child is an excellent time for other children to engage in productive tasks as well, such as studying or reading—-adults are NOT to be excluded from this! You can also read or engage in study or exercise during these times to further model productive activities.
If children want help during practice, by all means give it! It’s also important to show them and let them know that you can’t because you didn’t continue lessons or never took lessons, but do sit with them and encourage them to keep going when it’s hard. Never ever tell them they can’t do it! Everyone can do it with hard work. Some days, engage in listening activities together when practice is discouraging. But most of all, enjoy your time shared with your child in their musical quests. They will then work harder to please you as well as create happy memories and an enjoyment and love for music!
Glancing back, but looking ahead
Sunday, January 3, 2021 by Bonnie Synhorst | Goal Setting
I started writing a post in reflection on the year we just completed, and what a crazy year it was! And although I'm so proud of the students and all the things they've accomplished despite the spit second changes that had to be made, I think it's better still to focus on the path ahead.
One of the many things I've learned from 2020 is that it is so important to look ahead and with that, this year is going to be all about goals. I want to encourage (can I say require?) that every student set at least ONE BIG GOAL. I know several students will have many, but it all starts with one. Of course, I have goals for all of my students so I'll go first with my studio goals:
1. Practice---I want to excite and inspire student's enrolled to practice more. After all, more practice leads to more progress and more progress leads to more satisfaction and excitement about learning new and harder things. To put the practice in a visible plan for students, I want to encourage parents to visit: www.peforkids.com/100-day-challenge Once a habit is established, students will more naturally and easily go to their instruments and practice. Like I always tell them---ONLY practice on the days you eat! The following link is another visual reminder of practice. Color in the number for the date for each day you practice and let's see if you can make it through the entire year! Calendar
2. Scales--I've always taught with a focus on theory and scales, but over the past year I've really seen the benefits of theory in action as many students enrolled and continue to take the Ultimate Music Theory Classes and have joined an exclusive club! Scales are the building blocks for all music and playing an instrument without knowing scales is like attempting to read without knowing how the letters in the words really work together to form the sounds. I'll be rolling out Scale Incentives for ALL students, but piano students have the added benefit of being able to work through them in the SuperSonics exercises. Each student that completes each level of scales will earn recognition, and possibly even a prize. . . .TBD
3. Technique & Artistry--During 2020, I enrolled in multiple courses to improve my own knowledge, playing, and expertise. Even though I have a thriving studio with many talented students, I'm always learning and trying to figure out new ways to help each one to play better. One of the courses I am currently enrolled in is feeding me so much valuable information that I'm about to burst! Much like the Suzuki method focuses on teaching children music much like they learn their native language, this pedagogy course focuses not on playing as many notes as one is able from the start, but instead on playing fewer notes with as beautiful technique and sound as one can. Initially, I started a few beginner students in this method, but want to slowly infuse these ideas into my teaching of all students. One of the first goals is proper posture and positioning. I'm going to start in January by asking for a picture of each student seated and playing their instrument and work toward getting them in their best position to make the beautiful sounds on their instruments.
4. Theory--An ongoing goal is to build on each student's musical knowledge. Theory workbooks have always been optional, but in the future I will be requiring a theory commitment of students in order to transition my studio and student base to a more elite membership. So I encourage each and every student to attend any optional theory classes when offered and plan on enrolling in a Summer Theory Class or Workshop. This is a requirement for any student who wish to pursue the Royal Conservatory Program as well as another offering I am looking into called Student Day as both of these have a heavy theory requirement.
5. Performance--This one almost seems unnecessary because I feel this is one thing that is going very well in the studio. There are so many performance and festival opportunities offered that I nearly overlooked it. However, I know I have many students for whom the idea of performing still causes anxiety. If this is you or your child, I'd like to encourage you to make this their goal. We can work together to find the best opportunity for performance for them to conquer the fear. This is really an easy one as it can be as simple as doing a mini-concert for family or friends.
So I'd like to encourage you to sit down with your child(ren) to decide on at least one of the goals above and then let me know what you chose so we can work on it together!
We don't know what kind of journey we have embarked on in 2021 just like we had no idea when we started 2020. But we are better equipped to handle whatever it throws our way and if we start out with goals and a positive attitude to move forward, we can make it the best year yet!
