Hard and Soft

Hard and Soft

(We are still dipping into Daniel Coyle's book - The Little Book of Talent for this week's tip.)
  

When it comes to mastering any skill, we encounter the need to learn hard and soft skills.  It is important to understand the difference and learn techniques for developing both. 

Hard Skills - are about repeatable precision and tend to be found in specialized pursuits, particularly physical ones.

-A pianist or violinist playing a specific chord

-Proper finger positions

-A child performing basic math

-A young reader translating letter shapes into sounds and words

Hard skills are about ABC: 

   Always

      Being

         Consistent

Soft Skills - are those that have many paths to a good result, not just one.  These skills are intuitive and emotionally based.  A soft skill is all about being able to instantly recognize patterns as they unfold.

Soft skills are found in broader, less-specialized pursuits, especially those involving communication:

-A singer or instrumentalist subtly interpreting the music to highlight emotion

-A soccer player sensing a weakness in the defense and deciding to attack

-A novelist instinctively shaping the twists of a complicated plot

Soft skills are about:

   Reading

      Recognizing

         Reacting

Children need our help in understanding these concepts.  Go slowly, speak simply, and show and tell.

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Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Stop Watching Your Watch

We go back to Daniel Coyle’s book for this week’s tip. 

Rule #14:

Take off your watch

Most of us who have taken music lessons know very well that the teacher has drilled into us to practice X number of minutes per day. 

Here’s a new twist on that rule.

Daniel has a lot to say about this idea.

“Deep practice is not measured in minutes or hours, but in the number of high-quality reaches and repetitions you make – basically, how many new connections you form in your brain. 

“It is not … “I’m going to practice piano for 20 minutes.”  Rather:

“I’m going to do five intensive reps of that new song.

“Instead of hitting golf balls for an hour, perform 25 quality swings with each club. 

“Instead of reading that text book for an hour, make flash cards and grade yourself on effort.

“It’s all about reps and reaches.”

This is applicable in all of life.  See how many ways you can apply this to yourself.

It works, because it is reinforcement of a good and positive movement. 

The main point is this:  We don’t want to reinforce bad habits.  We want to focus on good ones.

Click HERE to order Little Book of Talent 

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Vulnerability

Do you know how vulnerable your child became when he/she agreed to perform a piano piece in public?  Performance of any kind is a huge step for any of us, and especially for a young student still learning all the ins and outs of life and trying to gain a foothold on relationships, family pecking order and self esteem.

And so they launched out.  They chose to perform in an event such as we had last Sunday. 

He/She became vulnerable.  What an amazing show of courage. 

They were willing to lay their musical skill on the line for that moment in time; to put it all out there for an audience to see and hear. 

And what if they made a mistake while performing their piece? 

  The world did not end.

    They did not faint.

      They did not get terminally ill.

They just made a mistake. 

Your response?

First acknowledge that vulnerability is not weakness.  Vulnerability is courage of the highest order.  It is emotional risk, exposure, uncertainty.

When your child opens the door for a vulnerable moment such as a musical performance, you are seeing courage.  It takes guts to get up in front of parents, siblings and strangers to perform.  That is tough for we adults as well.  Imagine what your child might be experiencing. 

So our response, especially if they made a flub?

“Wow, you have worked hard and I am so proud of you.”

                                                                                                           

I’m not a huge fan of telling a child some false bravado, like “You were perfect.”

But the words, “You did your best” or “you gave it your all” go a long way in helping your child cope with vulnerability emotions and feel good about where they are at that moment in time. 

And especially “I am so proud of you.”

Vulnerability is the birth-place for innovation, creativity and change.

Nurture their vulnerability and watch the change happen.

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Musician

This week's tip is  based on excerpts from Daring Greatly by

Brene Brown.  

Order your copy HERE. 

The Prodigy Myth

The Prodigy Myth

January 10, 2013

It is a wonderful thing when we see early signs of a child prodigy.  We are tempted to get stars in our eyes and become hopeful of the fabulous future that lies just down the road.

If your child is a budding prodigy, that is well and good.  The awesome responsibility that now lies on your shoulders is immense.  Hang on.

However, if your child has a great desire, yet struggles occasionally, have faith. 

In our featured book – The Little Book of Talent - Daniel says this:

Early success turns out to be

a weak predictor of long-term success.

A few examples:

-Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity team as a sophomore

-Charles Darwin was considered slow and ordinary by teachers

-Walt Disney was fired from an early job because he lacked imagination

Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University says this about prodigies: 

“The praise and attention prodigies receive leads them to instinctively protect their “magical” status by taking fewer risks, which eventually slows their learning.”

If your child has some early success, find a way to nurture and guide him/her to keep pursuing the edges of his/her ability where improvement happens. 

What we have to guard against is allowing praise to swell their head; stunting growth and development. 

If your child doesn’t experience early success yet still has the drive and determination, treat their early efforts as experiments, not as verdicts.  Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

I teach two students from the same family.  One started his musical interests by learning the trumpet and soon switched to the sax and piano.  The other started on the trumpet and switched to the drums and piano. 

It’s a marathon – not a sprint.

 Order The Little Book of Talent-Click Now

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Musician

Role Models

There is a tip in the book The Little Book of Talent that says this:  

Tip 1

STARE AT WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME

Allow me to make an application for you and your child.  Everyone needs role models.  Role models do exactly that - they model a behavior or performance that we ultimately want to adopt for ourselves.  

Order your copy of 

The Little Book of Talent 

by clicking HERE!

It is true for piano students.  Find some good short videos of excellent pianists in whatever genre they like and invite them to watch and listen.  By watching others perform you are instilling the concept of "If s/he can do that, I can to that."

When I (Michael) was a young high school drummer, I listened to Dave Brubeck's recordings and tried to emulate his drummer's solos.  I went back recently and watched a YouTube clip of Joe Morello, Mr. Brubeck's drummer, and it struck me how much Morello had influenced my own drumming style.  

Carolyn loves to listen to the musical brilliance of Diana Krall; a performer who has inspired her to try new improvisational riffs on the piano. 

Here is the critical principle:  

Emulate good and wholesome role models. 

Carolyn Biggs

206-226-5693
csbiggs@gmail.com
Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Musician