See a Pro

My friend, Richard, reminded me of this principle this week.  This is for any of us in pursuit of “better”.

Do you want “better”? 

Better skill

Better speech making

Better piano playing

Better drumming

Better selling

Better parenting

Whatever your pursuit might be in the “bettering of your life”, the main idea is this – go and see a professional do what you aspire to do.

Learn from the best.  Buy the best seat you can afford and go see the show. 

Be amazed.  Be wowed.  Be impressed.  Be inspired.

And then mimic what you saw until you make it your own.

As a young drummer, before the days of YouTube, I listened to the Dave Brubeck Quartet often.  I learned some of my best drumming methods from Joe Morello, Dave’s drummer on the Take Five album.

A year ago, thanks to YouTube, I watched Joe play that famous drum solo.  Later, I remarked to Carolyn how much Joe’s playing had influenced my own drumming style and had never realized it until that particular moment.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

And it’s a great way to learn from the best of the best.

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Small Wins

So often we grow at a snail’s pace.  We experience life one slice at a time in the beginning.

I watched a video clip of a young baby elephant learning to take his first steps.  It looked like an uncoordinated mass of grey.  He stepped on his trunk more than once and finally, with success, he took those first important steps.

In another video I watched a golden retriever Mom teach her young pup how to walk down a set of five steps.  Her first attempts were so tenuous, and then down one step, but oh so quickly she went back up.  Finally, with an amazing dose of encouragement from the mother, the young pup finally took the bold steps and was successful.

The principle is this – what we learn in small steps leads to bigger and bolder steps. 

We gain confidence, we gain balance and we gain skill in those early small wins and it is on those that we build our lives.

This is true in music as well as in all of life.  That is why we encourage going slowly at the beginning of any new skill.  We break the skill into chunks that can be managed, and then we connect the dots for all of the skills until mastery happens. 

In the book The Power of Habits, we find this seed.

“Once a small win has been accomplished,

forces are set in motion

that favors another small win.”

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Habits

Regular Schedule f 

Musical ability is as much habit formation as it is technically learning note names and positions on the staff.

We attempt to form perfect habits in the early stages to help with later development.  That is one of the reasons we encourage a student to sometimes play a particularly difficult passage at a ridiculously slow speed.  We must first get the notes and fingering right, and then build skill and fingering memory.

The wonderful thing about this skill is that is translates well into other activities – sports for sure, even study habits.

We don’t just want to form habits.

We want to form good habits.

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

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Tell Them How

Students need specific and focused praise to help them grow and understand how life works.  If we use the simple phrase such as “you’re doing great” or “lookin' good” that doesn’t really say much.  It is generic and non-specific. 

A great twist on this idea would be this:  “I love the way you phrased that last set of measures.  You really played with great expression.”

Specific praise leads to an increase in specified behaviors.

Let them know in exact words HOW they are pulling off ‘great’. 

Positive esteem followed up with examples reinforces the behavior and helps us want to do more of that kind of good work.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Positive Thoughts about Failure

In music, in sports, and in all of life, sooner or later we will experience failure in some form or another.  We just went through one of the best experiences of New Year New Tunes, however, I know some students felt they performed at less than their best.  Yet, that too is a strategic part of personal growth.

As you interact with your child about their perspective on being disappointed in the outcome of a performance, I hope you will use the opportunity to talk about the importance of finding the courage to try again.  Here are some thoughts to keep in your conversation tool kit.

~What you have to tell yourself is, “I’m not a failure.  I failed at doing something.”

~Mozart was told that his opera The Marriage of Figaro ‘had too many notes.’

~Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

~Thomas Edison was considered un-teachable as a youngster.

~Albert Einstein was once told by a schoolmaster that he would never amount to much.

We simply want to instill a correct mindset about success and failure into the hearts and minds of all our students.  We want them to have the courage to try again.

  

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Owning It

Earlier this week I had a conversation with one of my middle school students.  I’ve got to tell you, one of my greatest delights as a teacher is the privilege of coaching/nurturing/supporting students- especially ones whom I have journeyed with through most of their lives.   So, this recent conversation confirmed a passage of time and my student’s new opportunity for growth. 

Like most middle school students he is wrestling with the challenge of owning self-discipline.  It’s so tempting to avoid those tough sections of music and use the allotted practice time to play what is already learned.  

We talked through strategies, and I trust he left with a sense of empowerment and determination to make good use of his time and focus on progressing in those difficult places.

Owning self-discipline is a practice that can be encouraged at any time.  Helping your child recognize those opportunities is a really good thing – one of the many ways we as parents are able to come along side our children.

Carolyn Biggs 

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Character and Talent

Possessing natural ability is important.  It can jump-start a career, a professional bent or a sports icon.  However, without character, that talent soon fades. 

John Wooden, legendary coach of the UCLA basketball program and the only coach in history able to boast of 88 consecutive wins knows a bit about character and talent. 

How did John Wooden become John Wooden?  He had a profound sense of integrity – or character, as is our focus today.

“I believe ability can get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.  It is easy to begin thinking you can just turn it on automatically, without proper preparation.  It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you’re there.  When you read about an athlete or team that wins over and over, remember - More than ability, they have character.”

~John Wooden

Character gets a person out of bed and into the practice room.

Character helps one focus on the immediate job at hand – a difficult passage, a messy measure.

Character drives one to perfect practice principles. 

And that, parents of the people I have grown to love, is one more reason to guide your child into habits and skill-set development that will launch their ability to realize dreams and goals regardless of the path they pursue.

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student