Last week I got a message from a Mother who’s son had finished his lessons for the summer. He had chosen a very challenging piece to work on over the long break, and after struggling all week he was ready to give up. She wanted to know if we could squeeze in one more lesson to try and get him back on track. This message made my day and we immediately scheduled a lesson for the following day. The reason I was so happy to hear this requires a bit of a back story.
One of my first students when we made aliyah 4 years ago was a then 8 year old boy who got off to a promising start. He was a bright child who picked up musical concepts and ideas quickly, but after the first 6 months or so he began to struggle to stay motivated. We continued our lessons but progress was slow, there was a lot of conflict as he didn’t want to practice and sometimes didn’t even want to have his lessons.
Eventually he decided to take a break from lessons altogether. He watched quietly as his sisters progressed and after a break of a few months he decided he was ready to try again.
One of the issues that he struggled with was that he never finished a piece. He would start a new piece, learn the notes and go through the motions but never perfect it. I wanted this time to be different, so I offered him a deal. He would master 4 pieces of my choosing and then we would learn the Star Wars Theme Tune (of his choosing!) Never before has such swift progress been made. Not only did this spur him on to complete four new pieces, but he also got into the habit of regular practice. He completed the challenge in no time and learnt the Star Wars theme without a care in the world.
That was in September and he has practiced every week since. On the last lesson of the year he announced that he would like to learn Pachelbel’s Canon and luckily for me I happened to have a simple version of this classic in my bag.
With only one lesson to get him familiar with the music we forged on and we finished the lesson with a sense of excitement. Fast forward to the end of the week and in comes a message from his mum explaining his struggle.
I couldn’t have been more thrilled! He didn’t want to give up! He wanted to fix the problem! This is exactly the right response to a challenge and I couldn’t get over there quick enough to help him through the process. We spent the full half an hour on the first 4 bars of the music and he has never been so focused and determined.
There is no greater pleasure for a teacher than to see a student grow and mature and there is no doubt that this young man has come of musical age. He has shown himself that is ready. Ready to learn, ready to grow, ready to push past the pain barrier, ready to learn and to fly and to make beautiful music! 3 and a half years of hard work, of ups and downs, but I know that we have come over the hill and we can see the beautiful view ahead.
