February 7, 2025 • 13 mins
Unlock the secrets to becoming an adaptive piano teacher in our very first episode of the Creative Piano Pedagogy Podcast, hosted by me, Dr. Elizabeth Davis Everhart. Ever struggled to keep up with the ever-evolving needs of your students? Together, we explore the art of adaptation in teaching—an essential skill that transforms both educators and learners. Join our conversation as we delve into the Oxford Dictionary's definition of adapting and how it beautifully aligns with the dynamic world of piano teaching. Drawing from my own experiences with managing a home office and music storage, and inspired by Kendra Adachi's practical strategies from The Lazy Genius, we'll explore how embracing change isn't just necessary but can be incredibly rewarding.
Find the full transcript, show notes or links mentioned in the episode here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Elizabeth Davis-Everhar (00:06):
Welcome to the Creative Piano Pedagogy
Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Elizabeth Davis Everhart, andtogether we will journey through
the joys and challenges ofmusic and piano teaching and
discover innovative approachesfor our wonderfully unique
students.
This podcast is a virtual pianopedagogy class, but better-
(00:27):
because you can listen in yourpajamas.
In each episode, you'll findout-of-the-box solutions for
teaching quandaries, all throughthe lens of viewing our
students as our greatestteachers and using
research-based approaches tohelp us discover, cultivate and
encourage the music potential ofevery learner.
Today is a momentous occasionhere- because, after years of
(00:59):
being a podcast guest on lots ofpeople's podcasts, it's my
first episode here at CreativePiano Pedagogy's own podcast.
This feels like a huge day andthank you so much for tuning in,
for subscribing, and for justbeing here in this community.
It means so much to me.
I thought for this firstepisode we would talk about what
(01:24):
creative piano pedagogy is andwhat it means to be an adaptive
piano teacher.
Adapting is something that weall do in our everyday lives,
separate from piano teaching,even, but I was curious to see
what does the definition ofadapting really mean.
What does the definition ofadapting really mean?
(01:50):
Oxford Dictionary defines it asthe quality of being able to
adjust to new conditions or thecapacity to be modified for a
new use or purpose.
And I'll be honest, I'm notsure what you were thinking of
when I said adapt or adaptiveadapting, but that's a little
different than what I wasthinking- in a better way.
Piano teaching is likebreathing- it is a living,
(02:12):
active thing.
It's not stagnant or stale, andeven music itself is a live
organism.
And when we are teachinganother human being in our
studios, we constantly are goingto be in the state of that
organism.
And when we are teachinganother human being in our
studios, we constantly are goingto be in the state of evolution
, of evolving, of changing.
What we're doing to adapt withthe other person, just like a
(02:37):
really beautiful duet.
Performance is like a musicalconversation between two people.
That's what it's like to teachin a studio, or with someone
else as well.
And if you taught for anyamount of time, you know that
after a while, adapting andadjusting to your student just
becomes second nature, somethingyou don't even think about.
(02:59):
You notice these little tinythings in your students, you
observe behaviors and you simplyadjust.
It's just what you do.
And, contrary to what you mightthink, adjusting is not a
four-letter word.
However, here's the thing (03:14):
To adjust means that something is
no longer working for us, andthat can be kind of a difficult
thing to think about in our ownlives as well as in our piano
teaching.
But our students are in aconstant state of growth.
Their mental states, theirknowledge is constantly growing,
(03:38):
their emotions are constantlychanging and growing and since
we are interacting with themeach week in piano, we have to
adapt along with those changes,along with those changes.
So, yes, adapting means thatsomething is no longer working,
but a good sign is that thestudent is growing in some way,
(04:01):
that they've outgrown what usedto work.
So that's a positive aspect ofadapting.
It's not a four-letter word.
It's actually a good thing.
For me personally, I am alwayshaving to adapt my own schedule
here at my home office.
I'm constantly finding thingsthat used to work well or
(04:21):
routines that used to work thatno longer fit my current season,
and I gain a lot of insightabout that from Kendra Adachi
over at the Lazy Genius.
So if you don't follow her,make sure to follow her.
She has wonderful tips aboutthis, but very simple things
like my music storage.
I realized this was not workingfor me, and if you are anything
(04:46):
like me, you have more musicthan you know what to do with.
But it's very difficult to partwith any of it or to think
about getting rid of any of it,because, oh, I love my music and
I'm sure you do too.
But I was realizing that havingso much music around the piano
was just not working.
Uh, with the current students Ihave, I just I need to keep as
(05:08):
little as possible there.
So I have spent a lot of timethe last few months rethinking
how can I adapt my music storageto make it work for me.
So something I decided on was alittle cube storage that has
shelves and I can have basketsthere.
And now I have a basket withall of my students' current
(05:30):
music, so method books orsupplemental repertoire,
classical music, anything I'musing in week-to-week lessons
that I want to reference, andthis is for my in-person
students as well as my virtualones.
I love having it right there bythe piano so I can reference
and plan or think ahead.
Then I have another basket forkind of the catch-all music,
(05:53):
anything I think I might want tosupplement with.
This year I keep extra music inthere because I have students
that sometimes come reallyprepared to lessons and they're
a few steps ahead of me.
So I want to have extra musicin case that happens.
And then, of course, I have allof my rote music.
That's in a little differentplace, but just going through
(06:16):
that process of thinking, okay,what is not working about this
and how can I adapt and changeit, that has helped me so much
in that very small area of mymusic storage.
So, when it comes to teaching,how do we know we need to be on
the lookout for a new way ofdoing something, something that
(06:37):
we need to adapt?
I think there are some prettyclear signs that we can observe
when something is no longerworking for one of our students.
Maybe your students are showingsigns of boredom at the piano,
which could be bored for a lotof different reasons that don't
have anything to do with you,but for just the sake of talking
(06:58):
about adapting Boredom, theycould have some new attitude or
behavior concerns that arenegatively impacting the lesson.
That's something really good toobserve.
Your students could be veryquickly finishing their pieces.
Maybe they're accomplishingeverything you want them to do
with their stylisticinterpretation, with their
(07:20):
pedaling, their articulation.
All of it's coming togethermuch quicker than you
anticipated, so that's a goodclue.
It's time to adapt.
Maybe you have students who aredoing the opposite, which could
be that they're reallystruggling.
Pieces that are on the levelthat they used to read very
easily is really coming hard forthem right now.
They're struggling tocoordinate their fingers to play
(07:43):
all of the notes.
Maybe they're having somemeltdowns or showing obvious
signs of frustration.
Maybe they're having change injust their attitude toward piano
.
Maybe they used to be veryexcited to play a certain genre
and now you notice it's a realstruggle.
All of those are signs thatyour student is in a growth time
(08:06):
and needs an adjustment,different approach.
So when it comes to adjustingand adapting, honestly it comes
down to us, the teachers.
We don't really need ourstudents to adjust and adapt.
It's more about us realizingwhat did the students need in
this new season?
As the students are growing andchanging, how can we best help
(08:32):
them cultivate their musicalpotential?
Now, don't get me wrong.
Adapting is not people pleasing, so I'm not talking about, you
know, constantly changing upyour students repertoire to fit
their every whim, or the kid whoknows they can get out of
playing Bach minuets by saying,oh, I really wish it was Mario
(08:53):
or whatever it might be, and Ido love teaching Mario music, by
the way, but I'm not talkingabout people pleasing.
This is truly a look at how ismy student growing and am I
growing and changing with themadjusting as we go?
It's a constant evolution inteaching.
Music is such an aliveexperience and I always remember
(09:18):
this when I'm traveling.
I love seeing musicians who arebusking on street corners or
playing music.
It's like the whole atmospherechanges.
I had the experience to theopportunity to experience that
just recently and this gentlemanwas playing the most inventive
music on a street corner, and Idon't think I've seen people so
(09:41):
excited to hear music, even atreally large concert halls where
everyone was dressed up intheir finest.
And here we were on a streetcorner just listening to him
play.
I was absolutely enthralled.
He was playing a banjo andguitar with a harmonica and then
also a drum set.
He had it all rigged togetherand it was so cool, like a
(10:04):
folksy acoustic blend with alittle grunge and almost a
little like Harry Potter slashSherlock Holmes theme in there.
I know that sounds weird buttrust me, it worked and all of
us on the street corner werejust absolutely captivated, and
that's what you want music to be.
You want it to be that kind ofexperience that draws you in.
(10:27):
So if you notice or observe thatyour students are not being
drawn in, that's your clue.
Something needs to adapt.
So I want to challenge you whatdo you want to adapt this week?
Now?
You don't need to changeeverything about your teaching.
You should not changeeverything about your teaching.
We just want to look for thesesigns in our students.
(10:50):
So this week, look for one ofthose students.
Think about a student that'sbeen really a challenge to teach
.
Maybe it's their technique.
It's not happening with themusic they're currently playing.
What can you adapt or adjust tohelp make that more seamless or
to fit better with where yourstudent is right now?
Think small little changes.
(11:11):
And if your student is rightnow, think small little changes.
And if your student isstruggling with technique, one
of the best things you can do isteach it away from the music
page, remove the musical score.
Teach them something by rotethat they can just focus on the
movement of their fingers,something like that, something
very small.
Or maybe for you as a teacher,it's still kind of the beginning
(11:33):
of their fingers, somethinglike that, something very small,
or maybe for you as a teacher,it's still kind of the beginning
of the new year, I'm going tosay it's still the beginning of
2025.
Maybe there's something in yourstudio and in your routine
that's not working.
The best way to figure out whatto change is to think about
what's not going so well, andthat's kind of the fun part of
being a teacher, isn't it?
It's the problem solving andgetting to put on our detective
(11:56):
hat.
I love doing that and figuringout what works for each student,
but I'm sometimes not as goodat doing that for my own routine
and schedule as a teacher.
So I want to encourage you todo that this week to think about
something that's not workingmaybe something that is working
and figure out what have youadapted or what should you adapt
(12:18):
in the future.
It's actually kind of a funsituation to be in figuring out
what works and kind of goingwith it and seeing what the
result is.
Music teaching is kind of likea living experiment that just
keeps on going and as we adaptand adjust, we find more ways of
doing things, and to me, that'sone of the most fun parts of
(12:39):
teaching kids.
I cannot believe it, but thefirst episode is a wrap.
This has been such a fun startto the journey and I cannot wait
to continue this journey withyou.
If you have any questions abouttoday's episode or have
suggestions for future episodes,I'd love to hear from you.
(13:00):
You can always reach out to meon Facebook or Instagram at
Creative Piano Pedagogy, or justsend me an email at
creativepianopedagogy atgmailcom.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
For a written transcript, linksor materials or anything else
from today's episode, pleasevisit my website at
(13:23):
wwwelizabethdavispianocom slashpodcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, itwould mean so much to me if you
would subscribe and leave areview on your podcast app.
I'm so excited to hear what youthink about the episode and
this will also encourage othersto tune in.
Thanks again for joining in andsee you next time for more
(13:44):
creative teaching tips.
Welcome to the Creative Piano Pedagogy
Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Elizabeth Davis Everhart, andtogether we will journey through
the joys and challenges ofmusic and piano teaching and
discover innovative approachesfor our wonderfully unique
students.
This podcast is a virtual pianopedagogy class, but better-
(00:27):
because you can listen in yourpajamas.
In each episode, you'll findout-of-the-box solutions for
teaching quandaries, all throughthe lens of viewing our
students as our greatestteachers and using
research-based approaches tohelp us discover, cultivate and
encourage the music potential ofevery learner.
Today is a momentous occasionhere- because, after years of
(00:59):
being a podcast guest on lots ofpeople's podcasts, it's my
first episode here at CreativePiano Pedagogy's own podcast.
This feels like a huge day andthank you so much for tuning in,
for subscribing, and for justbeing here in this community.
It means so much to me.
I thought for this firstepisode we would talk about what
(01:24):
creative piano pedagogy is andwhat it means to be an adaptive
piano teacher.
Adapting is something that weall do in our everyday lives,
separate from piano teaching,even, but I was curious to see
what does the definition ofadapting really mean.
What does the definition ofadapting really mean?
(01:50):
Oxford Dictionary defines it asthe quality of being able to
adjust to new conditions or thecapacity to be modified for a
new use or purpose.
And I'll be honest, I'm notsure what you were thinking of
when I said adapt or adaptiveadapting, but that's a little
different than what I wasthinking- in a better way.
Piano teaching is likebreathing- it is a living,
(02:12):
active thing.
It's not stagnant or stale, andeven music itself is a live
organism.
And when we are teachinganother human being in our
studios, we constantly are goingto be in the state of that
organism.
And when we are teachinganother human being in our
studios, we constantly are goingto be in the state of evolution
, of evolving, of changing.
What we're doing to adapt withthe other person, just like a
(02:37):
really beautiful duet.
Performance is like a musicalconversation between two people.
That's what it's like to teachin a studio, or with someone
else as well.
And if you taught for anyamount of time, you know that
after a while, adapting andadjusting to your student just
becomes second nature, somethingyou don't even think about.
(02:59):
You notice these little tinythings in your students, you
observe behaviors and you simplyadjust.
It's just what you do.
And, contrary to what you mightthink, adjusting is not a
four-letter word.
However, here's the thing (03:14):
To adjust means that something is
no longer working for us, andthat can be kind of a difficult
thing to think about in our ownlives as well as in our piano
teaching.
But our students are in aconstant state of growth.
Their mental states, theirknowledge is constantly growing,
(03:38):
their emotions are constantlychanging and growing and since
we are interacting with themeach week in piano, we have to
adapt along with those changes,along with those changes.
So, yes, adapting means thatsomething is no longer working,
but a good sign is that thestudent is growing in some way,
(04:01):
that they've outgrown what usedto work.
So that's a positive aspect ofadapting.
It's not a four-letter word.
It's actually a good thing.
For me personally, I am alwayshaving to adapt my own schedule
here at my home office.
I'm constantly finding thingsthat used to work well or
(04:21):
routines that used to work thatno longer fit my current season,
and I gain a lot of insightabout that from Kendra Adachi
over at the Lazy Genius.
So if you don't follow her,make sure to follow her.
She has wonderful tips aboutthis, but very simple things
like my music storage.
I realized this was not workingfor me, and if you are anything
(04:46):
like me, you have more musicthan you know what to do with.
But it's very difficult to partwith any of it or to think
about getting rid of any of it,because, oh, I love my music and
I'm sure you do too.
But I was realizing that havingso much music around the piano
was just not working.
Uh, with the current students Ihave, I just I need to keep as
(05:08):
little as possible there.
So I have spent a lot of timethe last few months rethinking
how can I adapt my music storageto make it work for me.
So something I decided on was alittle cube storage that has
shelves and I can have basketsthere.
And now I have a basket withall of my students' current
(05:30):
music, so method books orsupplemental repertoire,
classical music, anything I'musing in week-to-week lessons
that I want to reference, andthis is for my in-person
students as well as my virtualones.
I love having it right there bythe piano so I can reference
and plan or think ahead.
Then I have another basket forkind of the catch-all music,
(05:53):
anything I think I might want tosupplement with.
This year I keep extra music inthere because I have students
that sometimes come reallyprepared to lessons and they're
a few steps ahead of me.
So I want to have extra musicin case that happens.
And then, of course, I have allof my rote music.
That's in a little differentplace, but just going through
(06:16):
that process of thinking, okay,what is not working about this
and how can I adapt and changeit, that has helped me so much
in that very small area of mymusic storage.
So, when it comes to teaching,how do we know we need to be on
the lookout for a new way ofdoing something, something that
(06:37):
we need to adapt?
I think there are some prettyclear signs that we can observe
when something is no longerworking for one of our students.
Maybe your students are showingsigns of boredom at the piano,
which could be bored for a lotof different reasons that don't
have anything to do with you,but for just the sake of talking
(06:58):
about adapting Boredom, theycould have some new attitude or
behavior concerns that arenegatively impacting the lesson.
That's something really good toobserve.
Your students could be veryquickly finishing their pieces.
Maybe they're accomplishingeverything you want them to do
with their stylisticinterpretation, with their
(07:20):
pedaling, their articulation.
All of it's coming togethermuch quicker than you
anticipated, so that's a goodclue.
It's time to adapt.
Maybe you have students who aredoing the opposite, which could
be that they're reallystruggling.
Pieces that are on the levelthat they used to read very
easily is really coming hard forthem right now.
They're struggling tocoordinate their fingers to play
(07:43):
all of the notes.
Maybe they're having somemeltdowns or showing obvious
signs of frustration.
Maybe they're having change injust their attitude toward piano
.
Maybe they used to be veryexcited to play a certain genre
and now you notice it's a realstruggle.
All of those are signs thatyour student is in a growth time
(08:06):
and needs an adjustment,different approach.
So when it comes to adjustingand adapting, honestly it comes
down to us, the teachers.
We don't really need ourstudents to adjust and adapt.
It's more about us realizingwhat did the students need in
this new season?
As the students are growing andchanging, how can we best help
(08:32):
them cultivate their musicalpotential?
Now, don't get me wrong.
Adapting is not people pleasing, so I'm not talking about, you
know, constantly changing upyour students repertoire to fit
their every whim, or the kid whoknows they can get out of
playing Bach minuets by saying,oh, I really wish it was Mario
(08:53):
or whatever it might be, and Ido love teaching Mario music, by
the way, but I'm not talkingabout people pleasing.
This is truly a look at how ismy student growing and am I
growing and changing with themadjusting as we go?
It's a constant evolution inteaching.
Music is such an aliveexperience and I always remember
(09:18):
this when I'm traveling.
I love seeing musicians who arebusking on street corners or
playing music.
It's like the whole atmospherechanges.
I had the experience to theopportunity to experience that
just recently and this gentlemanwas playing the most inventive
music on a street corner, and Idon't think I've seen people so
(09:41):
excited to hear music, even atreally large concert halls where
everyone was dressed up intheir finest.
And here we were on a streetcorner just listening to him
play.
I was absolutely enthralled.
He was playing a banjo andguitar with a harmonica and then
also a drum set.
He had it all rigged togetherand it was so cool, like a
(10:04):
folksy acoustic blend with alittle grunge and almost a
little like Harry Potter slashSherlock Holmes theme in there.
I know that sounds weird buttrust me, it worked and all of
us on the street corner werejust absolutely captivated, and
that's what you want music to be.
You want it to be that kind ofexperience that draws you in.
(10:27):
So if you notice or observe thatyour students are not being
drawn in, that's your clue.
Something needs to adapt.
So I want to challenge you whatdo you want to adapt this week?
Now?
You don't need to changeeverything about your teaching.
You should not changeeverything about your teaching.
We just want to look for thesesigns in our students.
(10:50):
So this week, look for one ofthose students.
Think about a student that'sbeen really a challenge to teach
.
Maybe it's their technique.
It's not happening with themusic they're currently playing.
What can you adapt or adjust tohelp make that more seamless or
to fit better with where yourstudent is right now?
Think small little changes.
(11:11):
And if your student is rightnow, think small little changes.
And if your student isstruggling with technique, one
of the best things you can do isteach it away from the music
page, remove the musical score.
Teach them something by rotethat they can just focus on the
movement of their fingers,something like that, something
very small.
Or maybe for you as a teacher,it's still kind of the beginning
(11:33):
of their fingers, somethinglike that, something very small,
or maybe for you as a teacher,it's still kind of the beginning
of the new year, I'm going tosay it's still the beginning of
2025.
Maybe there's something in yourstudio and in your routine
that's not working.
The best way to figure out whatto change is to think about
what's not going so well, andthat's kind of the fun part of
being a teacher, isn't it?
It's the problem solving andgetting to put on our detective
(11:56):
hat.
I love doing that and figuringout what works for each student,
but I'm sometimes not as goodat doing that for my own routine
and schedule as a teacher.
So I want to encourage you todo that this week to think about
something that's not workingmaybe something that is working
and figure out what have youadapted or what should you adapt
(12:18):
in the future.
It's actually kind of a funsituation to be in figuring out
what works and kind of goingwith it and seeing what the
result is.
Music teaching is kind of likea living experiment that just
keeps on going and as we adaptand adjust, we find more ways of
doing things, and to me, that'sone of the most fun parts of
(12:39):
teaching kids.
I cannot believe it, but thefirst episode is a wrap.
This has been such a fun startto the journey and I cannot wait
to continue this journey withyou.
If you have any questions abouttoday's episode or have
suggestions for future episodes,I'd love to hear from you.
(13:00):
You can always reach out to meon Facebook or Instagram at
Creative Piano Pedagogy, or justsend me an email at
creativepianopedagogy atgmailcom.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
For a written transcript, linksor materials or anything else
from today's episode, pleasevisit my website at
(13:23):
wwwelizabethdavispianocom slashpodcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, itwould mean so much to me if you
would subscribe and leave areview on your podcast app.
I'm so excited to hear what youthink about the episode and
this will also encourage othersto tune in.
Thanks again for joining in andsee you next time for more
(13:44):
creative teaching tips.
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