Skill Vs. Will

I had a mentor (back when I had a “day job”) that talked and taught “skill vs. will,” and it’s always stuck with me that it really applies to so many things.  I’ve applied it to my teaching, and it has really changed my approach to performance issues.   The basic concept is that there are two components to being successful at any endeavor, skill and will.  The skill part comprises of knowing how to do what it takes to accomplish a goal.  The will part is having the drive to do what it takes meet the goal.  Skills can be taught.  Will is a much more difficult problem. 

Who of us hasn’t struggled with this very problem?  We know exactly what we need to do, but actually doing it is overwhelming, unappealing, or just plain scary.  So we avoid it or skip over it and maybe we promise ourselves we’ll come back to whatever “it” is later.  And sometimes we do, but sometimes we don’t.  Every student I’ve ever had has struggled with this as well.  They struggle with the same few measures of a piece for weeks simply because they don’t make the effort to fix the problem.  Or they use the wrong fingering for a note over and over because it’s easier to do it the way they way they always have, even if they squeak every time and it sounds terrible.

Once you know that they know what to do, and just aren’t doing it, it’s a question of throwing a little extra motivation at them to solve the problem.  Who doesn’t need a little extra motivation now and then? 

A New Way to Get Paid – Part 2

I promised I’d let you know how I was making out with Square, the credit card processing tool that attaches to a smart phone.

The answer is GREAT!  I gave all of my students notice that beginning in April, I could start taking payment via credit card.  Many of them showed up with card in hand, happy not to need to write a check.  A few of them forgot it was payment time, but had a card on them.

I had ZERO late payments this month.  How awesome is that?  I didn’t have to hound anyone, we just took care of business.  The fees are really minimal, and I can deduct them as an expense, so I’m really not losing anything.  The money is automatically transferred directly to my bank account within 1-3 days, so I don’t have to even drive to the bank to deposit checks and wait for them to clear.  Plus, I don’t have to juggle anything in my own household budget while I wait for people to remember their checks!

If anyone is looking at this as a tool to use with their teaching studio or other small business, go for it!

What’s Going on Between Lessons?

“We’ll just call this a complete failure.  I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong?” 

I’ve mentioned my website www.LessonSpark.com a few times here.  One of the features is a Practice Diary that students update with their daily practice activities so their teacher can see what they are doing between lessons.  The quote above was the entry of one of my students this week, and exemplifies why I built the site in the first place.

Teaching good practice skills and keeping students motivated throughout the week is one of the toughest things we do as music teachers.  We can all tell when a student has practiced or not, and we can probe about what is actually happening, but how can we really know?  We only see them for a short time once a week or so, then send them off to do most of the learning on their own through daily practice.  I remember times when I was a kid being frustrated because I didn’t understand something I was supposed to practice, and I honestly don’t think I learned good practice skills until college.  I want my students to have a different experience. 

So I created www.LessonSpark.com.  Teachers can post lesson assignments so students know what it expected, and they can see what is happening with their students between lessons in their practice diaries.  Of course, some of my students are better than others about updating their diaries, but at least I have a window into what they are doing.  I can encourage them, give them praise, and help them when there are problems rather than waiting to find out at their next lesson and responding on the fly.  It doesn’t take a lot of time, just a few minutes every day or two to check in and maybe send a message, but I think it goes a long way to helping my students learn.

The student that posted the entry above was unable to play for a few weeks and last week was our first real lesson in a month.  If you’ve ever been unable to play for whatever reason for a period of time, you understand her frustration.  I got this message 2 days after her last lesson, so I was able to reach out and provide some encouragement and guidance to get her through the rest of the week.  That makes all the effort worth it.