White Supremacy Culture Traits and Traditional Piano Lessons - Part 2: “Sense of Urgency”
I was having a conversation with someone on what it looks like to “re-imagine music education”.
While I can paint an ideal picture of what inclusive and diverse music education can look like, I know that picture cannot happen until the critical examination of our current structures and our biases happen first. Re-imagination is not possible without reflection and re-working of norms and standards in our practice. That includes disrupting white supremacy culture.
In my first post that introduced the ways white supremacy culture shows up in traditional piano lessons, we looked at the different avenues perfectionism is rampant throughout how we structure strategies and the learning environment. Perfectionism can also intersect with the following another trait - sense of urgency. If you need a review of the white supremacy culture traits, you can click here to access Tema Okun’s work.
Much of what I write about stems from my personal experiences, readings, and others’ anecdotes. While reading this post, I highly encourage you to also reflect on how this tenet shows up in your experiences as a piano teacher, a piano student, or someone who knows someone who has learned/taught piano in this setting.
Let’s get to it.
Sense of Urgency
Sense of urgency in piano lessons is the reason why student voices are not centered, social and emotional skills are put on the back burner, and discussion of social issues that are related to overall musicianship is avoided (simply because they are not related to being a robot music maker).
It values doing something now over doing something right.
And sometimes doing what’s right often means taking time.
A common component of traditional piano lessons is the incorporation of piano examinations. The Royal Conservatory of Music has examinations that “provide a national standard for students, parents, and teachers to track and measure progress and achievements.” Certificate of Merit, put together by The Music Teachers Association of California, is consisted of “a standard of curriculum that requires students to strive for focused musical excellence”.
It is not inherently a bad thing to show measurement in achievement in piano...unless these supposedly well-meaning exams blossom into being the core focus of piano curriculum for all learners, regardless of their interests and unique learning needs.
Depending on the teacher and the student, these exams can require months of preparation, due to the demands of an exam’s requirements. Although these exams claim to create a standard of measuring musical progress, they ask students to only showcase certain kinds of musicianship skills. Most of the required rubric guidelines in these exams center on Western classical tradition repertoire and styles, and there is little to no opportunity to showcase other abilities outside of that.
The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) also clearly states that, “Music exams don't suit everyone, and exam syllabuses aren't intended to provide a complete curriculum or choice of repertoire to the exclusion of all other music.”
…is that because only skills that lead back to Western Classical music styles are worth measuring? Hmm.
Some teachers are pressured to revolve lesson instructional time on exam preparation, which means working on the same technique, theory, sight reading, ear training and piano pieces for several weeks, maybe even months. Because these exams can require a large amount of work from students (combined with high expectations from some teachers and/or parents for students to receive a high score), teachers may be tempted to focus so highly on preparing for the final performance that they sacrifice joyful music-making and student agency during the learning process. I have had several parents and students once tell me that they were bored of lessons when approaching preparation for exams and would even consider taking a “break” after exams are over.
From observation through social media scrolls, Google searches, and personal experience, some music schools or music studios especially use exams as an advantage in their advertising plan. They will post pictures of current piano students with their passing certificates as part of their social media and sometimes brag about the students with the highest scores. This gives the message that a student can truly be recognized for their musicianship if they enroll in these exams. “It gives them a sense of pride!” they say. But does it really, when we think of the stress and the burnout that students had to go through?
Some music schools also tend to favor hiring teachers who have the qualifications to train students in these exams because they know this teacher will bring in more students, due to demand from families. Teachers who are not qualified to give these exams can sometimes receive pressure from the studio owners or even the parents to enroll their students in these exams, which can also result in teachers paying a huge sum of money each year to an association to remain qualified to do this exam. This amount is, of course, dependent on the organization.
Some parents will sometimes see other students around them advancing to higher levels and try to convince teachers on how to have their own students “skip” levels, regardless if the student is truly ready. Moving quickly to higher levels of playing and speeding through foundational musical concepts may not be the most beneficial choice for students. Other key aspects of music making and rapport building between the teacher and the student are not prioritized.
Other examples where sense of urgency shows up in the traditional piano lesson environment:
Discussions: When a culturally insensitive song in a piano method book is skipped over, a student may wonder why. Instead of taking a few minutes to explain how problematic illustrations and song titles hurt the people demonstrated, the teacher may say there is no time for those explanations because more time in the lessons needs to be devoted to theory, repertoire, ear training. An excuse I often see in situations like these are: “I’m not a history teacher; I’m a music teacher. I only teach music.”
Competitions: When a student seems “advanced” enough in their piano lesson, they are then pushed to enroll in competitions, festivals, and scholarship opportunities. Most lessons are then based on how to have the “perfect” performance.
Moving quickly through new books/pieces: This looks like advancing to the next method book or the next piece without consistent review of foundational concepts and/or skipping levels to match what other students are doing (for example, skipping to level 5 because that’s what “most” 10-year-olds do during piano lessons).
Meaningless work in practice assignments: If teachers are not aware of a student’s usual school and extracurricular schedule throughout the week, they could be giving more unnecessary piano work than what is needed. In my experience observing other piano teacher’s assignment books, I have seen random scales, chord progressions, and other techniques that were purposelessly assigned with little to no connection with the repertoire or any other music learning activities that were done in the lesson. I have seen teachers assign several brand new pieces to work on even if the student may not feel fully equipped to confidently start and practice them independently.
“There’s not enough time.” This is the excuse behind not building authentic trust with the student, not embedding improvisation and creativity as a part of musical fluency, and ignoring the need for robust aural training so students can feel comfortable enough to pick out a piece they hear on the radio without the aid of notated sheet music. Teachers with the “lack of time” mentality feel pressured to cover what they view as “necessary” in the piano lesson.
A focus on busyness: This includes giving jam-packed assignment practice plans that demand students to work on the piano for 30-60 minutes every day in order to see what a teacher would deem as ideal progress. A fun musical exploration activity or game? Nah, you’ll never find them here.
Lack of mental health check-in: In some cases, a student may enter the lessons emotionally fragile to the point that the student cries due to frustration, stress, or other external factors. Instead of checking in with the student and giving them space to process, analyze their emotions, or take an actual break from playing the piano, a sense of urgency looks like the teacher continuing the lesson anyway because there are more needed musical concepts to cover in the remaining time of the lesson. “We got 15 minutes left so let’s put this piece aside for now. Let’s hear your technique.”
No breaks allowed: When families make the decision to take a break from lessons over a short period of time (i.e. summer break), it can be due to various vacation or financial reasons. Families are sometimes gaslighted by teachers or music school owners for “missing consistent lessons” because of the fear that their students may “backtrack” in their progress. This can potentially give the message that the teacher and/or the institution values the student’s progress and achievements (and/or tuition) more than maintaining the emotional and mental well-being of the student, especially if piano lessons have been structured in a way that have not brought joy, wellness, and comfort.
Antidotes
Create realistic plans and discuss with all stakeholders what is reasonable for the student. Ask what their day-to-day schedule is like and brainstorm with families on what would be best for the student’s workload. Communicate with the family on what their learning environment is like and what motivates the student at home. Be curious about what other music the child and the family experience outside of lessons. Make sure that the family is aware that student voice and joy are a priority in their learning.
If a decision must be made urgently, ensure all stakeholders in the piano learning environment understand the purpose. Once one stakeholder raises a concern, it must be addressed.
Learn from past experiences how long it takes to learn certain pieces.
Prepare sound, research-based reasons why “skipping” levels or method book pieces is what is best for the student. Has the student consistently shown quick progress? Who is helping the student learn piano at home? Is it for the student’s benefit? If moving faster is the goal, what other potential musicianship skills are glossed over?
If students are curious about discussing topics on problematic song titles or illustrations in a book, do not be silent about it. Call out the racism and cultural insensitivity. Explain in simple language: “These pictures may look innocent but many people from this group are hurt by this.” Encourage students in how to be more critical and culturally aware consumers of music. Although this is not directly piano-related, check out this article from The Washington Post on looking for anti-racist media for children.
Some may think having a sense of urgency is needed in piano lessons. This ties to what we will unpack in part 3 of this series, with the trait of defensiveness.
Questions for you
Does your piano teaching center on succeeding exams? Do they provide a comprehensive picture of your student’s musical progress?
If you are a piano teacher, look at the important lesson plan sections you want to cover and interrogate why you may think you may not “have enough time” in the lesson to do everything. When rushing to prioritize those components, what other essential aspects of good teaching are you sacrificing to meet your personal piano learning objectives for that student? Do your learning objectives for the student match what student desires to learn for themselves?
For me personally, it is okay if my piano student does not get to learn about phrasing in that one part just yet. It is okay if we didn’t start that new piece about dancing bananas. It is okay if we still need to work on that D major scale for five more minutes. Let us shift the “running out of time” mindset into a perspective that gives time for students to feel seen and heard in the lesson.
