The set-up

By the time David arrived for his first lesson, I had set up an environment that would be conducive to self-initiated exploration. I chose which instruments to include, where they should be placed, and what the ambience of their “presentation” should be: some centrally located, out in the open; some half-hidden to be discovered over time (It actually took David several months to notice all six guitars!); and some behind closed cabinet doors. At his first session I explained to him how Music House would work: that I would “plant seedlings”: offer ideas that he could take or not, and otherwise be available as needed (Collaborator, resource, “Genie at large,” for example), and that he could choose which musical things he wanted to do and whether or not to take my suggestions. I also explained this to David’s parents. They were on board, so I was free to go ahead with it.

What happened
David came to Music House for three years. While his way of doing things never changed, it became clear over time that his ear, musical confidence, knowledge, overall musicianship and even technique were evolving impressively. He divided his musical time among a variety of activities: experimenting with most of my instruments, finding song melodies on several instruments, improvising, learning music history, composing, learning to play accompaniments on piano and autoharp. As I do with all of my students, I documented and/or videoed (with permission) every one of David's sessions. Each week before his lesson, I referred to his file from the previous week to give me an idea of what “seedlings” might be appropriate to plant. I regularly emailed his parents describing what he had been up to in his lessons and my interpretation of it. They allowed him to continue because: A) he was so enthusiastic about coming to his lesson each week, B) the inspiration he got from his lessons carried over into his home life, where he continued to play instruments, sing and talk about music on a regular basis, and C) I explained how Music House works from the beginning and was totally forthcoming about letting them in on David's process.

During his first year, David—who had no piano technique at all—said he wanted to learn “Für Elise.” I explained that it was a very advanced piece that requires a lot of technique as well as the ability to read notes, which he'd never done. He pleaded, so I taught him the first few notes by rote. For three years his interest never waned. He practiced at home and we kept adding on. Over time he acquired the necessary technical skills because of the musical demands of the piece he so badly wanted to play. He found the fingerings that worked best to articulate the phrasing, honed the skills to play the dynamics the music asked for, and discovered when and how to use the pedal. I never told him what to do, but modeled how I might do a certain thing, encouraged him to listen to great pianists, and answered questions he had about Beethoven and how the piece was witten. David learned three sections of “Für Elise,” critiqued and improved his own playing, and was able to play it so beautifully that it would be impossible to tell that he had not spent years practicing scales and etudes. Here is a letter I wrote to his parents describing that process: view letter here

When David was in middle school and other obligations got in the way of our scheduling lessons, I stayed in touch with his parents, who kept me updated on his musical doings. David continued to explore different instruments, primarily guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and percussion, which he got to try at school and at home. By high school he had become “one of those people” who can pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it. He sang in the chorus, had singing roles in a number of musicals,( i.e. Nathan Detroit in “”Guys and Dolls), and played bass guitar, keyboard and alto sax in the jazz band. David never took any lessons outside of Music House. In college he sang in an a cappella chorus for four years. I got to attend several of his performances, and we met from time to time as well. The confidence, competence and passion he brought—and continues to bring—to his music making is just what you would hope to find in a performer.

Consider
We learn music through doing it—”musicing,” as NYU professor David Elliott calls it. Self-motivated engagement ensures that the learner is interested and that the learning is relevant. But self-motivated engagement works differently for different learners. I learned violin by leaving my instrument out on my bed and practicing for 10-15 minutes at a time a few times a day, then went on to a 25 career as a violinist. For David, I initiated and protected his right to do things his way. In addition, I championed every musical thing he did, and since I was the musical “expert” in the room, that meant something to him.

Committing to child-driven learning is a never-ending work in progress. While the student is making choices, the teacher is constantly thinking about how to respond to what just happened and what to do next. There are inevitable challenges. Whenever I’m feeling confused or uncomfortable, I always come back to why I started Music House in the first place: that the technique-based lesson with which most of us are familiar does not work for a large number of very musical people. Music House has accomplished what I hoped it would: kept children engaged, feeling that who they are matters in their music learning, and that music can occupy a meaningful place in their life.

Clearly, in certain situations child-initiated exploration would not be appropriate! If a child is preparing to audition to play the violin in an orchestra, the teacher's responsibility is to input skills and knowledge that will lead to a successful outcome for the student. And as a teacher, if you simply cannot imagine dealing with the unpredictability and oddities that inevitably accompany child-initiated learning, don't use this approach! Nothing works for every learner or teacher. The suggestions our readers offered may work better for them and if you do work with children, I urge you to take those fascinating ideas and try them! The only way to know if something is working is to observe the child, establish criteria to monitor the process along the way and see whether it solves the problem that you—the teacher in the puzzler—started out trying to solve: keeping students interested and engaged! In David's case, I never doubted that Music House was helping him find a relevant and gratifying musical path, and that's certainly what happened.