Oclef Podcast

This is a great episode to share with a piano teacher friend. Push Back. It's simple, yet powerful. Don't avoid confrontation with a parent - especially if what you are pushing back on something that is in the best interest of their child. Parents want the best for their kids, but sometimes they don't realize how to think or behave - they are usually new to learning piano, just like their child. Be you, Be what that child needs. The tortoise always wins, Julian Follow us on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/oclef/

Loved doing this interview with Jon! He's just a great guy and I enjoyed getting the chance, like with most guests on the podcast, to ask deep questions. Please share this with parents of piano students and other teachers or aspiring pianist. He has great insight in many areas and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Julian

Pain relievers like aspirin can be taken if you have a headache and usually within 15 minutes the headache is gone. But what if there were a product that made that headache go away and then come back in 7 days? Whenever I have new classes start I often get the question from parents…how long does it take to learn piano? And I used to think that was a really silly question. Simply because, well, I’m still learning piano. And I’ll probably be learning piano for the rest of my life. But lately the more I think about that question, I realize that there should be an answer to that question. If you change the question slightly, the answer becomes something that FEELS achievable. I’d ask: “How long does the average child take to acquire all the necessary skills, knowledge, practice strategies and coordination to become an independent learner of piano music?” I think there is an answer to that question. The tortoise always wins, Julian Follow us on www.instagram.com/oclef

Yesterday I was working with a mother and her daughter and one simple piece of teaching advice left her speechless the second she tried it. This episode dives into the "Theory Theory" by Alison Gopnik and how it explains why the "Frozen Pencil" teaching technique works so well when teaching children to read piano. The tortoise always wins, Julian

Today's podcast goes into the challenging world of how we as teachers help our students navigate more than just their troubles and anxieties from learning. If you want your story or question on an upcoming episode - visit www.oclef.com/podcast and leave your story or question. The tortoise always wins, Julian

In the education world, teachers sometimes can be overly focused on the results and outcomes in competitions and tests. And the question I have is - “What mindset does that produce for students in the long run?” I leave you with an idea and three questions. The Japanese word Kaizen means "change for better". How do you create experiences for your students that help them change and acquire the values you believe in? How does extrinsic motivators and rewards like tests and competitions actually shape your students perspective - especially if they are their main focus? Do you instill Kaizen or continuous improvement experiences into your student’s learning paths?

Talking about how small wins not only motivate students but can motivate their parent coaches as they make their way on the long journey of learning music. How do you motivate parents? The tortoise always wins, Julian

Trying a different format. Share it if you love it.  The Tortoise always wins, Julian

Sample. Observe. Record.    The child needs to sample a variety of activities and as their parent you need to be open and observant. Try to be as non-biased towards activities and you can. Watch them and record your observations about how they respond to these activities.   Once you find the right one or two activities it comes down to you being passionate as the parent. Be as involved and helpful as you can. Ask the instructor what else you can do to help. Be there for the events and stay to help out the community. Show your passion and self-drive as a parent and your child will be more likely to mimic that behavior. Nothing can be certain, but this will increase the likelihood of the outcome you imply from your question.   The tortoise always wins, Julian

Todays episode is a follow up on the concept talked about in yesterday’s interview with Irina Gorin. She talked about “educating parents”. What she really means is show parents the value of piano and why they need to be involved and committed in the right way.  Today’s episode talks about a personal story on how one of my students has allowed lessons from piano (curiosity, patience, persistence, creativity) to get him accepted into Stanford University. Learning piano is so much more than just music. Julian

She's amazing. What else is there to say about Irina? :) Check out Tales of A Musical Journey and the rest of her work here - http://www.irinagorin.com/ Enjoy! Julian

They did it! Many parents loved the experience of preparing, learning and performing with their child. My main goal is really to help them get into the learning process with their child. To become part of the piano learning environment.  Regardless of the result, they will gain confidence and more trust from their kids who are learning piano. As well as a better understanding for how it feels to learn piano.  You should definitely try this event if you have a studio! Julian

This interview is a wonderful conversation with Michelle Conda of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM).  She's spent the last 25 years developing CCM as one of the top schools in the world to go learn how to teach piano. She has a talent for developing adults as teachers and in today's podcast she goes into The history of how she arrived where she is today Her views and stories on teaching adults  Her overall direction as a world-class teacher in piano pedagogy and andragogy Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. Julian

Today I dive into the idea of how learning happens. For me, learning happens through an input that I call a "window". The window opens from the student's connection with the teacher. But parents have such a stronger bond and larger window with their children than any teacher can even imagine.  So as teachers working with students, we spend time asking students "How was your week?" and do whatever we can to bond with them. But the reality is that their parent will always have a larger window to educate their child through. So why not build up the parent? Why not redesign your studio around the education of parents? What if that child received 7 lessons a week from their mother or father instead of 1 from you?  Yes, the parents don't know as much about music. But all great music teachers know that teaching music is more about the process than the knowledge.  Teach parents to teach. You'll be surprised.

Have you ever considered getting your parents, of your students, to teach in the lesson?  What skills do they actually need to know in order for the child to improve? With the Oclef Method we see the parent and child as a teacher and student team guided by the actual teacher.  By redesigning the role of parents as a teacher, how will that impact students and their development? Try it. You may be surprised. The tortoise always wins, Julian

Yep. I'm having parents play in a recital with their kids.  The backstory really explains it all. But the main idea here is role shifting.  As educators, find ways to get your parents into their role as a teacher of the child as we shift into the coach of the parent and child team. The tortoise always wins, Julian

Great question!   The standard answer would be for you to practice lower level pieces (i.e. level 3 if you’re level 5). And do that every day for about 15 minutes. It will improve as long as you’re consistent and patient.   Try Rhythm books really help if you have a deficiency in rhythmic reading and patterns. I’m the video I’ve showed you an example of one and how to use it.    Let me know if you have any additional questions.   Good luck!   The tortoise always wins, Julian

I've always thought this. Weird, awkward and quirky things about people are the best things. The best. But for whatever reason, I've only recently applied it throughout my teaching and consulting.  I used to work with students and use archetypes to be more efficient in my teaching.  Big mistake. Nowadays, it's all about finding the weirdest thing I can find about students and using that as their strength. Playing their unique traits and views as their strengths allows them to have a better outcome almost every time.  It's the better bet. But, it means that you won't have a studio full of competition pianists. It means you'll have a studio or school full of all different types of pianists.  If you teach students this way. Questioning them. Learning their views. And then help them be themselves. They will forever love you. Simply because you're helping them be themselves. You're giving them permission to be the person they are and not asking them to conform to someone or something they're not.  And that! That's the art of teaching to me. Learning the student, their parents, and understanding their "wacky world". So that you can help them build it with them at every lesson, practice, and experience together.

This is an episode from our Oclef Method. It’s a series for parents wanting to help their children during practice. Find all the episodes for our methodology that teaches parents here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqEmaLrf_Fs-Cvyk1HvOkA   Guidance   As a parent, you can help your child with this so much.   Navigating a piece of piano music can be daunting.   Two staves, multiple pages, hands going in opposite directions and that’s just the notes.    As a parent who is sitting with your child, you have an opportunity to:      • Keep focused on practice       • Build proper habits      • Understand mistakes      • Improve faster   I could go on...(for a while).   But in this episode of the Oclef Method, you will get an introduction to three skills that you can develop to help your child practice piano.    Priming. Narration. Feedback.    Priming: Mentally preparing your child for what is coming in the piece of music in front of them.    Narration:  Guiding their attention through the play through to focus on the challenges as they happen (counting, hand position changes, intervals).   Feedback: Observing the patterns in their mistakes and telling them what to watch out for next time.    It’s really about helping them just enough to get them on the right path. With the right habits. And observing the right details.    It sounds like a lot to learn, but this is just the first step toward your child receiving seven lessons a week with you at their side. Independence is the goal.

Progress We all want it. But should it be shown to parents as a sign of things going well? I used to think so, but I've gotten to the point now where I see progress as something that reveals itself. The whole music education infrastructure points to levels and method book with numbers. And everyone means well. But progress becomes obvious when it's actually happening. We don't need levels. Anyway, most exams test performance and not comprehension.  Getting parents involved to the point where they see the small wins every day has been the solution to the progress trap that most piano teachers fall into (I used to be one of them). Listen to this! The parents are telling me their child is progressing.  Not the book. Not me showing them. And no standardized test is showing it. I repeat. The parent is telling me they see their child progressing. So what's the big secret? Get them SO involved by empowering them as coaches and their child that they don't need me. What? Yeah. I am getting rid of myself as the "teacher" as fast as I can. The less I teach, the better the teacher I believe I am. I see myself as the guide who's telling them what's on the path ahead. What to watch out for. How to solve that problem when they face it. Why that will happen. How it may happen. And what the clues will look like when it's happening.  Independence.  That's what the Oclef method is really about.  Independence to go learn any piece you want with your child once they're ready.  How will you know? Well because they've completed 17 pieces on triplets and 12 pieces on 3/8 meter and 4 pieces on left hand extended rotation. And now they're ready for Fur Elise for real. No teacher needed (seriously). The new generation of parents are here and they are busy, but they want to be involved. Really. They just don't know how to get involved in piano education. It seems so hard. But it's not. And any confident teacher knows that their best students have always been the ones who almost "taught themselves". Maybe they got stuck here or there. But the parents are in the lesson, taking notes to apply at home or the child is highly motivated and mature. So why don't we design a system where that happens naturally? We are! It's going to be called Oclef PRO and it'll accompany the Oclef Method. This new software will be the best tool for teachers or schools who want to create their own methodology.  Yes. You can have your own method! It'll allow you to expand your reach as a teacher or school to more people than just the local ones in your area. With the ability for teachers to do peer-to-peer video streaming, build a public or private teaching video library and have all your students custom learning programs in one place.  Why can't a school in Kansas use their method to teach parents and students in California?  We're making it happen. Stay tuned for more.  The tortoise always wins, Julian  

Discipline. It’s the most important element you’ll need to confirm or solve for before moving forward. Don’t start looking for a piano or a Method book or anything until you figure out how you plan to be consistent. If you focus on all the tools of learning music and not focus on the way you will work (i.e. accountability and daily routine), then it won’t happen. Habits are the best things and the worst things. If you can get habits to work for you, then you’ll learn piano well. So find someone to keep you accountable and disciplined in daily practice if you cannot do it yourself. Eventually you should develop yourself to do it on your own. Good luck! The tortoise always wins, Julian

“Can I teach my 7 year old sister how to play piano by myself?” - Peterson Normil   Yes. Be consistent - practice 6–7 days a week for 10–15 minutes a day. Doing 1 day a week for 1 hour will not work out.  Focus on reading- Get her several books (piano adventures, Alfred, Hal Leonard) and have her constantly focus on building a visual vocabulary of intervals. Reading by interval instead of note names will promote independence and also help her start with the right habits. She shouldn’t read by note names, although knowing the names of notes is important.  Make it a bonding experience - Focus on her personal growth and don’t make it about perfection. Allow her to make tons of mistakes and try to help her develop a system of auto-correcting by learning to recognize what’s right and wrong from her reading practice. Spending all week on getting one piece right may feel right, but the long term effects of always doing that doesn’t work out.  As a bonus tip - having her watch videos and copy what others do or simply having her play pieces that are too difficult will be the fastest way to get her to quit.   If you want to see a parent who doesn’t know music teaching his child, here is how our methodology works. It’s based around parents teaching music to their kids while teachers teach the parents how to be a step ahead.   Good luck!   The tortoise always wins, Julian

Honesty It’s a desirable quality. But the funny thing is how people often consider that NOT saying something because it’s not positive, is a good thing. Radical Candor is one of the biggest changes and tools to my work as an educator over the last few years.  Not saying something to a parent that is the truth and is hurting their child’s chance of success in music is ludicrous.  Check out this podcast on how being candid with parents has made them trust me and listen to me more than ever.  Take responsibility, be frank with people and you’ll be surprised.  Presentation is everything. So choose your words with taste. Feel free to reach me at julian@oclef.com

Reading.   My best advice for a student just starting piano, at any age (5–105) is to develop your reading ability.   While you’re working on your reading here are two super helpful tips: Have a very diverse set of books to read from. Don’t stick to one book or one piece of music. Develop your ‘visual vocabulary’. Music is built from patterns and if you look, intervals (or the spaces between notes) are the building blocks of almost everything (chords, cadences, melody, counterpoint, etc.). Get very good at reading music by interval and you’ll start to see how music is assembled. If you’re working with a child, we’ve developed a piano method for parents to help their children. You can follow us on YouTube.  

We posted a survey on our Instagram and got hundreds of responses. The question was: Does a student need musical talent to succeed in learning music? The audiences answer was a yes... 57% Yes to 43% No Any great teacher will tell you that the answer to that question is obviously no. That's an easy answer. So I guess I need to do a better job educating our IG community. But, I am at the point where I'm even questioning if musical talent exists. In this episode, - I go into my personal history - Briefly talk about perfect pitch - Discuss soft skills  - Talk about the 'one thing' keeping me from completely dropping the idea of musical talent.  What are your thoughts on musical talent? Does it exist? How do you know? Reach me julian@oclef.com

I’ll answer in two areas: Headspace- mistakes in performance happen and they should be expected. You have got to start focusing on the characters and audience experience you reveal through the music. Music for me is a verb. It is the act of communicating stories, ideas and emotions through sound. A small blip in the screen during a movie goes unnoticed, so don’t worry as long as you’re passionately becoming the character. Practical - You need to be relentless and obsessive. I don’t know for sure, but you’re probably not practicing thoroughly. Talk about this with your teacher and discuss how you should optimize your attention to preparation. How are you designing the small wins leading up to performance? Do you always have left hand memorized? Are all your voices memorized separately in the counterpoint? Can you sing each voice? Have you considered writing out the parts of all voices of your pieces. Have you practiced transposing sections to better understand the harmonic structure of the music? Have you played one hand and conducted the other? Be thorough. Be obsessed. Most students are not and that’s why they never make it as a concert artist or even as a great pianist. If you really want results, put all this extra effort in. Send me a recording after you’ve done some of these ideas above and adjusted your headspace. Like what you hear? Follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/Oclef 

Welcome to Season 6!  I know I've been away for the last couple months and we have so much to share with you! This season will be about how to educate parents into becoming piano coaches and to help make sure their children are actually learning at home. Check out our new Oclef Methodology on YouTube and SUBSCRIBE :) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqEmaLrf_Fs-Cvyk1HvOkA Also, check out all the music and fun happening on our Instagram page: www.instagram.com/oclef Today's episode is about how important it is to help with the fixed mindset that some students obtain and how to solve it. Hope this helps you. Share it with parents! Want to reach me? I'd love to hear from you. julian@oclef.com 

This is what could happen if a parent or teacher places a student's point of reference outside of themselves. Be careful with comparisons because it can spiral out of control if misplaced.  Reach me at julian@oclef.com  Follow us on instagram www.instagram.com/oclef

This is part of the collection of questions that I get so often. What's your advice on buying a piano? It's a very heavy question and I'm interested in developing a series within Oclef Q&A to teach parents about what they need to know. Would you be interested in content that answers these questions for parents or yourself? 1. Should I buy an acoustic or electric piano? 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of new pianos versus used pianos? 3. When considering my budget, what are the price segments that I should consider and know? 4. What is the grey market for pianos and is it bad? 5. How much does a move, tune or regulation cost? 6. If I buy electric, what features would you feel are required? 7. How important is a pedal extension, adjustable bench, and seat pad? 8. Do dealers rip me off? 9. What brands do you recommend and what's your favorite? 10. How do I know if a used piano is a good one? and many more questions like this... reach me julian@oclef.com

This is week six of the Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music. It's an intro to negativity. Although it's not very common, it can become a very toxic habit. I have seen negativity develop from setting goals and status based on external forces. This is a very dangerous positioning that happens by accident sometimes and goes unnoticed.  Later this week, I'll talk about how a parent pointed to the progress of other students as a motivational tactic for her own child. I'll talk about how that student spiraled out of control and eventually quit from a relentless attitude of negativity. I've since learned my lesson and always hold my position when parents introduce this similar approach of comparative progress. Teachers! This is very important that you stand your ground and speak up. Child development must come first. Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Last September I came across a campaign on Kickstarter. There was a guy selling a book called "You suck at piano". It was sort of an Anti-method book full of humor and randomness. And of course, I loved it. It's the only book I've ever found to include humor in music education. All jokes aside, Joel Pierson raised $85,000 in his first effort and on today's show he launched the next book. If you're interested - we're giving away 6 books for FREE. Yes, just comment on our Instagram page this week when we post about Joel. Winners will receive their books in August after they are delivered and Joel has agreed to sign them for us! To buy Joel's Book Tap here - https://kck.st/2Ivki2M To enter into the free giveaway - www.instagram.com/oclef Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Easily one of the most common mistakes of students and parents is the topic of today's podcast - predictability. If students have the same predictable practice habits of playing their music pieces over and over from beginning to the end, recitals don't go so well. A recital performance is simply a mental "storm" and the music is a structure in the child's mind. They must develop the structure and foundation, preparing it by utilizing a diverse set of strategies, or the likelihood of it going well is very low. It may go well, but it probably will not. So if your children or students have recently completed a recital and are not happy with the result this episode is for them. Share it with them. Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Today's question comes from Sun Xexian. He asks why can't he hear the difference between types of pianos. I love this question because in a way, it's a win for instrument makers who are behind models like Yamaha N2 and other electric pianos. Another great example is my favorite tech-piano, the Steinway Spirio. That makes it so a real player piano can sound exactly like historic greats and living legends. Let's face it technology is greatly shifting the instrument maker world.  Any questions, reach me julian@oclef.com.  Thanks for sharing our show, it means a lot.

This is week 4 of the Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music. And for this week, we're discussing complacency. It's the idea that the student says, "that's good enough". I find this to be a habit that stunts the imagination and creativity as well as quality of learning. I really do everything I can to encourage curiosity. Where have you seen this in your students or children? Reach me at julian@oclef.com

This question comes from Ngachanyo Shimray and I just love it. It's an important topic in piano education, but almost never talked about after intermediate/advanced education.  If you have a question and want to be on the show, reach me here: julian@oclef.com and visit our instagram to see all the fun that our community is having: www.instagram.com/oclef

Hey listener friends! I just wanted to say that we are taking this week off of the podcast to prepare exciting news for all of you. If you do want to engage with us please check out: www.instagram.com/oclef We have exciting partnerships to announce with music education giants who have started to work with us. Stay tuned and thank you so much for helping us to grow! Julian Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Claire asks how long does it take to become proficient at piano. Check out my answer to this common question. Follow us on instagram www.instagram.com/oclef Follow us on Quora http://bit.ly/2HW4N0M Do you have a question? Reach me at: julian@oclef.com

All this week we're talking about inconsistency and how it is one of the deadly sins of learning music. Today I wanted to shift the focus to parents and how 'inconsistency' in parent behavior is a huge cause of students lack of progress. It is on teachers to educate and empower their student's parents to know that they can help. Teach them rhythm, teach them reading, teach them consistency and you'll be shocked. Reach me at julian@oclef.com Instagram www.instagram.com/oclef

Before today's show on the next of the Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music we have an exciting announcement!  We're launching a third podcast format called Oclef Q&A.  We get so many questions each day and we want to start sharing our answers to those questions here in the podcast format. Reach us at http://bit.ly/2HW4N0M on Quora or www.instagram.com/oclef Thank you all so much for sharing our show and helping us grow!

This is Episode 25 of the Oclef Interview series. On today's podcast we have El Sistema USA Board member Christine Taylor and Executive Director Katie Wyatt. Find them at https://elsistemausa.org/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/elsistemausa On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElSistemaUSA On Instagram: www.instagram.com/elsistemausa/ Reach me at julian@oclef.com On Instagram www.instagram.com/oclef  

It's so important for us to help students become the truest version of themselves. Every chance I get I try to help them pivot and shift into the right direction. Today I wanted to share a story about a student and how she has transformed into a quiet, but confident person and how that changed her performance in music. Reach me at julian@oclef.com with your stories. I'd love to read them.

Week 2 of the Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music is about Detachment.  This one is what happens when music is not music, because it's void of an emotion or idea. When students make this a habit during practice or performance it's a huge problem. The end result is unfocused practice and performance of a music-less landscape. Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Today I wanted to share a personal story of how one student and his mother chose impatience and short-term wins in learning piano and how that turned out for them. Long story short, a student who appeared "crazy talented" no longer takes piano anymore. Go for the macro values gained from learning piano, don't let impatience and short-term wins end your child's development. Comments or questions? Reach me at julian@oclef.com Catch us on instagram at @oclef or #SDSLM (Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music)

My current hypothesis is that impatience is a side effect which becomes a habit. As educators, we need to be very aware of how we guide, help and observe students. 1. Define the game: Set expectations 2. Teach the tools. Test the tools. 3. Observe the gaps. Reach me for questions or comments at julian@oclef.com Instagram at @oclef or #SDSLM (Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music)  

This is part of the seven deadly sins of learning music. A new series we're running on the Oclef Podcast. If you didn't catch the season opener, go back and check it out for the backstory of how this came about. Each week I'll go through one of the things holding your students back from improving. 1. Impatience You must be patient. Impatience is one of the main causes of failure and mistakes. Especially in music.  Post on Instagram about this topic with #SDSLM (Seven Deadly Sins of Learning Music) Would love to hear your stories, questions or thoughts. Reach me at julian@oclef.com

I'm back from Bali! The trip has really helped me to recover and reignite myself for all the upcoming work that we're doing at Oclef. Here's a photo that really encapsulates the trip: http://bit.ly/2q0UIrO Thoughts? Know someone who should be a guest on the show? Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Try it. Swimming with a life jacket is really hard, almost impossible to get anywhere. But if you have a top lifeguard watching you and teaching you strokes, you can learn how to swim much better. Why is piano teaching any different? Reach me at julian@oclef.com

Pushing students to stretch in piano is a great way to help them grow. But recently, I learned about how important it is to have milestones or markers along the way. These can be obvious like recitals, tests and competitions or they can be less obvious. Like learning all your notes on flash cards, not having to have mom ask you to practice for two weeks in a row, or playing a quartet on the piano with friends. And today we're launching Oclef Classical on Apple Music. It'll be a frequently updated playlist of music to educate students, parents and teachers. Share it and listen to learn about music from 350 years ago and music just released last month. Link below! apple.co/2tJPAwM

It’s all about character. The values and habits that I hope to instill in students are, to me, more important than how well they play a crescendo. But in reality, behaviors and habits are extremely tough to guide only seeing students once or twice a week. That’s why parents are so important. And as tests or recitals come, we can really see what students are made of and how they react to pressure and challenges - that’s the value of tests for me.  Reach me at julian@oclef.com