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Are you aware of your facial expressions during lessons?

Do you mostly:
1) Smile?
2) Frown?
3) Keep a neutral or passive face?
4) All of the above?
5) React spontaneously?

What about your students answers to questions 1-5?

I was reading about our "happiness environment" in a New York Times Health article and wondered if our faces help set the "tempo" in our studios as much as our teaching might.

How important is "happiness environment"?
How is "happiness environment" created in a piano studio?

Betty Patnude

I'm not sure what my expressions are because I am not thinking about myself during the lessons. How can a teacher be aware of her own facial expressions if she is focusing on her student?

It is my goal to maintain a relaxed, positive atmosphere during lessons.

Ditto, Barb.

If I thought there was something actually unhelpful about my expressions I'd maybe think consciously about them, but it seems rather artificial to me.

Hm, I've never thought consciously about this topic. I know that I greet students with a smile. A smile seems to melt away their tensions of the school day; students are responsive to that simple gesture of warmth. A smile provides reassurance needed to build a student's confidence in performance (and I do count their playing during lessons as a performance). Feeling that sense of reassurance also seems to make them better able to cope with my response to their performances.

Facial expressions, IMO, are an accurate measure of a student's readiness to try and of understanding a new concept. Of what the OP listed 1-5, I feel that my students and I react spontaneously to one another and to the current circumstance presented us.


PS to the OP: Do you have a link for this article?



~mstrongpianist

I second the request for a link to the "happiness environment" article. Sounds interesting.

For me it very much depends on the student. If I have energetic/enthusiastic/eccentric students I can't help but grin.

Kids doing grades I probably have a neutral face as I'm concentrating hard on getting the most i possibly can out of their relatively short lessons.

There are a few kids who I feel very self concious around because I don't have a good relationship with them but I don't want them to feel bad, so I am conscious of remembering to smile and be friendly because it isn't the way I'm feeling inside.

I think the sign of a genuinely good relationship with a student is the last point though - spontaneously. You feel comfortable to frown, to laugh, to be serious - whatever the moment requires. And you know that regardless, you will come across as liking them, because you do!

+1

I have been collecting information that could apply to piano teacher's demeanor during piano lessons: I recently read “A Language of Smiles” and make notes from it that support of my theory about the “Importance of Teacher Smiles in Piano Teaching”. In addition other reading I've done leads me in the same direction some from Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Daniel Amen which I am not attempting to be specific about here. I asked the questions because of my interest in the topic.

A Language of Smiles – (The Wild Side - Olivia Judson) New York Times 10-27-2009
http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/a-language-of-smiles/

Quotes from the article:
“Saying “eeee” pulls up the corners of the mouth and makes you start to smile.”

“The mere act of smiling is often enough to lift your mood; conversely, the act of frowning can lower it; scowling can make you feel fed up. In other words, the gestures you make with your face can — at least to some extent — influence your emotional state.”

“The notion that facial expressions affect mood isn’t new.”

Betty Patnude

I have a theory.

Well, lots of them. My production of wacko theories has never slowed. But this one might be relevant.

Really successful teaching may depend far more on subtle nonverbal reinforcement of the precursors to correct actions than we realize.

I am sure we see this happening with the really great brass and voice teachers. They give the same exercises and verbal instructions the ordinary ones do, but they get different results. This is also true in sports, e.g. golf or gymnastics.

How much this happens with piano I don't know. I strongly suspect it is a neglected component of all physical teaching.

Subtle nonverbal reinforcement can shape posture, relaxation, attitude, things we'd never expect. What you say may be a small part of the teaching you do.

Oh, I agree with that statement for sure! Nonverbal is the key!

Thinking back to the teachers who I trusted, they weren't smiling and all the while underneath, gritting their teeth! There was a sense that they could be trusted by their nonverbal actions! You can just feel it!

TimR, you seem to be going in the same direction as my own thoughts as a student. We need feedback and communication from the teacher and that includes nonverbal gestures. An artificially pasted on smile tells me nothing. A smile of encouragement, or a sudden smile of true pleasure when you nail something are priceless. I think an attitude of attentive listening and genuine interest in your efforts will reflect in the face. Would the clip below of a masterclass with Pavorotti reflect the elusive thing you were trying to describe?

Pavarotti masterclass

The first thing that strikes me is that Pavarotti, the teacher, is listening very intently. You see it on his face. When the singer tries to do what he said, Pavorotti again listens intently, communicates with his hands and also his face. Near the end where the singer does not quite manage to stop his mouth from opening for the high note, there is a humorous shrug, and a silent communication going on between student and teacher even while he is still singing.

Of course if a teacher has a young student who is forced into lessons and doesn't want to be there, a teacher cannot be exhibiting genuine deep interest if the student herself is not putting out and is disinterested.

Tim, Diane and Keystring have brought into the topic something that I was hoping would appear when I posted the topic originally! Yea!

I exaggerate teaching points, work with them on their imaginations, I "act it out" in so many ways using my face and body and gestures to convey the verbs and adjectives and "points" I want to make. It's not just spoken, it's left in their minds as something to remember.

If a preparatory beginner is learning from a pre-chart "Itsy Bitsy Spider" we go to the wall and walk our fingers up and down several times making spider motions with our fingers (this is an exercise for shoulder/arm/hand/fingers). We do "spiders doing push up's" on the bench top with our hands (again exercises). All the time making faces and being the spider and singing the song. Action conveys things. Words often by themselves fall short.

And Keystrings comment about "the young student who is forced into lessons and doesn't want to be there"....I would say to that...I feel it has been my job to "rescue" them and turn the situation around...and I use my whole being as though the student on the bench is my most important student, my most promising student, and it is my job to reach and teach this child right now in the present moment. I have to get through to him or her in everything we are doing...or there is no point to my teaching...and no point to him or her being here. And, my lack of effort on his or her behalf helped close the door on any potential there was to reach and teach.

And, Keystring says..."if the student is not putting out and is disinterested"....I say with all sincerity..."That is where our job starts!"

The ones who are easy to teach, I say hooray for us! The ones who are harder to teach, I say hooray for us! (In a louder voice, with my arms over my head, stamping my feet in excitement, "Hooray for us!"

Keystring is not a piano teacher but is an accomplished and avid self-teaching adult, my experiences and philosophy of teaching is probably different than many piano teachers in that my whole purpose is to self-actualize the student on the bench. If they didn't come to me that way, they will most likely leave with new sense of purpose, enthusiasm, hopefullness and something accomplished when we are done.

I think we have to make it exciting for them - smiles, gestures, actions that show continuously who we are and what we know as teachers and that we enjoy music, our work in teaching, and them.

We are at our best when we think in possibilities and potential.

Betty Patnude

IMHO
Any pupil will quickly pick up a shortfall in teacher confidence (worrying about smiles and frowns)... that’s why the best teachers boast a dazzling ability to demonstrate up-front the marvel of the piano.

As a confident Pied Piper there is no thought of introvert self-appraisal ... those long-eared rats should all be totally enraptured and energised by the spell of the music.

Thank you Betty. There is something I would like to correct however:


I have been forced to suspend lessons for over a year for health and financial reasons that cropped up, and as such I've been forced into some degree of working on my own. I do have a teacher, however, and some of the thoughts I expressed reflect that experience. I don't have a piano teacher and the 6 lessons I did have some time back are not close to adequate, but I do have a teacher for my main instrument. I have also taught one-on-one as a trained teacher, but not instrumental music.

The one that that has struck me repeatedly is the importance of truly listening, on both sides. That is what both Pavarotti and the singer in the masterclass seem to be doing.

Thanks for clarifying, keystring. I spoke of the way that I think of you as you have done an exceptional job of continuing your music education with your own efforts - research and asking questions and clarifying answers have been things I've noticed you doing on Piano World - and I know that you are playing your piano and growing there too. I remember that you have worked with piano and violin teachers and that you are a teacher too, but I think a big complement to you is the work you have done independently. It wouldn't surprize me that you one day offer music lessons and teach either violin or piano or singing. You may have other instruments, too, that I don't know about. You have put your energies to good use when another person forced to stop lessons without a teacher would stagnate not seeing the options that you see.

I like what you said about "truly listening" in referance to the Pavarotti example: Yes, of course! That is what teaching is all about from my point of view. The lesson is not a unit of time that we have to get through - it's an opportunity to make significant input and to make helpful corrections. A teacher can't do that as well if he or she is not watching the student for indications. And, the student, if he has become captivated with piano lessons is going to give his full attention to what the teacher says about his playing. It is our job to snare their attention, make our comments valuable, and to be a catalyst to the student.

Teaching is so not about the printed pages in a method book. Teaching, to me, is about the growing relationship to each other and working together to pave the way in music for the student to become achieving, successful, and musical.

Does it help to think of our pursuits in music, whether teaching or learning, that we are relating to a higher power than ourselves? Or that we become empowered ourselves through our pursuit?

We must not think of our students as "bumps on logs in the hole in the bottom of the sea".
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea....etc.
There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea....etc.
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea....etc.
There's a bump, bump, bump, on the log, log, log, in the hole, hole, hole, in the bottom of the sea.

Betty

Actually I did appreciate what you wrote in your previous post, Betty, but also wanted to give some credit to my teacher. Thank you for the support. I'm thinking that we are actually all self-teaching, because if as a student I expect to get stuffed full of ability by the teacher, it doesn't work. We're drawing on something within ourselves and we make the effort. Actually here's hats off to all self-teachers for whatever reason. It is not an easy thing.

Things do go much better when the student has an interest, some personal motivation, some ability, energy, time to apply the lesson on his piano and can see where that takes him. Depending on how ambitious he is with more time and effort he's likely to make decent progress musically and also, the most important part of piano lessons that is totally unexpected, he learns a lot about himself as a piano student. Any procrastination is his, any excuse making is his, any thing he is producing is totally his to demonstrate.

The something within is "golden".

I always joke around about "teach him some motivation", "teach him some ability", but those things are at their very best when they come innately from within - not by "injection".

Self teaching is not an easy thing, you are so right.

When a self teaching adult student reaches a wall or a plateau, there is ample music to keep her busy for the rest of her life at the level she has now reached and can be successful at. So going horizontally creates depth and bredth with more music literature.

Sometimes it is wise to get off of the demand for progress that is an ascending vertical incline of constantly new materials that continually demands more new skills from us.

Then when we gear up again toward "Mount Olympus" we have regained our energy to climb, but we also have the reward of having many new pieces that we would not have had time for if we had not relaxed our efforts temporarily for the width or expansion.

I think we should have lots of experience at using the skills we have gained to establish a strong base before moving on. Deep and wide like a river.

This is where the student becomes aware of where his journey has taken him to and I think it's a very contented place that produces a sigh of relief and a big grin because he reached the moment of "this was all worth it!"

Betty

One specific thing I do:
There are a few students who continually look over at me, while they're in the middle of playing, apparently to try to judge my reactions. For them, I work to make my face look blank and distant during the performance, and then I allow myself to revert to normal immediately afterward.

Asking as a student: why?

I give lessons online so I don't have to think about that ( I probably wouldn't think about it anyway) but if I did, I'd probably come across like Dick Cheney...



I think he's smiling here.

So that they will (hopefully) direct more attention to the sound and the feel, and less to the teacher's (admittedly very cute) expressions.

Or, in other words, to say: "I'm listening right now. You listen too. We'll talk in a minute."