Being in the Middle

In music there is an important sense of timing. We learn about tempo and we pay special attention to the beginning of the piece in order to set the right tempo, the right mood, the right dynamics. As we approach performances, performers practice "getting started" many, many, times so that the piece feels and sounds the way we want it every time. We also pay very close attention to the end of the piece. I find myself saying to my students, "as we come to the end we want to close gently, more quietly, and with a little bit of slowing down―like a train that pulls into the station." Sometimes pieces end with a big chord, and I find myself saying "the ending is very grand and bold―so keep the energy throughout the chord until it is released." I think we do feel ending the piece is very important, and we pay close attention to making sure we have our listeners connected to us until we are totally finished.

These are all excellent ways to prepare for a performance. Nevertheless, the middle is very important and often the hardest part to practice! First, it is very hard to start in the middle of the piece. When something goes wrong, how often do we want to just start over, and start at the beginning! It takes a tremendous amount of willpower and maturity to know how to start and work on the middle of the piece. This is not unusual and the "middle" of anything is known to be a psychological challenge. Author Daniel Pink wrote in his book When, that the middle of a project is often the moment when employees have the hardest time managing their time, feeling motivated and getting things done. The energy at the beginning of the project comes with the excitement of starting something new. Approaching the end of the project also has that driven energy because "finishing" is a psychological reward. Working in the middle of the project requires incentives. Creating psychological milestones to divide up the middle, such as "the beginning of the middle" or "the end of the middle" goes a long way! Children are affected the same way as adults.

We have a similar factor being a middle child. Our first born has the advantage of being the first (and only) for a period of time. The youngest has the advantage of always being the youngest child. But the middle child is caught in the timing that does not always get the attention like the oldest and the youngest. Perhaps plan a special activity just for the "middle" child that allows that extra attention once a year.

When we held our June Music and Arts camp (pre-pandemic) the teachers always planned crazy sock day, or stuffed animal day on Wednesday--the middle of the week. This day felt like a day when the energy can be difficult to manage, and having a special incentive or theme for that day helped our psychological challenge of being in the middle of the week!

So, here we are in the middle of a pandemic. Who knows when it will end, and so we are filled with the challenge of just being in the middle. Perhaps we need to give ourselves those special incentives and our own psychological milestones to get us through this "middle of the pandemic" doldrum. I try to remember to smile, to think of something or someone I am grateful for, or simply thanking someone as part of my day.

We are in the middle of a school year. We have so much to look forward to and celebrate. We think of January as the "end of the semester" and February as the "beginning of the new semester." Our events will have a huge crescendo to the end of the year: March 6th Faculty Concert, May 7th Multi-Cultural Festival, May 22nd Waban Village Day, June 4th Porchfest and June 12th Violin Graduations. But how do we get through our practicing in the middle of a school year? How do we keep the motivation going when the newness we had in September may have worn off, and we are in the middle of winter?

Here are five recommendations from Daniel Pink's book that so easily translate to motivating our music students' practicing in this middle period:

1) Set interim goals

Rather than thinking I need to finish an entire Suzuki Book to reach graduation, discuss with your teacher an interim goal of a certain piece played at a certain speed or with a certain technique. Our solo recitals and recording a piece for a grandparent are additional interim goals.

2) Publicly commit to those interim goals

Consider writing up a certificate or contract of the interim goal you set together. Post it on the wall and make it public. Plan a celebration when that goal is achieved.

3) Stop your sentence midway through

Daniel Pink quotes Ernest Hemingway's professed technique for maintaining the discipline to write his novels. With an unfinished sentence leftover from the previous day, the easiest task was just to finish the sentence--and Voila! Writing was underway much more easily than trying to start a new sentence at the beginning of a writing session. In Suzuki learning, we always mention practicing in phrases and in small bits. With your young student who listens regularly to the recording of his newest piece, only work on one little bit at a time---but do lots of repetitions of this small part. At the end of the daily practice, announce that "tomorrow we get to work on the next phrase!"

4) Don't break the chain

Practicing daily is a habit. So many of our music teachers have organized practice challenges from time to time. Can you practice 100 days in a row? Creating a calendar with a visual check-off, sticker, or smiley face will help students "see" their progress of daily practice throughout the month. The Suzuki Association of the Americas has a Piano practice challenge set up for the month of February....check it out on their website: https://suzukiassociation.org/news/first-piano-practice-challenge-suzuki-piano/

5) Picture one person your work will help

Similar to #1 above, you can make a project to prepare a special musical gift for someone's birthday, anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. Print out a photo of that person and hang it near your practice location. Pretend when you practice that this person is listening and encouraging the student's practicing. Perhaps the goal is a special visit from that relative who might be coming in a few months. Prepare a special musical performance or recording for that person.

Kasey Calebaugh and I will be holding a Parent Session to discuss practicing and other questions you may have on Thursday, Feb. 3rd from 12 noon to 1pm. This is a virtual session―so I hope many of you can join us. The Zoom link will be in next week's Friday Upbeat.