Case Study

Background context: I was engaged by ‘Karen’s’ mother to provide piano lessons for her and her 12 year old brother. I had an interview with all three to determine what their desired aim was, and the mother advised me that she didn’t want formal piano tuition with regular examinations, but wanted the children to continue learning and get some enjoyment out of music.

This somewhat vague statement left me in a quandary, as it was outside the framework of normal piano tuition. I listened to both children’s playing to gain some idea of their current level of skill. The boy appeared to be a very bright child, but badly in need of correction in his playing. His personality and intelligence overshadowed his older sister, whose playing I felt I could do a great deal to improve.

I found gaining Karen’s trust challenging. The more I tried, the more she retreated. She passively resisted practicing; she did not complete her homework practice sheets and showed minimal interest in the lessons, which became more and more frequently, unpleasant affairs.

She continued further resistance with mumbling, shoulder shrugs and failure to meet goals I perceived she needed to meet. She also gave indications that she wasn’t enjoying school and was often sullen. Her younger brother was making great strides, but I could not get their cooperation to play duets together for fun. Both resisted.

I was on the verge of giving up with her, but I cared what was happening. There was a happy spark within her and musical talent which could be coaxed out. I had seen her when I made her giggle, and I wanted to see more of that, as it was a good starting point for learning.

I made a mistake when I asked Karen her in her mother’s presence ‘what are we going to do with your music?’ I told her ‘I wasn’t enjoying the lessons, she wasn’t practising and she showed every indication that lessons were a trial. ‘Did she want to go on? What was the problem? Was it the music?’ She didn’t have any responses, before her mother intervened the awkward silence by suggesting that she had been busy with the school ball and she would get down to practising. This answer wasn’t satisfactory to me. I realised had violated Karen’s boundaries. Obviously I had to change my approach and here is how nlp classes helped me

I decided to reduce the pressure of practice at this point of time. Immediately after this encounter, I got both her mother (who had once learnt to play) and Karen to sit at the piano together. I taught them with much laughter, to play a duet correctly.

I then offered to take her to a music shop for her to choose the music she might enjoy. She agreed, and the following week I took her to the music shop where we bought two albums, one of popular music ‘Cold Play’ and the other ‘Movie Themes’ which were possible for her to learn. I gave her more choices than her previous sheet music. I bought a CD of pieces she had been studying to give her more of an idea of how good they could sound. I suggested she listen more and sing. No-one, she said, sang, ever, in the household. I said to her: “ well you’ve been listening to me singing and making a fool of myself, why can’t you!” This made her laugh.