Scott McBride Smith on why students quit piano while they still like it
The University of Kansas pedagogy professor on choosing pieces, motivation, reading, performing and the hard measure in every piece.
Scott McBride Smith is the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Kansas. He is a co-author of the American Popular Piano series and of the college text The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher.
Here are fourteen of his best tips, from his Piano Star Masterclass on choosing repertoire on Piano League.
1. Students quit for time, not because they stop liking music
We see that most students stop study somewhere in the middle school years, so that would be in the United States anywhere from sixth grade to ninth grade maybe. And there are studies about that: why did you quit music? Now, interestingly enough, they don’t say they quit music because they don’t like it anymore. They still like it, but don’t have enough time to practice, too much homework, competing activities, and don’t like the pieces, or the pieces are too long for the amount of practice time they have.
Scott McBride Smith
2. People practice what they like
There’s a lot of research on this in the last, I’d say, 20 or 30 years, but I would say most of us teachers don’t really need the research, because we know already: people practice things more if they like it.
Scott McBride Smith
3. Choose pieces a little above the current level
In general the research tells us that people respond to things that are a little bit above their current level. So if things are too easy, it’s not motivating because it’s not fun, and there’s no reason to practice. You can already do it. If it’s too hard, you get discouraged and there’s no point in trying. So the trick is getting something that’s in their interest level and that’s a little bit above their current ability level, so they have to work a little hard in order to achieve the piece.
Scott McBride Smith
4. Look into their eyes
I remember years ago, when I was starting teaching, in those days we didn’t have pedagogy classes or anything, and I asked a very distinguished older teacher how does she know how to challenge her students, and she said, I look into their eyes. So first of all, the real answer is you kind of have to know your student and know what’s interesting to them and what motivates them. Every student, every family is a little bit different, so you can’t make a rule.
Scott McBride Smith
5. Turn a passing interest into a personal one
In psychology that’s called a situational interest. Then there’s deeper personal interests that are part of you and make you want to persevere in an activity, even though every moment isn’t pleasurable or every moment is easy. So our goal as teachers is to find something that students have that’s a situational interest and turn it into a personal interest.
Scott McBride Smith
6. Build on what they already love
Lots of times the little kids like pieces that in some way hook into their pre-existing interests. Maybe they like cowboys, maybe they like dolls, maybe they like whatever it is. You find pieces that pertain to something they’re already interested in, and then you build on it.
Scott McBride Smith
7. Try a concert of popular styles
I used to do one concert where everybody had to choose a piece in popular styles, and that one was fun. And you know what, Brian, that was the one concert I didn’t have to nag them to practice. All the rest of them took quite a bit of pushing from old Dr. Smith, but not that one.
Scott McBride Smith
8. Experience first, label second
What I’m doing is trying to use the research. The research says that the more different parts of the brain you get involved in learning, the better you learn the skill. So I got them involved writing things. You probably know the research that if you write something with a pencil, you remember it better. Isn’t that interesting? So I got them writing right from the beginning, and then I’ll say, well, you know this long note that we’re playing? That’s a whole note, just like you’ve been writing in your book. So the rule is experience first, label second.
Scott McBride Smith
9. Find intermediate pieces in graded anthologies
What I tell teachers to do that are kind of looking around for that is to get into one of the anthologies, and there’s lots of them. ABRSM publishes some excellent ones, some of the American publishers do too, and lots of times they have a selection of pieces that have all been graded to be approximately on the same level, and will have a mix of like greatest hits of intermediate music along with some composers you maybe never heard of but actually are really fun. And that’s a way to find out what works for you and what doesn’t, and then you can kind of explore on your own.
Scott McBride Smith
10. Every pianist has to be a good actor
It’s not just the words that you say, but it’s the feeling that your body gives, and your facial expression too. And you know, every pianist has to be a good actor.
Scott McBride Smith
11. When you perform, exaggerate
Performing isn’t the same thing as just playing for fun. When you perform, you always have to exaggerate, because when people are listening, they need to get the feeling a little stronger than just normally in daily life.
Scott McBride Smith
12. It will feel fake, and it will look fine
I do a lot of lessons and lectures online, and so when I first watched a video of myself, I realized I didn’t smile enough. Inside myself I think I’m smiling, but I’m not smiling at all. I look too serious. So I said, okay, remember, smile more when you’re giving a lecture. So when I did it, I felt so fake. And then when I watched the video, it looked fine. Inside myself it felt ridiculous, but actually in the performance it looked fine.
Scott McBride Smith
13. Keep the left hand soft under a high melody
When you have a melody that’s high and your left hand stays in the middle, usually you have to be really careful to get the left hand softer, because what happens is the high notes have a little difficulty coming out. A good rule is if it’s mezzo piano, that means the right hand is going to be mezzo forte and the left hand is going to be pianissimo, and together they cancel each other out to mezzo piano.
Scott McBride Smith
14. Practice the hard measure torture slow, several times in a row
When you’re practicing and you have a trouble spot, remember this little trick of doing things times in a row. You know, they mentioned it in piano methods even hundreds of years ago, so it couldn’t be more old-fashioned, but you know what, it really works. Every piece has a hard measure in it. Whenever you have a hard measure, do that times in a row, starting torture slow, and you’ll usually get it just fine.
Scott McBride Smith
Quotes are lightly edited for length and clarity. They come from Scott McBride Smith’s 2020 Piano Star Masterclass on choosing repertoire. You can watch the full masterclass on the Piano League YouTube channel.
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