Season 4 Episode 12: Tim Topham - Founder and Director of Top Music Co and Author of "No Book Beginners"

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Hi, I'm John Schmidt from the Piano Guys.
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Hi, I'm Forrest Kenny.
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My name is Christopher.
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I'm Tim Topham.
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My name is Melanie Bowes.
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Hi, this is Andrea Voll.
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I'm Jennifer Fox.
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I'm Glory St. Germain.
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My name is Christina Lopriori.
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I'm Leela Viss.
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I'm Lindell Kennedy.
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Hi, this is Sarah Campbell.
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Hi, Fraser Myers, we'll be your host.
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The technique, foundation.
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An introduction to SEO.
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How you can set up your group lessons.
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And one of those tools is notation software.
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I'd like to share with you a lot about chorus.
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We want to get teachers off on the right foot.
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Playing by ear and improvising.
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Growing a group teaching studio.
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Pop music.
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The 12 bar blues.
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How to build a website from scratch.
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We didn't want to follow just one particular technique,
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ideology or methodology or philosophy.
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Just get to know them before you do anything
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to do with music.
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I think it's one of the most important things.
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It's fundamental.
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And it's about building rapport and a relationship
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with your students.
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How to make the most popular chords.
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How to style them in a variety of ways.
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How to add color tones to them.
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How to use them to reharmonize melodies in a fresh way.
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You're going to have the clear understanding
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and the resources you need to develop your own oral skills
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and help your students to do the same.
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We're going to look at the different kind of business
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aspects of setting up group lessons
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and how they differ to your private lessons.
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And I use it for all my students, classical, contemporary,
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any student at all.
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Circle of fifths is absolute gold.
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Music
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Welcome back to another episode of the PianoPod,
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here, tradition meets innovation.
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We bridge the timeless beauty of the piano
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with the dynamic pulse of today's world.
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I am your host, Yukimi Song.
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So for this episode, I invited Tim Topham,
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founder, director of Top Music Co., Music Educator,
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and author of a recently published book titled
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No Book Beginners, Step-by-Step Framework for Creative Piano
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Teaching, right from lesson one.
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A leading text demonstrating the many benefits
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of delaying reading in beginner piano teaching.
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Tim has been helping to reshape and recharge
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the traditional landscape of instrumental music education
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since 2010.
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Tim's vision of a more creative, modern, and integrated approach
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to teaching has seen him speak on stages from US to UK
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and Australia.
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Tim is the founder of Top Music Co.
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And when he is not in the studio,
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he enjoys cycling, coffee, and traveling with his family.
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Before getting started with this episode,
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I want to welcome all our first timers to the PianoPod.
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I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City
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whether diving deep into a piano career,
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working professionally in the classical music scene,
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or simply having a passion for piano tunes,
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this podcast is your backstage pass
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to the fascinating piano world.
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I also want to welcome back and thank you
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to amazing TPP fans and faithful listeners
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for tuning in today.
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Please rate and review the show on your favorite podcast
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platform because every rating review
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will help people find the show.
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I am thrilled to welcome Mr. Tim Topham to start
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our conversation.
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So stick with us for a reflecting discussion
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on keeping music education relevant in today's changing
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world.
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Please enjoy the show.
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["Piano from the Piano Pod"]
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You are listening to the PianoPod
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where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
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about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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Welcome, Tim, to the PianoPod.
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Yank.
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Thanks, Yikimi, for having me.
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It's great to be here.
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I've been a listener of your show.
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And the thing I really love as another podcaster
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is that you have all these guests who I've never heard of.
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So I'm learning so much about from new people, which
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is great.
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Oh, thank you.
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Yeah, I am learning so much by doing this.
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And I also listen to your podcast.
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It's great.
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We're going to talk more about your podcast as well.
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Anyway, thanks for really being here
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and participating in the conversation today.
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It means so much.
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And you're right now in Melbourne, Australia, correct?
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That's right.
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Yep, nice warm summer.
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Oh, how nice.
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I'm jealous.
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So today is a really bitter cold winter here in New York City.
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So I'm very, very envious of that.
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Anyways, congratulations on your new book.
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You sent me actually the copy of it.
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But I actually bought it because I'm enjoying reading it.
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So I was like, instead of reading on PDF format,
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I really wanted to get the copy.
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So I downloaded on my phone.
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And I have it in the Kindle.
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I honestly still need to finish reading it.
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But it's the sort of book where I feel like you can just
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go back and forth, you know what I mean?
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And use it as a resource instead of just reading it
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through once.
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And it covers everything from the inspiration
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behind writing this book to the current state of music
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education, focusing on obviously piano
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and musical instrument instructions and lessons.
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And also, you're providing a historical background
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to explain how we got where we are in our industry.
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And it's very interesting.
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I love that sort of thing.
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And then also a practical framework
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for teaching beginners without relying
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on typical method books.
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So I kind of briefly explain what that book is all about.
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But in your words, in a nutshell,
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tell us what this No Book Beginners book is all about.
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Sure, well, I'll answer it perhaps slightly unusually
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in saying to your audience, when you had, and to you,
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you give me now, when you had your first piano lesson,
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if you think right back, if you can remember,
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did your piano teacher open a method book
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and point to middle C and show you
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where to put your thumb on middle C?
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And they were probably held for two counts each.
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And you would be playing middle C, one, two, one, two.
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If you're lucky, you might use your left hand, one, two.
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And that was kind of lesson one.
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Was that lesson one for you?
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Oh, yes.
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So I wanted to get out of it.
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And then I did, actually.
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I moved to a group lesson.
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And that was actually, they didn't teach me
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how to read notes.
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So that was really fun.
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But the first lesson was really the traditional reading-based.
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Well, if I asked that question to,
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I was in fact speaking at a conference yesterday,
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it was about 35 teachers.
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And yes, about 90% of their hands
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went up to say, yes, that is how I was taught.
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So my question in answer to your question is, well,
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keep your hand up if you think that's
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the most imaginative, creative, musical, fun, exciting,
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enjoyable way that you could possibly start a music lesson
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with a student today.
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And of course, all the hands go down.
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I mean, no one in their right mind
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would think that's a good way to engage students
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and excite them in this journey they're starting
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when they are the most enthusiastic they'll ever
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be in that first lesson.
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So the book answers the question, well,
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if we all agree with that, and most people do,
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what do I do instead?
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And so I know that most teachers,
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if they've had some formal training,
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it will be fairly traditional, fairly classical.
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And they will generally teach to some extent
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how they were taught, which will tend to be quite traditional
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as well.
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And so while teachers might listen to what I've just said
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and go, yeah, I could kind of get on board with that.
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It probably makes sense.
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I could probably do something different.
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The question is, what do I do?
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And so that's really the fundamental part of this book.
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It's to say, well, we're all on the same page together.
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My goal for the book is I want more students in the world
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continuing their piano instruction.
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I want more teachers enjoying the process of teaching
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so they do more of it and they have fun with it.
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And I want these students to stick around
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because they've had this incredible experience
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at the start.
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So here is your framework.
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Here are your lesson plans.
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Go for it.
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Have fun with it.
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You can do it, by the way.
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Anyone can do it.
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Regardless of how little creativity you think
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you have inside you, you can do it.
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So that's what the book's all about.
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So the title is No Book Beginners.
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Literally, you're going to start without a book.
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Correct.
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Yeah, well, the only book you're going to start with
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is my book, which you're going to have on the side.
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You're going to be preparing with it.
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But yes, the goal is to not have a method
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book for anything up to 10 weeks, if you want to, or more,
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or fewer.
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There are many teachers who've used this approach
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and maybe just use it for three weeks
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to kick off the right lessons with students.
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And then they'll start adding their method alongside.
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So it's really, really flexible.
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I don't call it a method.
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I call it a framework for that fact.
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The fact is you, as a teacher, are in charge of your lessons.
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And you can choose to use this how
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you want for however many students you want,
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for how long you want, alongside the method you want.
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Before the method you want, it's really up to you.
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But I hope, I guess, the first half of the book, which really
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explains the reasoning behind it,
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helps teachers understand the power
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that they could have by implementing this.
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I actually really enjoy reading the first part of the book,
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the reason behind it.
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And I couldn't agree more in many, many aspects
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because I've been teaching too.
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And also, I feel like reading notes comes to me much later.
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I'm saying this.
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I'm a classical pianist.
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So I don't want to get kicked out from the industry
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that I'm familiar with.
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And I am in.
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But the thing is, for a beginner,
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especially for those who are just really starting out
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and getting to know this black and white instrument,
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and then thinking, as a teacher, to start from the notation
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just sounds really horrible.
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And then that's not how you learn the language anyway.
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And in music, we usually associate music
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as one of the languages.
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I'd be really shocked to hear you say,
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I don't want people in the classical area
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to be against this or my approach if I was to use it.
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Because in actual fact, what I want to make clear
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is that this approach will help students
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build their musical skills that will help them in whatever way
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they take their music, whether that's
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a fairly classical route, whether it's
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more of a pop route or a composing route, whatever it is.
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But we don't know.
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We're not going to know for a few years,
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if we take on a seven-year-old, where they might end up,
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what their passion actually is.
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This just lays the groundwork for the musical skills
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and fun and enjoyment, but primarily the musical skills,
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which method books so often leave out,
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which are things like the singing, chanting, clap backs,
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play backs, rhythm tapping, singing tonic and dominant,
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feeling home keys, understanding the difference between 3, 4,
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4, 4 meter.
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And the list goes on.
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These are just critical musical skills
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that students should have.
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But unfortunately, when we just go straight
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to middle C in the book, we miss out on that opportunity.
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So this will help classical students in the future.
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And it has done.
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And there's no question about it.
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Absolutely, you're right.
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So why did you write this book?
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It seems like you developed this framework.
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And then you have a company, which
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we're going to talk about later.
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And you have a course that you offer.
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But you decided to write a book, which was written last year.
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So yes.
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The reason is I'm passionate about it.
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It really saddens me to hear of students quitting too soon.
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But no other reason than the way they were taught,
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or a lack of connection with their teacher,
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or teachers just not understanding some
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of the things that they can do without much change
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to really appeal to 2024, 2023, modern students
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and their learning and their need for a slightly
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different approach.
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So I really wanted to, I mean, I've
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been writing the blog, I started blogging in 2010
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and podcasting in 2015.
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So I've been doing this all for a while.
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And out of that came this concept.
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The first time I tested it, and I
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share the story in the book, was 2015.
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And it's been tested by well over 1,000 teachers now
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all around the world who have used this.
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And there's a lot of testimonials
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you'll read in the book about the ways
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that they've seen this impact their teaching.
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So the long story short is really, I just
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wanted to get it into the hands of more teachers.
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I want more teachers to know that there's an alternative here.
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You said something about this modern teaching, modern,
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let's say market or students, the different, I'd say,
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ways of learning or I don't know.
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What do you see in them?
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What's so different about this modern teaching?
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Or modern students?
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Well, I mean, there's so much that's changed in 10, 15 years.
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Family dynamics have shifted, have changed.
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Students' leisure time has changed.
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Technology has impacted everything.
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And it's changed things like students' ability to focus
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and what students expect of their learning.
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And this goes to classrooms as well.
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Classrooms having to shift their approach away
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from the teacher just dictating everything
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and students writing it down.
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That doesn't happen.
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That happened for our parents' generation.
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It doesn't happen anymore.
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Well, if it does, it's not working.
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And it's starting to shift more to inquiry-based learning.
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And so one of the key factors we believe at Top Music,
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and one of our pillars is, and I'd encourage all teachers
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to consider this, is having a student-first approach,
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giving students autonomy and agency in their learning.
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Now, that's going to vary.
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If they're a six-year-old, the teacher's
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going to have most of the autonomy,
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going to be directing most of what's going on.
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If they're a 16-year-old, then that
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is flipped around right around the other way.
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Because a 16-year-old comes to lessons
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for a very particular purpose.
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And you need to know that purpose and help them with it,
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or they're going to quit very, very quickly.
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So we believe really strongly in the student-centered
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or student-first approach.
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And that's just one element of what I believe
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has changed more recently.
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Another one is just students crave interactivity.
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So the integration of technology into lessons,
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even if that's just you recording them and playing it
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back in slow motion and watching movements and things like that.
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There's very easy ways to integrate technology.
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Again, it's not a whole rebirth of your teaching.
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Just adding things in can be very powerful.
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And there's a lot about collaboration
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that students really value these days.
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I mean, there will always be, you
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can be the 1% of students who will sit alone at a piano
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for two hours a day and practice and move up
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through the grades if you're in a grading system
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or work towards the advanced literature.
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But my experience is that the 99%ers,
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they won't respond in the same way to that.
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And so we have to look, OK, how can we
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get collaboration happening?
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Where's the social element, particularly
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for piano students?
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Oh my goodness, piano students are so alone
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and solo.
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Let's work ways to get them together, to play together,
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to play at least with a backing track or with you
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in the studio at a second piano or duetting
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or anything that means that they're
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playing in a collaborative sense.
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Because of course, that gives them a much stronger sense
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of rhythm.
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I mean, not only is it social and that's positive,
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but it helps their musicality.
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They're listening better.
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They're following.
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They're getting balance.
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I mean, so many things come from it.
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So I think there's just two examples or three
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of some of the changes that I feel
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we need to consider in our studios.
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When I was a child compared to that time and then
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now as a music educator, our responsibility
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have completely shifted.
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My teachers probably, I mean, they
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were all traditional way of teaching.
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And if it's the piano lesson, it was just
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everything was focused on piano playing,
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from piano technique to notation to everything.
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And then obviously, I'm one of those people
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who wanted to study piano.
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So it got more serious.
401
00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,920
But then these days, I'm teaching serious students.
402
00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,840
Some perform at Carnegie Hall several times a year.
403
00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:08,960
Yeah, as opposed to I have other students who, one,
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00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:13,920
I'm proud to say she wrote a song during COVID shutdown
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and collaborated with her friend.
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So she produced a song and then available on Spotify.
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Oh, that's amazing.
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I know.
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But it's interesting.
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So which means I feel like I am required to know
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a lot more than my traditional way of teaching
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or the traditional way of learning
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or the traditional way that I was taught.
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And then it was kind of easy.
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Let's be honest.
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It was kind of easy teaching back then.
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00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:49,600
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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If you knew the repertoire and could play it and could teach
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00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,600
it, everyone came in, expected you to help them with the notes,
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00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,120
correct their mistakes, and go home and practice and repeat.
421
00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,600
Yeah, great.
422
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,840
And maybe, again, that worked for some students.
423
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,840
But it's working for fewer and fewer students.
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With all the work and the conversations
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00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:10,840
I have around the world.
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00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,240
But you know what, though?
427
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,040
I would have found, sorry to interrupt you,
428
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I would have found that so boring.
429
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:16,880
So boring.
430
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:17,520
Oh, my goodness.
431
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:18,880
Same method, same pieces.
432
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,600
I can picture that they're going to forget
433
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,080
that C sharp in that scale.
434
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,120
And they're going to miss the E flat in this Bergmüller piece.
435
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:28,800
I don't want to even teach like that.
436
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,080
So dull.
437
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,440
That's a missing part in our industry.
438
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,240
And then you decided to write a book?
439
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:35,760
Oh, yeah.
440
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,600
I mean, it's obviously a bigger picture.
441
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:45,040
Because we can improve teaching at all levels of ability
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00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,960
and have an impact by taking the student first approach.
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00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,560
But I really wanted to write a book that
444
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:52,880
focused on those first lessons.
445
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,880
Because they are just so critical.
446
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,280
And because most students will start
447
00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,360
between the ages of 6 to 10, I wanted
448
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,280
a framework which would really suit that age category.
449
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,720
And so, yeah, I really wanted to go back to the beginning
450
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,240
and say, OK, how do we get this right?
451
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,040
And you may have read in the book as well.
452
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,280
In the first part, I also say really clearly
453
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what the goal of this is.
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What are the skills that we want students
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to have at the end of their first 10 weeks with us?
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And that's probably something that a lot of teachers
457
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don't think about.
458
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And so I challenge them in the book to think about it.
459
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:28,520
There's a space in the book to write down,
460
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,760
before you read my ones, what do you
461
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,600
want your students to be able to do?
462
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,720
And what do you want their mindset to be
463
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at the end of their first 10 lessons?
464
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Write them down.
465
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,320
And listeners could pause this and do that right now.
466
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,280
What would you write down?
467
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:44,840
And then come and have a look at the book
468
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:46,800
and see what my ones are, which is where
469
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:48,920
this framework takes students.
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00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:50,840
Because it's just so critical to get
471
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:52,560
that right at the beginning.
472
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:53,560
Yeah, absolutely.
473
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:54,360
Yeah.
474
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,960
So what does this book ultimately provide?
475
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:59,040
Yeah.
476
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,720
So teachers getting the book, the first half of the book
477
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:08,160
is the background on how this came about
478
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,760
and why you should consider whether this
479
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,240
might be something that suits you and your teaching.
480
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,320
So really, the goal was to make the case for it
481
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,920
and also to explain to some extent how we got to where
482
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,600
we are right now.
483
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,240
And then the second part is the true framework,
484
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,240
which is to say, I provide you in the book
485
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:30,160
the first five weeks of this framework, dot by dot,
486
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:31,280
step by step.
487
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:32,480
Here's what to say.
488
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,000
Here's what to do.
489
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,400
Everything you need from that first lesson up to the fifth
490
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,680
lesson is in the book given to you.
491
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,360
And I give an overview of lesson six to 10.
492
00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:44,200
And we have a companion website where
493
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:45,280
there's more information.
494
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,280
So there's videos of me actually teaching all of these steps.
495
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,240
There are backing tracks and accompaniment parts
496
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,440
that teachers can play and practice instruction.
497
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,200
So what does a student actually do week to week at home?
498
00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,480
So all of this is provided.
499
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,000
That's what the framework gives you.
500
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,360
And I call it that framework again
501
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:06,040
because you can choose how long you want to try this out for.
502
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,720
We have a lot of teachers who might just try it out
503
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,560
with one student and commit, OK, I'm
504
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,880
going to do three weeks to start or five weeks just
505
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:15,600
with one student.
506
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,440
And I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.
507
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,040
And then very quickly, most of them
508
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:20,600
will start integrating this and using it
509
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,600
for the rest of their students as well.
510
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,520
In your book, you mentioned your discovery
511
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:30,000
of late Dr. Edwin Gordon's written presentation
512
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,000
because I think he wasn't able to attend the presentation
513
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,040
at the time of something.
514
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,840
And then of course about music learning theory,
515
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,520
which is his theory.
516
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:44,280
And then I got to learn about MLT through podcasting.
517
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,920
And then one of the MLT specialists, Christa Yajiro,
518
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:49,840
I got to interview.
519
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:54,480
And then that's when I actually learned about MLT.
520
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:59,000
Before then, I never knew of this theory before.
521
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:00,880
And you mentioned in the book, it
522
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,840
says it affirmed everything I knew about the music teaching
523
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,160
landscape.
524
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,600
What does that mean?
525
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:09,400
That's a great question.
526
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,320
I think listening to this presentation,
527
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,960
and we can go into what that means if you'd like,
528
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,840
what the content of MLT is.
529
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:24,560
But listening to it aligned with what I subconsciously knew.
530
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:29,160
I knew the way I was teaching these first lessons
531
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,880
and reading in particular, I knew there was something
532
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:33,560
that we could do better.
533
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:34,680
I just had a feeling.
534
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:35,880
It's such a struggle.
535
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,880
Music reading is a really complex brain activity,
536
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,000
really complex.
537
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,600
One hand alone, but add two hands and pedals.
538
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,640
And oh my goodness, I don't know how any of us have ever learned it.
539
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,280
I mean, it's so difficult.
540
00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,920
But I felt when I was teaching students,
541
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,440
it just seemed drudgery and hard work.
542
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,960
And I'm like, why is this so difficult?
543
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,120
And so that's what I meant by kind of affirmed.
544
00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:02,480
It affirmed in me that there was potentially something wrong
545
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:03,920
with what we're doing, or something
546
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,240
that could be improved about how most of us
547
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:07,680
were teaching reading.
548
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,280
And so when I heard about this language model of learning
549
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,360
or sound before symbol, as some people call it,
550
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,640
I'm like, ah, that makes sense.
551
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,880
That makes so much sense.
552
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,680
And that's when I started to go, all right,
553
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,640
I think I can restructure what I'm
554
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,240
doing with one of my students.
555
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,200
And I think I talk in the book about Josh.
556
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,040
I actually found a picture of Josh who
557
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:35,040
was the first, the guinea pig student.
558
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,240
And yeah, I talk in the book about the story
559
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,520
of how I basically compiled everything
560
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,200
I had learned over the preceding five years of blogging
561
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,320
and interviewing and master classes and all of that stuff.
562
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:50,640
I went on a true deep dive.
563
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,480
I got so obsessed by piano teaching.
564
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,040
I went to every single thing that I could possibly go to.
565
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:56,680
I took notes.
566
00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:57,800
I read books.
567
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,400
I learned about Suzuki and Orphan Del Crows and Alexander
568
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,680
Technique and Kodai, all of these.
569
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:05,560
I had experience.
570
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,320
I went to courses.
571
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,160
And then music learning theory came along.
572
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,520
I'm like, aha, I think this is going to pull it all together.
573
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,000
And that's kind of what it did.
574
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:19,040
But specifically, what attracted you to me?
575
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,840
Let's say I compare MLT learning a language.
576
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,400
Let's say, honestly, obviously, English is my second language.
577
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:32,480
And I didn't learn to speak till I came here as a college
578
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:33,120
student.
579
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:34,400
And I was already 20.
580
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,160
Yeah, I was already 20 years old.
581
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:40,560
And I aced everything in English classes in Japan.
582
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:41,800
I'm originally from Japan.
583
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:42,320
I'm Korean.
584
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,680
But then I got all A's.
585
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,200
But I couldn't speak a word of English.
586
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,080
What a shame.
587
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,480
I was able to sort of read.
588
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,880
I was able to sort of spell things.
589
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:56,240
And then I got A's.
590
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,840
And I was prepping to go to a really good school,
591
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:01,600
a major in English language.
592
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,800
But I struggled to speak.
593
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,360
And I really wanted to say one sentence perfectly
594
00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:10,880
to express my feelings.
595
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,360
But that didn't come till I came and jumped right
596
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,520
into college classes as a college student.
597
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:22,480
So then when I really learned about MLT, I was like, aha.
598
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,800
So it made sense about music learning too.
599
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,640
It's really not about learning to read the notes.
600
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,440
Because these black dots just don't say anything much.
601
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,920
Because it really depends on the context,
602
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,920
if it's a triple clef, obviously this line, this dot changes.
603
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,440
And if it's a base clef, obviously same note
604
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,600
on the same line changes.
605
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,560
It's so abstract.
606
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,040
Yeah, I can imagine that once you
607
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,480
are immersed in the language, that's
608
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,160
when it starts to click and when you're starting to speak it.
609
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,840
And for those listening, and perhaps
610
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,960
have heard it on your previous episode with Krista,
611
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,920
the simple premise is that we should
612
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,040
match the way we teach reading to the way language
613
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,680
is acquired by a child.
614
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,960
Which is to say that the first thing they do is speak and make
615
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:22,240
sounds and babble and what we'd call improvise on the piano
616
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,120
or the instrument.
617
00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:27,320
And then they'll start to, well, hopefully get them listening.
618
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,480
So audiation, so being able to hear music inside their head
619
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,840
before it's, or without it being sounded out loud.
620
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,960
But just being able to hear and understand
621
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:37,680
before they get to reading.
622
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,800
And where do method books start?
623
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,880
They start that process at step four, reading.
624
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,920
The only other step after that's writing.
625
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:50,280
But all of that beautiful immersion has been missed.
626
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,120
And that's what the notebook beginner's approach
627
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:53,960
is based around.
628
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,680
So I took these concepts and went, OK, well,
629
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,640
how do we get to this desired goal in 10 weeks time?
630
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,040
All right, let's start.
631
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,440
Let's look at these activities.
632
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,720
OK, so we can do some pitch matching
633
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,760
where we play on the piano and they have to hum it.
634
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:09,440
Or they hum it and they have to find it on the piano.
635
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,040
Simple activity, something that's rarely missed.
636
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:13,680
Lots of singing.
637
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,400
Singing is so, so important for musicality generally.
638
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,080
And regardless of your instrument.
639
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:24,080
And most piano students are not encouraged to sing.
640
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,000
In fact, they're almost discouraged from singing.
641
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,400
And it's such a skill, it's such a helpful skill
642
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,960
for phrasing down the track, for being able to play by ear,
643
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,320
being able to sing what you hear before you can play it.
644
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:37,960
All of those things.
645
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,800
So I am so passionate that we normalize singing
646
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:43,800
from the start.
647
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,960
First lesson, let's sing as a natural part of music making.
648
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,360
And of course, Suzuki does this and Orf does it.
649
00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:52,240
Kadaya does it.
650
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:53,760
There's chanting, there's tapping,
651
00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,360
there's singing all the time.
652
00:27:55,360 --> 00:28:00,320
Body movement, so feeling the music in your whole body
653
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:01,360
and in your voice.
654
00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:05,320
Even just speaking rhythms, which is an Orf technique.
655
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:11,320
All of these things are just fundamental and so, so helpful
656
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,480
for the future development of the musician.
657
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,280
And that's why I brought it into these first few lessons.
658
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,000
Now, what do you think about music learning theory?
659
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:26,040
So I got to listen to several podcasts about MLT.
660
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,920
And I read some books about MLT.
661
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:35,920
And then you talk about in your book, one author, Paul G.
662
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:43,200
Woodford, he says, Gordon's system is too prescriptive
663
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,640
and proscriptive.
664
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,760
Yeah, it was just interesting as I
665
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,400
was doing my research for the book,
666
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,800
I wanted to try and give both sides of the story.
667
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:58,120
And I like the concept behind music learning theory,
668
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:03,200
but the implementation of it was much harder
669
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:04,200
to get my head around.
670
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,560
So I found very quickly music moves
671
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:12,480
for piano, which is the method created by Marilyn Lowe
672
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:13,640
based on music learning theory.
673
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,440
And I tried desperately to use this,
674
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:18,960
but it was a step too far.
675
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:20,240
It was too hard.
676
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,400
It was too different to how I'd been teaching
677
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:24,800
for me to understand.
678
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:25,960
I tried so hard.
679
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:26,520
Oh, my goodness.
680
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,480
I interviewed her, other people.
681
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:30,320
I practiced.
682
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,320
I got all the books and the DVDs and the backing tracks,
683
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:35,320
all that stuff.
684
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,960
It was just a bit too hard.
685
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,480
And then as I was researching, I did
686
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,200
find that quote from Paul Woodford
687
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,960
that it's almost too prescriptive.
688
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,360
It's too proscriptive, which is why I've taken the concept,
689
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,160
let's use the language acquisition model
690
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,880
to teach reading, rather than the because he outlines
691
00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:01,160
in as much depth as you want to go to, to the nth degree
692
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,240
about how you should go about teaching the language
693
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,760
acquisition model, down to tonal centers,
694
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,680
the syllables you use, all of this.
695
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,840
And if you're happy with that and you can do it, fantastic.
696
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:13,280
I'm not disparaging at all.
697
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,920
It's great if you can do it.
698
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,400
It just didn't work for me.
699
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,000
And I knew that if it didn't work for me,
700
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,760
it probably would be a step too far for a lot of other teachers
701
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:25,640
as well, which is why I thought, I'm
702
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:26,920
going to use the concepts.
703
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,080
And I'm going to put all of those other approaches,
704
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,200
the Suzuki's and Kada's and things, in a melting pot.
705
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,600
And I'm going to come up with something that I think,
706
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,760
having worked with teachers for a long time,
707
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,440
that they can understand and feel confident using.
708
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,600
Because there's no point having a theory
709
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,440
if the practice of it is too hard to understand.
710
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,360
Yeah, I don't oppose to MLT at all.
711
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,440
I love the concept of it.
712
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:58,640
But do I want to go back from scratch and learn to teach?
713
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:00,480
I am getting older.
714
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,920
It's a big ask.
715
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,560
Yeah, I don't know if I want to do that.
716
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:07,800
So that's the struggle, one thing I had.
717
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,440
And then to me, it was very specific,
718
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,880
as you said, the method.
719
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,160
So I got lost in the middle.
720
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,880
So I felt like I may have to go back to college
721
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:23,280
and get a degree in MLT or something.
722
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,240
Otherwise, I don't think I can catch up.
723
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:26,920
And I listened to some of the podcasts.
724
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,800
And they were saying, do they do, do they, do they?
725
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:30,800
Yes.
726
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:32,080
Yeah.
727
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,040
Yeah, and you've hit the nail on the head.
728
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:35,960
I was hearing that from other teachers as well,
729
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,240
lots of other teachers who were listening to my podcast
730
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:39,560
about, because I got all excited.
731
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,760
So I'm like, OK, I'm going to interview everyone about MLT
732
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:43,560
and see what I can learn, which is probably
733
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,840
what you enjoy doing as well about podcasting.
734
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,280
And I just kept hearing from teachers,
735
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,560
it's just there's something about it.
736
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,440
Like you said, it's a step too far.
737
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:55,320
It's a bit too hard.
738
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,000
I don't quite get it.
739
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,120
And Krista's been creating courses
740
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,880
about it, which is great, so helpful.
741
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:04,440
So yeah, I agree.
742
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:05,720
I think the concepts are great.
743
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,360
And if it resonates with you and it feels authentic,
744
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,640
which is super critical for any teaching approach you use,
745
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:12,680
does it feel authentic?
746
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,440
Because students will know instantly
747
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,040
if it's inauthentic.
748
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,360
If it's authentic for you, and you understand it,
749
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,440
and you like it, and you're getting good results,
750
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,560
then fantastic, go for it.
751
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,200
As much as I have advanced students who perform Carnegie,
752
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,560
but then I have little kiddos too, like six-year-old,
753
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:30,280
so cute.
754
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,040
And then it's like brand new student.
755
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,800
It's just starting from scratch.
756
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:41,920
So it's really my responsibility to expose them
757
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,840
to good musical habit, to everything.
758
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:51,760
I also don't like so much starting from reading notes,
759
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,720
opening the first page.
760
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,880
Of course, I cover the basics, how to sit,
761
00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:02,560
how to form a good way to play the piano, and so forth.
762
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:03,840
But where do I start?
763
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:05,440
So that's the question.
764
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:10,320
So although I can teach them playing by ear,
765
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:14,000
I can use the lead sheet eventually,
766
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:15,280
and I teach them chords.
767
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,120
But they're not there yet.
768
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,480
And that's exactly why I've put this together.
769
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,760
And I also hear from teachers that there
770
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,280
is an overwhelm of information coming at them
771
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,240
about all the different things that they can do.
772
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,520
And in some ways, that's great, because 20 years ago,
773
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,880
there wasn't much about creativity in music education.
774
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,920
Now there's almost too much.
775
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,240
And in fact, one of the things that teachers
776
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,280
have loved best about the book are the self-assessments.
777
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,120
I'm not sure if you tried one of these out.
778
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,360
Basically, you get to rank yourself.
779
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,840
I give you about 20 check-in statements
780
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,600
in three different assessments.
781
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,680
And you rank yourself, yes, this applies to me,
782
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:56,680
or no, this doesn't describe me.
783
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:57,200
I saw it.
784
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:58,280
And yeah.
785
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:02,280
And one of them is about how student-centered
786
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,200
is your teaching right now.
787
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,840
Another one is just how creative are your beginner lessons.
788
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,120
And you add up your total, and I put you
789
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:13,440
into one of three buckets, and then explain what I think
790
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,320
is happening and what you should do.
791
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,600
And one of them for the first, how creative are your lessons,
792
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,880
or what are your beginner lessons like,
793
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,840
one of the last ones is, if you're in the last bucket,
794
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,560
I tell you to watch out for shiny objects,
795
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:28,680
because it's really easy.
796
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:30,760
You're quite creative, probably, if you've
797
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:32,520
ended up with this score.
798
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:36,200
But the challenge is actually that you can be so enthusiastic
799
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:38,080
and you want to learn and try new things,
800
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,720
that you try too much, and you completely
801
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:41,120
overwhelm your student.
802
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,800
And as I describe in the book, that this actually happened
803
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,200
to me, I almost lost an amazing student,
804
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,720
because I was just trying to do too much.
805
00:34:48,720 --> 00:34:53,120
So I guess there's that balance that we try and find as teachers
806
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,880
between keeping current and following the traditions at work
807
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,200
without overwhelming students.
808
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,240
But it's really hard to do that without a structure.
809
00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,360
And again, that's what the book tries to do.
810
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,280
Each lesson builds upon the learning of the one before.
811
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:10,680
We revisit things from the week before.
812
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,520
So I hope that it helps teachers not have to worry so much,
813
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:16,760
like you're doing.
814
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,640
I know I should do this and that, and how do I structure it?
815
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:20,400
Don't worry about it.
816
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,320
I've done it for you.
817
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:23,240
Oh, that's great.
818
00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:29,080
Also, I don't necessarily want to abandon the things
819
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,200
that I already have.
820
00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:31,040
Does it make sense?
821
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:36,000
As a teacher, I've been teaching over 20, 25 years.
822
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:36,960
Oh my gosh.
823
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,200
Then it's like, do I have to break all these things
824
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:41,360
that I've developed?
825
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:46,000
And then that's the impression I got from MLT.
826
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:51,280
That's why I was a little bit depressed.
827
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,120
I felt like all these years of blood and sweat.
828
00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,520
And I thought I did my research, I did my work,
829
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,880
and then do I have to abandon everything
830
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,440
and start from scratch?
831
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,800
That is quite overwhelming and devastating.
832
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,880
I did what I know the best.
833
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,000
Yeah, yeah, and it's unnecessary, I really think.
834
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,880
There's also, I interviewed the founder of Simply Music,
835
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,960
which you may have heard of some time ago now.
836
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,440
And that is a method, and it's a very structured method,
837
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:22,840
and it's a licensed method.
838
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:25,760
So it's really, if you choose to go down this route,
839
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,960
then you are not to teach any other way.
840
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,280
And so you learn a new approach.
841
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,280
And again, that works for some teachers.
842
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:33,160
That's fine.
843
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,760
I didn't want to produce something like that, though,
844
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,800
just as I didn't want to produce something that meant you
845
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,520
had to revolutionize your teaching.
846
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,760
So any of the activities in there,
847
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,720
teachers wouldn't be like, what?
848
00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:46,000
I don't, what is that?
849
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,640
What is this, these syllables, or what is the ideation,
850
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:49,960
or whatever it is?
851
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,360
It's all really doable stuff that any teacher
852
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,480
can do without, again, revolutionizing or going back
853
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:58,720
to basics.
854
00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:03,440
I really want to talk about you, your background and everything.
855
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,800
But before that, do you have any other things
856
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,840
that you want to talk about from your book?
857
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:12,080
Well, I mentioned just two concerns
858
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,520
I get from teachers, which I do speak to in the book.
859
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,800
One is teachers that say, I can't do this.
860
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:18,960
I'm not creative.
861
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:20,800
And it's so sad to hear that.
862
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,680
And there's a lot of teachers, maybe they don't say it,
863
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,440
but perhaps some of you listening are thinking,
864
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,160
I'm really, I'm just not creative.
865
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:29,480
I was traditionally trained.
866
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,760
I can teach beautifully how to phrase and pedal
867
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:34,760
and play Bach and Beethoven.
868
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:36,920
But I'm not creative.
869
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:39,840
So there's no point trying.
870
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:43,640
And I just want to speak to you guys and say, well,
871
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,880
I believe that's rubbish, a lot of rubbish.
872
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,200
You and everybody else out there can be creative, are creative.
873
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,800
It's just a bit latent or dormant.
874
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,200
You would have been, as a child, incredibly curious,
875
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,240
full of imagination and creativity.
876
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:02,360
And unfortunately, just as adults, particularly in music,
877
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,360
we lose it over time.
878
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,400
And I want to bring that back to you and prove to you
879
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,520
and show you how you are creative.
880
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,000
You are innately creative and can
881
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:17,760
have such a large amount of fun doing these creative activities
882
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:18,840
with students.
883
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,760
And if you're not convinced, grab the book,
884
00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,960
because there are examples after examples of teachers
885
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,680
who thought they weren't creative, who
886
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,880
have used this approach, and then gone on
887
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:29,400
to make it even more creative.
888
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,160
So they've taken an animal improv story
889
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:34,720
or around the world improv activity,
890
00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:36,680
which is a multi-week program where
891
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,680
they get a motif from different parts of the world
892
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,240
and they create stories around it.
893
00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:42,880
And I've had teachers then go steps further
894
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,400
to create videos around it or headdresses and outfits
895
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:47,960
to go when they perform these things.
896
00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:52,480
I mean, it's a great, the book and the framework
897
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,040
is a great spark for most teachers' creativity.
898
00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,640
I'll challenge you and say, I reckon
899
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:03,640
you'd be hard pressed not to go, hmm, what if we did this?
900
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,880
And go off on a little tangent, and that's great.
901
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,720
The second concern is, what are parents going to think?
902
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:12,840
Because so many parents have been brought up
903
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:14,440
with this method book approach.
904
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,000
So what am I going to say to them
905
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,640
when they're not using a method book?
906
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,720
How do I reach them?
907
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:22,400
And so there's just one quote.
908
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:26,680
I'll read a short quote in the book about this.
909
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,600
When Elisa Milne, she's an Australian pedagogue,
910
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:33,520
talks about this, just being modern and progressive
911
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,400
and creative and imaginative in your teaching.
912
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,480
And she says, if parents find this strange,
913
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:40,040
tell them that it's much more important that you explore
914
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,840
rhythm, pulse, creativity, and improvisation
915
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:44,280
before they start reading.
916
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,800
I've never had a parent anything but thrilled
917
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,480
to see their child exploring lots of sounds on the piano,
918
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,760
using all the keys and pedals, and having a ball.
919
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,360
And in fact, there's another teacher I quote in here
920
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,280
who says that the parents of the child she was teaching this
921
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,840
to couldn't get the child off the piano
922
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:03,400
because they were having so much fun.
923
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:05,720
I mean, isn't that exactly what we want?
924
00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:06,360
Wow.
925
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:08,480
Absolutely, absolutely.
926
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:13,200
Now, it seems like you're really thoroughly researched
927
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:14,120
and studied.
928
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:18,200
And you invested your time and even money
929
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,200
to books and courses.
930
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:25,520
And so I would like to know your background.
931
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,400
So how did you get to where you are?
932
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,720
Well, it's a very roundabout story.
933
00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:37,480
I had a very not normal route through music education.
934
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:39,720
And in fact, any of your listeners
935
00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:43,160
who are members of the MTNA in America,
936
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,080
I was interviewed and featured in there
937
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:49,280
about the upcoming conference coming up in March.
938
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,320
And the title of it was something like sliding in
939
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,280
through the side door, how Tim Topham came
940
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,400
to be doing what he's doing, or something like that.
941
00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:59,160
And it's by my great friend Leela Vis, who's
942
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,320
an amazing teacher in Colorado.
943
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,160
And anyway, long story short, yeah,
944
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,320
it was a very unusual sort of path.
945
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:07,480
I studied music.
946
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:09,840
I started learning piano at age eight
947
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:11,880
with an amazing teacher called Miss Mack, who
948
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,400
I speak about in a lot of my videos.
949
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:15,640
She was an incredible influence on me.
950
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,960
But drifted away very quickly from the traditional music.
951
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,320
I did a couple of grades up to grade six.
952
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,600
And then I went into jazz.
953
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:28,720
And then I also did some study at school
954
00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:31,200
before I finished school.
955
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:35,240
And then I went in a completely different direction.
956
00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:37,440
I wanted to be a classroom teacher,
957
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,800
but I wanted to teach what we call over here
958
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:41,040
outdoor education.
959
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,120
So it's taking students away out of doors,
960
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:48,520
outward bound, maybe more relevant term,
961
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,600
where you're absolutely in climbing and canoeing
962
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,760
and cooking and all those kinds of things in tents.
963
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:55,640
And I just loved that.
964
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,280
And that was what I did for the next six years or so
965
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:00,320
of my life.
966
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,400
That is super Australian.
967
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,200
Sounds like that is awesome.
968
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:07,080
It's part of the curriculum over here.
969
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:08,240
It's a choice.
970
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:08,960
Yeah, yeah.
971
00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:10,520
And all schools run camps.
972
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,720
And I just thought it was a cool way to live my early 20s.
973
00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:15,400
Like, who would want to do that?
974
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:16,640
I want to do it.
975
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:17,280
Yeah.
976
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:17,800
Yeah, right.
977
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:19,960
So I did that for many years.
978
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,640
All through that, I was always still playing piano,
979
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:25,080
but I never taught it.
980
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,480
But I would accompany musicals.
981
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:30,040
I would conduct a few musicals.
982
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,280
I would accompany singers who were friends.
983
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:35,440
So I always kept in with the music side of things.
984
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:37,440
Anyway, long story short, I kind of
985
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:39,800
had enough of all of that out direct after, I don't know,
986
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:41,320
six or seven years of it.
987
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:42,520
I was getting old.
988
00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:44,040
And so I thought, right, I'm going
989
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,160
to be a music producer, which meant for me
990
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,160
becoming a DJ, effectively, making music that
991
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:51,880
could be played in nightclubs.
992
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:53,760
And I gave myself a year.
993
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:54,920
Was it a year or three years?
994
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:57,160
I can't remember now.
995
00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:59,480
But look, I couldn't make money from it.
996
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:00,560
And so I started teaching.
997
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:02,960
I thought, well, why don't I start teaching?
998
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,080
And the teaching, I just became incredibly passionate about.
999
00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:07,840
I just loved it.
1000
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:08,800
It was heaps of fun.
1001
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,240
And then so I reconnected with Miss Mac, who had long retired,
1002
00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:15,000
but who was only too happy to help me.
1003
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,400
And she mentored me for a year or two,
1004
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,720
taught me everything she knew, gave me all her resources,
1005
00:43:21,720 --> 00:43:25,040
and gave me the confidence to go, all right,
1006
00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,560
I haven't been formally taught piano pedagogy.
1007
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:30,440
I've been taught how to teach in a classroom setting.
1008
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:32,640
I have a teaching degree, but not pedagogy.
1009
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,200
But I'm going to go out there, and I'm
1010
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:36,160
going to share what I know and what I've learned
1011
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:36,880
with the world.
1012
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:38,680
And I'm going to do things differently.
1013
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:40,920
And that was how the blog began.
1014
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:43,760
And I just kept, I just deep dived.
1015
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,400
I just kept learning and learning and learning and sharing,
1016
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:48,080
importantly.
1017
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:49,920
I think that's, I mean, there's lots of people in the world who
1018
00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:51,560
go on deep dives into topics.
1019
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:54,880
But I started sharing it on YouTube and on the blog.
1020
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,560
Every book I read, I'd review it.
1021
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:00,680
Every master class I went to, I'd talk about it.
1022
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,080
And slowly that got traction from people.
1023
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:08,160
And that's how Top Music came to be.
1024
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:08,720
Great.
1025
00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,600
So we'll talk about Top Music Co.
1026
00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,040
So what is it?
1027
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:16,000
Who is this for?
1028
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:19,960
So Top Music Co. is for music teachers, predominantly piano
1029
00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:20,960
and guitar teachers.
1030
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,320
But I hope we do serve teachers and will serve in the future
1031
00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:26,760
teachers of all instruments.
1032
00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:34,120
It's a place to go for community and content learning
1033
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:39,560
and a place to, I guess, to have as a hub or a home.
1034
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:41,760
That's what I want it to be.
1035
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:44,800
Even for teachers, we have a membership site as well,
1036
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:45,600
a paid membership.
1037
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:49,040
So that's the core of our organization.
1038
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:52,600
But for those who aren't in that, we have a YouTube channel,
1039
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:54,560
lots on social media, and our blog,
1040
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,640
which still gets many, many views and lots of downloads.
1041
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:02,280
The amount of free things I've given away,
1042
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:09,200
I mean, we have, I don't know, well over 100 free downloads.
1043
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:12,840
How to teach modes, how to teach the blues, all of these things,
1044
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,240
all over our website that people can find through Google.
1045
00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:20,080
And about 600 or 700 blog articles,
1046
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:22,720
I did five, seven years of podcasting.
1047
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:24,520
There's almost 400 episodes of podcasts.
1048
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:29,920
So I've just wanted to give people, just give, give, give
1049
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:30,880
content.
1050
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:33,880
Because when I started teaching in school,
1051
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:35,720
so soon after reconnecting with Ms. Mack,
1052
00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:37,760
I started teaching in schools.
1053
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,560
That's not really done in America so much,
1054
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:42,440
but students will come out of a lesson, like their math class,
1055
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:44,440
and have a one-on-one piano lesson for 30 minutes,
1056
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:45,480
and then go back to class.
1057
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,240
And that happens in Australia.
1058
00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:49,440
That's the standard way, and in England,
1059
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:51,680
for people to be taught.
1060
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,960
So I started teaching in a school in that way.
1061
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:57,520
And I would just get teachers knocking on my door going,
1062
00:45:57,520 --> 00:45:58,720
what are you, that is so cool.
1063
00:45:58,720 --> 00:45:59,280
What is that?
1064
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,240
You've got to show me what you're doing.
1065
00:46:01,240 --> 00:46:02,880
And that's when I really started going,
1066
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:04,960
hmm, OK, maybe there's something in this
1067
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,720
that teachers aren't doing.
1068
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:10,280
And my studio, the numbers at the school built,
1069
00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:12,680
I had to hire another teacher.
1070
00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:14,760
It just sort of confirmed with me
1071
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:17,760
that there's a lot of need for information.
1072
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,040
There's teachers out there who want to get better,
1073
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:22,080
and they want to do things differently.
1074
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,160
But it's really isolated, as we all know.
1075
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,760
So hence, wanting to bring everybody
1076
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:28,520
together in a community.
1077
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:32,040
Wow, I'm impressed, really.
1078
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:36,200
And what a resourceful person you are.
1079
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,800
With all, I think it comes down to your curiosity, right?
1080
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:44,720
Yeah, I'm just as curious about business and marketing,
1081
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:46,720
and how do I attract teachers?
1082
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:47,960
How do I get in front of them?
1083
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:49,200
How do I help them?
1084
00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:52,800
As for helping my students and developing
1085
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:54,600
these resources for teaching.
1086
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:57,080
So yeah, I am a very curious person.
1087
00:46:57,080 --> 00:46:59,680
I am quite entrepreneurial.
1088
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:04,240
I like asking questions, solving problems, connecting,
1089
00:47:04,240 --> 00:47:06,040
networking, all of that stuff.
1090
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,840
So yes, that's always been part of my DNA, I think.
1091
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:10,520
Wonderful.
1092
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:15,360
Now, so then your company offers a membership site,
1093
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,320
and also a course as well?
1094
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:21,160
Yeah, over 50 courses, actually.
1095
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:23,760
So it all started with one course.
1096
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:28,880
So I mentioned earlier, I was building up content.
1097
00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,320
I was just sharing content, and I was collecting people's email
1098
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:32,600
addresses.
1099
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:35,680
And I eventually emailed all these people,
1100
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:39,720
and I think there's maybe 1,000, between 1,000 and 2,000 people
1101
00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:40,760
on the list at that stage.
1102
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:43,240
And I said, you're following what I do.
1103
00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:44,640
What would you like me to create?
1104
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,040
What is your biggest problem?
1105
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:51,040
And the biggest number one pain point
1106
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:54,360
was how to teach a student a pop song.
1107
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,560
Because no one teaches that in pedagogy school,
1108
00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,680
if anyone even goes to pedagogy school.
1109
00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:01,400
No one knows how to do that.
1110
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:03,680
And there are some tricks to it.
1111
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:07,040
Because teaching it by notation is more often
1112
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,720
than not impossible, but also frustrating,
1113
00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:10,960
but also not very musical.
1114
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:13,000
There's so much more you can learn by teaching it
1115
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:13,800
through the courts.
1116
00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:16,760
So I put together a course at the end of 2014
1117
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:18,560
on that to answer that question, because I
1118
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:20,520
knew it was a burning issue.
1119
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:24,200
That led to the start of the membership,
1120
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:26,200
because I started after I released that course,
1121
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:27,080
and I did very well.
1122
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,520
I started getting lots of questions from teachers going,
1123
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:30,760
oh, how do I do this?
1124
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:32,120
Or what did you mean by that?
1125
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:35,680
I'm like, I can't keep up with all these one-on-one emails.
1126
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:37,800
So how about I build a community,
1127
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,520
and everyone post your things to the group
1128
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:42,680
so that I can share with everybody?
1129
00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:46,160
And then that developed into, well, I should probably,
1130
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:47,680
what course should we do next?
1131
00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:49,120
And that has just built over time.
1132
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:51,640
And now there's courses from lots of other specialists,
1133
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:52,600
not just me.
1134
00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:54,120
Wow, that's incredible.
1135
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:59,600
I tried, but building a course is maybe it's not my thing.
1136
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:00,120
It's hard.
1137
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:01,520
Not for the faint of heart.
1138
00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:02,840
Yeah, I know.
1139
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:03,640
It's hard.
1140
00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:07,040
Anyway, through your community, what's the common struggle
1141
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,040
you see from your members?
1142
00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:11,080
That's a good question.
1143
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:13,440
So people come in.
1144
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:15,800
One of the challenges we have in serving our members
1145
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:19,040
is that they all come in with different challenges
1146
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:23,400
and different goals and different approaches
1147
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:25,000
and different everything.
1148
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:28,680
So to pull on a couple of common threads,
1149
00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:30,920
I would say isolation is a big one.
1150
00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:34,480
So a lot of our teachers come for the community aspect,
1151
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,440
just having a place that's a hub and a home where they can ask
1152
00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:40,840
questions without fear of reprimand,
1153
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:44,280
which does happen in Facebook groups, sadly.
1154
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:49,800
Get support, be looked after, and also in that space
1155
00:49:49,800 --> 00:49:52,600
be able to find ideas, fresh ideas.
1156
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:57,480
So I think a lot of teachers, they know perhaps,
1157
00:49:57,480 --> 00:49:59,640
and I've heard from them in testimonials
1158
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,560
before, they've said, look, I was just close to quitting.
1159
00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:03,240
I'm just bored.
1160
00:50:03,240 --> 00:50:05,080
I'm burned out, and I was bored.
1161
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:08,040
And we came in, and my eyes were opened.
1162
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:10,240
And I'm like, oh my goodness, I could do that?
1163
00:50:10,240 --> 00:50:11,960
Oh, OK, I'm going to go and try that.
1164
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:13,440
I didn't know that was allowed.
1165
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,800
Giving them almost confidence, yeah, definitely confidence,
1166
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,560
that they not only can do something fresh and new,
1167
00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:21,680
but that it's OK to do that.
1168
00:50:21,680 --> 00:50:23,080
You're not breaking any rules.
1169
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:24,280
You're not upsetting anybody.
1170
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:25,320
It's OK.
1171
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:28,360
And people do say, oh, I've found my group.
1172
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:30,000
I finally feel like I've found my group,
1173
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:33,280
because you're making me feel like it's OK that I do things
1174
00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:36,360
a little bit differently to the traditions and the norms.
1175
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:43,680
So yeah, it is hard to find one or two really strong threads
1176
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:46,760
that go through everybody, because so many people come
1177
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:48,960
in at different stages in their career.
1178
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:51,880
Some want to build a big studio and hire 10 teachers
1179
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:52,960
and have 1,500 students.
1180
00:50:52,960 --> 00:50:55,640
Others want five students, and they're really happy doing that
1181
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:56,480
as just a hobby.
1182
00:50:56,480 --> 00:51:00,320
So yeah, we try and cater for everybody.
1183
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:04,240
What are the trends you see or hope to see in piano teaching?
1184
00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:09,600
Trends, OK, so I think we are seeing a trend,
1185
00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:14,240
the creativity, the adding creative aspects to lessons.
1186
00:51:14,240 --> 00:51:17,160
And that could be anything from doing some improvising
1187
00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:21,800
to helping students write a song to taking out
1188
00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:24,080
the left hand of a piece and playing chords instead,
1189
00:51:24,080 --> 00:51:25,400
to any of those aspects.
1190
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:27,600
I call it all that being creative.
1191
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,880
We have seen, since I first spoke at a conference, which
1192
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:34,800
was 2015, which is when I heard the MLT speech,
1193
00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:40,920
we've seen a huge shift towards people and organizations
1194
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:44,360
embracing creativity and the explosion in podcasts and blogs
1195
00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:46,120
and people creating resources around this.
1196
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:50,560
So that is a trend that I'm super delighted
1197
00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:54,120
that is happening, because I really
1198
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:58,240
do believe that only good will come from being more flexible
1199
00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:02,040
and adding more creativity into music lessons.
1200
00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:03,440
So that's been a great trend.
1201
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:05,800
There's definitely a trend towards group teaching.
1202
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,200
I don't know if you've seen that as well or in people
1203
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:12,000
that you've interviewed.
1204
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,240
There's now quite a few different conferences
1205
00:52:14,240 --> 00:52:18,560
based online and in person based around group teaching.
1206
00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:21,600
And there's a lot of teachers who I think
1207
00:52:21,600 --> 00:52:23,320
are looking at this for two reasons.
1208
00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:24,720
One is because I think we mentioned
1209
00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:28,320
that before that social aspect of student learning
1210
00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:29,840
is so important.
1211
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,360
And group teaching is a great way to do that.
1212
00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:34,760
Secondly, income.
1213
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:38,240
So when I created Top Music Pro, I
1214
00:52:38,240 --> 00:52:40,640
didn't want it to just be a pedagogy resource.
1215
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:42,200
It is pedagogy and business.
1216
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:44,040
And we have always included resources
1217
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:46,560
on both those topics, because ultimately, if you're not
1218
00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:48,560
running a sustainable business, you're not
1219
00:52:48,560 --> 00:52:49,640
going to do this for very long.
1220
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:51,240
And you'll burn out and you will quit.
1221
00:52:51,240 --> 00:52:53,360
And then we've lost all of that great goodwill
1222
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:54,360
with all your students.
1223
00:52:54,360 --> 00:52:59,040
So we want to support teachers to run a business better,
1224
00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:00,720
to have enough students.
1225
00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:04,040
And group teaching is an option for that.
1226
00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:07,960
And even if it's just two people with a 15 minute crossover
1227
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:11,080
having 45 minute lessons with 15 minutes shared,
1228
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:13,480
there's so many different ways that you
1229
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:15,440
can structure group lessons.
1230
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:18,080
So if you're kind of new to this approach,
1231
00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:20,080
when I say group teaching, don't necessarily
1232
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:22,560
picture a room with eight students all at keyboards.
1233
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:26,320
It can be three students with different variations
1234
00:53:26,320 --> 00:53:26,920
of overlapping.
1235
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:30,480
It could be buddies, so two people at once.
1236
00:53:30,480 --> 00:53:32,160
Or it could be a classroom of eight people.
1237
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,160
And there's plenty of people in Australia,
1238
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,440
and I know Texas is really strong on this as well,
1239
00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:37,880
who do that.
1240
00:53:37,880 --> 00:53:41,280
So that's definitely a trend that I'm seeing at the moment.
1241
00:53:41,280 --> 00:53:45,080
And I think for teachers who are keen on it and happy to do it
1242
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:47,160
and it works for them, I think that's fantastic.
1243
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:49,960
And it definitely does have a positive impact
1244
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:53,000
on income if you'd like to go down that route.
1245
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:54,640
So those two trends anyway.
1246
00:53:54,640 --> 00:53:55,600
Wow.
1247
00:53:55,600 --> 00:53:57,160
Now, I'm sold.
1248
00:53:57,160 --> 00:54:02,560
So help me sign up for whatever you offer.
1249
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:07,400
So where's a great way to start a person like me who's
1250
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:10,280
been teaching for 20, 25 years or so,
1251
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:14,920
and then maybe want to belong to the community
1252
00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:19,080
or maybe want to follow some of the blog posts you do?
1253
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:20,640
What's the best spot?
1254
00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:24,600
Well, we're kind of on just about any platform
1255
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:26,160
that you might want to hang out on.
1256
00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:27,880
So if you're a Facebook kind of person,
1257
00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:29,760
then search for Top Music Co.
1258
00:54:29,760 --> 00:54:30,800
Find our group.
1259
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:33,280
We've got a group called Teachers of Beginner
1260
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:35,800
and Intermediate Students or something.
1261
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:39,400
We do link that from our website if I got that wrong.
1262
00:54:39,400 --> 00:54:42,320
So if you'd like that, yes, come and do that.
1263
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:46,120
If you want to just check out the blog, go to topmusic.co.
1264
00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:49,760
Up the top, there's a number of menus.
1265
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:52,480
And you can choose to learn and have a look through our blog
1266
00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:54,560
articles, or you can search for something.
1267
00:54:54,560 --> 00:54:59,520
Or if you have a particular question or concern
1268
00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:03,640
or something, then just Google that question
1269
00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:05,840
with Top Music in the search.
1270
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:07,760
And you'll find whatever we might have on it.
1271
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:10,600
So maybe you're like, how do I teach a pop song?
1272
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:14,720
Or how do I get group teaching started?
1273
00:55:14,720 --> 00:55:19,240
Or how do I best teach beginners?
1274
00:55:19,240 --> 00:55:19,960
Whatever it is.
1275
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:23,560
And it'll lead you to any number of downloads.
1276
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:26,280
And yeah, jump on our email list.
1277
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:28,240
If you download something and put your email in,
1278
00:55:28,240 --> 00:55:29,840
you'll be on our email list.
1279
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:31,560
And we keep up to date with our people
1280
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:34,720
every week with what's new, what's happening,
1281
00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:38,640
any sort of trends, as you say, and upcoming webinars
1282
00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:39,240
that we've got.
1283
00:55:39,240 --> 00:55:41,760
So we try and do training, free training webinars
1284
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:44,000
every month or so.
1285
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:47,880
We're releasing a course this month in February,
1286
00:55:47,880 --> 00:55:50,600
all about teaching neurodivergent students.
1287
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:53,040
So we've had a course already on this for some time.
1288
00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:57,480
But we've got a completely updated and rebuilt course.
1289
00:55:57,480 --> 00:55:58,360
It's amazing.
1290
00:55:58,360 --> 00:55:59,600
It's so epic.
1291
00:55:59,600 --> 00:56:01,080
And we're doing a webinar on that.
1292
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:02,720
So teachers can ask questions, and we
1293
00:56:02,720 --> 00:56:03,800
can answer their questions.
1294
00:56:03,800 --> 00:56:05,080
So yeah.
1295
00:56:05,080 --> 00:56:06,280
That's a hot topic.
1296
00:56:06,280 --> 00:56:06,800
Yeah.
1297
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:09,760
And we want to give confidence to teachers on that.
1298
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:12,280
Because yes, there are challenges involved.
1299
00:56:12,280 --> 00:56:15,320
But if you've got a few strategies,
1300
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:17,760
and again, you've got a framework behind that you
1301
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:20,520
can work towards, you can have so much more success
1302
00:56:20,520 --> 00:56:22,080
and confidence in that area.
1303
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:25,160
So our course is called Unfazed, How to Teach
1304
00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:27,200
Neurodivergent Students Confidently.
1305
00:56:27,200 --> 00:56:28,200
So you can look that up.
1306
00:56:28,200 --> 00:56:30,080
But yeah, just explore the website.
1307
00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:33,240
And if you are interested in joining our community,
1308
00:56:33,240 --> 00:56:35,360
it's at topmusicpro.com.
1309
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:36,640
topmusicpro.com.
1310
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:37,640
OK.
1311
00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:38,480
We'll do that.
1312
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,800
Yes, and I will list all the links in the show notes
1313
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:42,040
as well.
1314
00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:43,960
Hey there, TPP family.
1315
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:47,160
The PianoPod is now into our fourth season.
1316
00:56:47,160 --> 00:56:49,440
And it's all thanks to you.
1317
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:53,200
Since 2020, you've been with my journey with the TPP,
1318
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:55,480
exploring this burning question.
1319
00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:59,000
How do we make classical music resonate with today's audience
1320
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:01,600
in fresh and captivating ways?
1321
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:03,520
Four years in, and the journey has
1322
00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:05,560
been nothing short of magical.
1323
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:07,800
The PianoPod isn't just a podcast.
1324
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:11,600
It's a movement, a space where pianists, composers,
1325
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:14,200
and educators brainstorm, debate,
1326
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:18,560
and reimagine classical music's place in our fast-paced world.
1327
00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:21,000
We're together on a mission to ensure
1328
00:57:21,000 --> 00:57:23,480
classical music doesn't just survive,
1329
00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:25,680
but thrives in our modern age.
1330
00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:26,920
But here's the thing.
1331
00:57:26,920 --> 00:57:30,880
To keep bringing you these insightful biweekly episodes,
1332
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:32,040
I need your help.
1333
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:35,560
Every bit of support goes into the podcast essentials,
1334
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:38,840
from hosting to high-quality recording tech
1335
00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:41,800
and the countless hours behind the scenes.
1336
00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:43,960
So do you want to be part of this journey?
1337
00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:46,200
Click the PayPal link in the show notes,
1338
00:57:46,200 --> 00:57:49,080
or head to thepianopod.com to donate.
1339
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:52,960
And as a token of appreciation, I will personally
1340
00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:57,160
mail you the PianoPod's snazzy logo sticker.
1341
00:57:57,160 --> 00:58:00,520
So hit the Subscribe button, spread the word,
1342
00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:02,760
and let's continue our mission and journey
1343
00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:04,800
as classical musicians.
1344
00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:06,760
Now let's continue with the show.
1345
00:58:06,760 --> 00:58:09,640
Now, you're a fellow podcaster, so how am I doing
1346
00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:12,200
as a host so far, and how are you feeling
1347
00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:16,200
on the other end of this podcast?
1348
00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:17,040
It's different.
1349
00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:18,200
I really, yeah, it is.
1350
00:58:18,200 --> 00:58:22,160
I really enjoy actually being on the other side sometimes.
1351
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:23,400
Yeah, for sure.
1352
00:58:23,400 --> 00:58:25,440
And I've been interviewed about the book
1353
00:58:25,440 --> 00:58:28,280
a few times recently, and it's good
1354
00:58:28,280 --> 00:58:31,440
because it forces you to think and clarify.
1355
00:58:31,440 --> 00:58:34,480
In fact, writing the book itself was one of the best
1356
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:38,160
exercises I've done in clarity of thought,
1357
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:41,640
formulating ideas, and structuring things.
1358
00:58:41,640 --> 00:58:43,520
And so now being interviewed about it
1359
00:58:43,520 --> 00:58:45,360
just sort of backs that up and supports it.
1360
00:58:45,360 --> 00:58:48,640
So you're doing an absolute cracker job,
1361
00:58:48,640 --> 00:58:50,680
as we might say in Australia here.
1362
00:58:50,680 --> 00:58:51,880
Cracker job. Well done.
1363
00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:53,400
Oh, me?
1364
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:54,240
Yes.
1365
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:56,560
Oh, that's a very kind of you.
1366
00:58:56,560 --> 00:58:58,160
It means so much.
1367
00:58:58,160 --> 00:58:59,000
Yes, go ahead.
1368
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:01,400
And I can tell you've put a lot of thought into it.
1369
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:05,400
You've read the book or parts of it.
1370
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:08,120
And I think that's really important for anyone
1371
00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:10,720
that's interviewing and doing a podcast.
1372
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:14,720
So tell us just briefly about your podcast.
1373
00:59:14,720 --> 00:59:15,800
Yeah, so my podcast is called
1374
00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:17,560
the Integrated Music Teaching Podcast.
1375
00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:20,840
And it's actually on a pause just at the moment.
1376
00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:24,600
I got to episode 370 or something,
1377
00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:27,280
and I just needed to have a little break.
1378
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:29,600
So we've actually launched a new podcast
1379
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:31,880
called the Top Music Piano Podcast
1380
00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:35,280
with a new host specifically to look at piano.
1381
00:59:35,280 --> 00:59:38,400
And my show will, I'm sure it will come back at some stage
1382
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:41,720
and it will be more general music, music teaching,
1383
00:59:41,720 --> 00:59:44,400
instrumental music teaching, but not necessarily piano,
1384
00:59:44,400 --> 00:59:47,320
because we also have a guitar podcast too.
1385
00:59:47,320 --> 00:59:52,320
And I use the word integrated because I believe
1386
00:59:52,680 --> 00:59:57,680
that creativity and creative activities are best done
1387
00:59:57,680 --> 01:00:02,200
or explored in lessons when they're connected somehow
1388
01:00:02,200 --> 01:00:06,160
with a learning outcome and a concept
1389
01:00:06,160 --> 01:00:07,440
that you're trying to teach.
1390
01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:09,760
So it's super fun just doing some 12 bar blues
1391
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:11,080
at the end of a lesson.
1392
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:14,040
But I want teachers to start thinking,
1393
01:00:14,040 --> 01:00:16,120
is there a way that I can connect that work
1394
01:00:16,120 --> 01:00:17,520
that I'm doing on the 12 bar blues
1395
01:00:17,520 --> 01:00:21,000
with their understanding of theory or history
1396
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:22,520
or whatever it is?
1397
01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:26,760
And that's the sort of integration that I try and talk about
1398
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:28,760
and have done for a couple of years now.
1399
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:29,920
So it's going one step further.
1400
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:31,560
It's about not just being creative,
1401
01:00:31,560 --> 01:00:33,440
but it's about integrating creativity
1402
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:36,800
and not just creativity, but connecting multiple parts
1403
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:38,560
of a lesson together for a student.
1404
01:00:38,560 --> 01:00:41,720
So I'll just give you one example, which would be,
1405
01:00:41,720 --> 01:00:45,520
I have teachers come up and say,
1406
01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:48,640
how do I, my students hate playing scales.
1407
01:00:48,640 --> 01:00:52,160
How do I make scales more interesting or valuable?
1408
01:00:52,160 --> 01:00:53,960
Have you ever had students say that?
1409
01:00:53,960 --> 01:00:54,800
Or have you heard about it?
1410
01:00:54,800 --> 01:00:56,880
Yeah, yeah, all the time, yeah.
1411
01:00:56,880 --> 01:00:59,120
Yeah, so my question is,
1412
01:00:59,120 --> 01:01:02,560
what is the purpose of learning scales?
1413
01:01:02,560 --> 01:01:07,000
And most teachers will say, well, it's a technical exercise,
1414
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:10,120
builds agility and finger independence and blah, blah, blah.
1415
01:01:10,120 --> 01:01:12,240
And all of that is true.
1416
01:01:12,240 --> 01:01:17,040
But, and here's where the integration can be really powerful.
1417
01:01:17,040 --> 01:01:21,000
Students should know, or you should help them understand
1418
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:25,840
that the notes of a scale are built around the key area.
1419
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:28,760
So if you're a D major scale, you're in the key of D
1420
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:31,040
and pieces of music are also in keys.
1421
01:01:31,040 --> 01:01:33,240
So a piece of music in the key of D
1422
01:01:33,240 --> 01:01:36,240
will use the notes in the melody of the D major scale.
1423
01:01:36,240 --> 01:01:38,600
We're simplifying, of course, we're just talking
1424
01:01:38,600 --> 01:01:41,200
fairly simple music, but that's the basis.
1425
01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:43,600
Most students won't know that.
1426
01:01:43,600 --> 01:01:48,040
So having them know that is one step,
1427
01:01:48,040 --> 01:01:49,480
but that's not really the integration.
1428
01:01:49,480 --> 01:01:51,880
The integration is finding and asking yourself,
1429
01:01:51,880 --> 01:01:54,320
okay, what activity could I do
1430
01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:56,800
that actually cements that for a student
1431
01:01:56,800 --> 01:01:59,040
that makes it come alive?
1432
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:01,760
And so a really easy way to do that,
1433
01:02:01,760 --> 01:02:05,160
to make this connection between scales and key
1434
01:02:05,160 --> 01:02:07,040
would be to say, all right,
1435
01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:09,920
let's use the notes of the scale that you've learned,
1436
01:02:09,920 --> 01:02:11,800
the D major scale, we've been playing it for weeks,
1437
01:02:11,800 --> 01:02:13,000
you know, inside and out.
1438
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:16,040
Let's now use that to make up a melody
1439
01:02:16,040 --> 01:02:19,120
over a simple chord progression in D major.
1440
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:21,320
So that they can start going,
1441
01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:24,320
oh, okay, now when I'm learning a new piece,
1442
01:02:24,320 --> 01:02:25,280
okay, what case is this in?
1443
01:02:25,280 --> 01:02:27,080
I'm gonna, that's gonna be the first thing I ask myself
1444
01:02:27,080 --> 01:02:29,040
because I should probably know that scale.
1445
01:02:29,040 --> 01:02:31,200
Oh, I've got a key of a piece of music in G,
1446
01:02:31,200 --> 01:02:32,560
I better learn the G scale.
1447
01:02:32,560 --> 01:02:34,560
And wow, wouldn't you know it?
1448
01:02:34,560 --> 01:02:36,600
The notes are all the G major scale,
1449
01:02:36,600 --> 01:02:37,520
there's an F sharp there.
1450
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:38,360
Why is that there?
1451
01:02:38,360 --> 01:02:39,200
Because it's in G major.
1452
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:42,760
You know, so we start unpacking connections for students.
1453
01:02:42,760 --> 01:02:46,240
And this does, the research says it,
1454
01:02:46,240 --> 01:02:47,480
and I've talked about it,
1455
01:02:47,480 --> 01:02:49,880
there's information on integrated music teaching on my site,
1456
01:02:49,880 --> 01:02:51,760
if anyone wants to look at it.
1457
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:55,280
This does strengthen and solidify knowledge for students,
1458
01:02:55,280 --> 01:02:59,160
making connections with unique creative activities.
1459
01:02:59,160 --> 01:03:00,520
Yeah, absolutely.
1460
01:03:00,520 --> 01:03:04,000
That almost like really giving them the context
1461
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:05,840
of why do I have to learn this sharp keys
1462
01:03:05,840 --> 01:03:08,800
or how many keys in certain scales?
1463
01:03:08,800 --> 01:03:10,720
Yeah, and you know, what,
1464
01:03:10,720 --> 01:03:13,360
and that's what you want students to do
1465
01:03:13,360 --> 01:03:14,800
is ask you those questions.
1466
01:03:14,800 --> 01:03:17,720
So, you know, the key of the piece is G.
1467
01:03:17,720 --> 01:03:21,080
All right, now the, now we're,
1468
01:03:21,080 --> 01:03:26,000
now the left hand has moved to E, E, and it sounds sad.
1469
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:28,320
So what's going on here?
1470
01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:30,840
Well, it looks like we're in the B section
1471
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:35,560
and maybe we're in E minor and those two keys are related.
1472
01:03:35,560 --> 01:03:36,400
Why are they related?
1473
01:03:36,400 --> 01:03:37,800
Like, and you know, off you go,
1474
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:40,680
circle of fifths comes out and let's do some chords playing.
1475
01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:44,160
And I mean, there's just, if you can, yeah,
1476
01:03:44,160 --> 01:03:47,280
open your mind to possibilities like this,
1477
01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:49,760
you can have so much fun
1478
01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:51,960
and just build such deep connections
1479
01:03:51,960 --> 01:03:53,440
and knowledge for students.
1480
01:03:53,440 --> 01:03:55,880
And I just sort of want to say as well,
1481
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:58,160
that if you do take up some of these ideas
1482
01:03:58,160 --> 01:03:59,840
from the notebook approach,
1483
01:03:59,840 --> 01:04:04,360
you will naturally be more inclined to think this way
1484
01:04:04,360 --> 01:04:06,200
for your other students as well,
1485
01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:08,200
because this will get you thinking a little bit more
1486
01:04:08,200 --> 01:04:09,920
about beat and meter and harmony
1487
01:04:09,920 --> 01:04:12,120
and tonal centers and those things.
1488
01:04:12,120 --> 01:04:14,760
And next time you have your student
1489
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:17,720
who's doing some early intermediate work,
1490
01:04:17,720 --> 01:04:22,280
you'll go, huh, I did this in the notebook thing
1491
01:04:22,280 --> 01:04:23,760
with my beginner the other day.
1492
01:04:23,760 --> 01:04:25,920
We should just tap out this rhythm
1493
01:04:25,920 --> 01:04:27,400
or we should play this chord progression
1494
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:28,920
because this is an E minor.
1495
01:04:28,920 --> 01:04:30,880
And you'll start to think a little bit differently.
1496
01:04:30,880 --> 01:04:34,000
So if what I was saying about the integrated music teaching
1497
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:36,840
is like, oh, over the head, that's, whoa,
1498
01:04:36,840 --> 01:04:39,800
that's a step too far, totally understand.
1499
01:04:39,800 --> 01:04:42,520
But if you do take on some of these ideas
1500
01:04:42,520 --> 01:04:44,120
from the notebook approach,
1501
01:04:44,120 --> 01:04:46,160
I think it'll become a little bit more natural
1502
01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:48,160
for you to think in those ways.
1503
01:04:49,120 --> 01:04:49,960
Well, thank you.
1504
01:04:49,960 --> 01:04:50,800
Wow.
1505
01:04:50,800 --> 01:04:53,920
You know, I'm learning so much from this conversation.
1506
01:04:53,920 --> 01:04:56,120
I don't want to stop, but it's, you know,
1507
01:04:56,120 --> 01:04:59,000
we are coming to almost close to the end of the,
1508
01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:00,520
toward the end of the conversation,
1509
01:05:00,520 --> 01:05:02,040
but I have few more questions.
1510
01:05:02,040 --> 01:05:03,360
So just bear with me.
1511
01:05:03,360 --> 01:05:04,960
What does it take to be considered
1512
01:05:04,960 --> 01:05:06,840
a 21st century music studio?
1513
01:05:06,840 --> 01:05:10,440
Or how can a music studio be recognized as a 21st century
1514
01:05:10,440 --> 01:05:12,040
music studio, you think?
1515
01:05:12,040 --> 01:05:14,000
Well, I think the first thing you need is a website
1516
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:16,160
that wasn't built in the nineties.
1517
01:05:16,160 --> 01:05:20,000
And is mobile responsive, looks great on phones,
1518
01:05:20,000 --> 01:05:23,440
doesn't use copper plate, gothic fonts.
1519
01:05:24,520 --> 01:05:27,520
Like, so you need to present yourself.
1520
01:05:27,520 --> 01:05:29,600
I'm talking, this is putting my business hat on.
1521
01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:32,160
You need to present yourself as a modern,
1522
01:05:32,160 --> 01:05:36,720
positive, practical, fun studio online.
1523
01:05:36,720 --> 01:05:38,800
And on social and wherever else you choose
1524
01:05:38,800 --> 01:05:42,360
to spread the message about your studio.
1525
01:05:42,360 --> 01:05:45,680
So that's one super critical factor.
1526
01:05:45,680 --> 01:05:49,920
I think another critical factor is just in your pedagogy,
1527
01:05:50,840 --> 01:05:53,560
having the flexibility and the student first approach.
1528
01:05:53,560 --> 01:05:56,760
These are all, they're just really a given now.
1529
01:05:56,760 --> 01:06:00,600
Teachers listing, again, for the 99 percenters,
1530
01:06:00,600 --> 01:06:01,960
you need to be flexible.
1531
01:06:01,960 --> 01:06:05,880
You need to have your students have some autonomy
1532
01:06:05,880 --> 01:06:07,400
in what they're learning.
1533
01:06:07,400 --> 01:06:10,040
You need to, as much as you can,
1534
01:06:10,040 --> 01:06:12,040
bring in some of these concepts
1535
01:06:12,040 --> 01:06:13,560
that the students are listening to.
1536
01:06:13,560 --> 01:06:16,280
So can you add elements of popular styles
1537
01:06:16,280 --> 01:06:19,280
and things into lessons without sort of groaning
1538
01:06:19,280 --> 01:06:21,960
and making it like the five minutes at the end?
1539
01:06:21,960 --> 01:06:25,240
Because if you haven't already sort of picked this up
1540
01:06:25,240 --> 01:06:29,840
from what I've said, I'm very, a very big believer
1541
01:06:29,840 --> 01:06:33,800
in the power of using creative things,
1542
01:06:33,800 --> 01:06:38,640
popular styles, pop music to teach fundamentals of music.
1543
01:06:38,640 --> 01:06:40,880
This isn't the junk food of music lessons.
1544
01:06:41,840 --> 01:06:43,640
Yes, classical music is important.
1545
01:06:43,640 --> 01:06:45,000
I love playing classical music
1546
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:48,040
and I love teaching classical music, 100 percent.
1547
01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:49,960
But I tell you what, a student will learn more
1548
01:06:49,960 --> 01:06:51,760
about harmony and chord progressions
1549
01:06:51,760 --> 01:06:53,600
through an Ed Sheeran song
1550
01:06:53,600 --> 01:06:55,840
than they will through a Beethoven sonata
1551
01:06:55,840 --> 01:06:56,660
or something like that.
1552
01:06:56,660 --> 01:06:57,500
It's too complex.
1553
01:06:57,500 --> 01:06:59,080
We need to use some simple music.
1554
01:06:59,080 --> 01:07:00,640
And yeah, maybe it's only got four chords.
1555
01:07:00,640 --> 01:07:01,480
That's okay.
1556
01:07:01,480 --> 01:07:04,280
That's actually really good teaching point.
1557
01:07:04,280 --> 01:07:08,200
So I have a course and a program,
1558
01:07:08,200 --> 01:07:10,720
another framework called Four Chord Composing,
1559
01:07:10,720 --> 01:07:13,160
which I highly recommend.
1560
01:07:13,160 --> 01:07:15,400
Anyone listening can try it out.
1561
01:07:15,400 --> 01:07:19,160
You can try it out for free, topmusic.co slash chords.
1562
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:20,520
Check it out, try it out.
1563
01:07:20,520 --> 01:07:23,120
These are just, this is part of being a modern studio
1564
01:07:23,120 --> 01:07:25,520
that you do bring in these elements of new music.
1565
01:07:25,520 --> 01:07:29,120
And it doesn't matter if you don't listen to it yourself.
1566
01:07:29,120 --> 01:07:30,040
That's what YouTube's for.
1567
01:07:30,040 --> 01:07:31,720
Jump on it with your student.
1568
01:07:31,720 --> 01:07:32,720
Go and explore it.
1569
01:07:33,640 --> 01:07:35,160
YouTube, let's talk about YouTube for a second.
1570
01:07:35,160 --> 01:07:36,000
You can.
1571
01:07:36,000 --> 01:07:36,840
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
1572
01:07:36,840 --> 01:07:39,220
YouTube is not your enemy.
1573
01:07:39,220 --> 01:07:41,440
YouTube is your friend and needs to be your friend
1574
01:07:41,440 --> 01:07:43,240
because every student is on it.
1575
01:07:43,240 --> 01:07:44,280
And in fact, you know what?
1576
01:07:44,280 --> 01:07:47,520
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid,
1577
01:07:47,520 --> 01:07:50,760
my miss Mac was very open to teaching me things
1578
01:07:50,760 --> 01:07:53,240
that I wanted to learn, even it was too hard for me.
1579
01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:56,360
And, but I still play, mucked around.
1580
01:07:56,360 --> 01:07:59,480
I played stuff on the radio and recorded it on a cassette
1581
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:01,600
and played it back and over and over and tried to play it.
1582
01:08:01,600 --> 01:08:03,560
And I had a synthesizer and I tried making things up.
1583
01:08:03,560 --> 01:08:05,320
Like we all do this.
1584
01:08:05,320 --> 01:08:07,280
Lots of students will do this anyway.
1585
01:08:07,280 --> 01:08:08,120
They'll be on YouTube.
1586
01:08:08,120 --> 01:08:09,800
They'll be teaching themselves stuff.
1587
01:08:09,800 --> 01:08:11,840
So use it, bring it into lessons.
1588
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:13,760
Get them to show you what they're doing.
1589
01:08:13,760 --> 01:08:15,600
Help them improve the fingering
1590
01:08:15,600 --> 01:08:17,720
because it's probably gonna be a mess.
1591
01:08:17,720 --> 01:08:19,700
Help them improve the musicality and the dynamics.
1592
01:08:19,700 --> 01:08:20,960
There's so much you can do.
1593
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:22,320
So that's another element, I think,
1594
01:08:22,320 --> 01:08:25,280
of being a professional studio now.
1595
01:08:26,840 --> 01:08:28,280
Oh, look, there's probably lots more,
1596
01:08:28,280 --> 01:08:30,000
but hopefully that's a few to get started.
1597
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:30,840
Oh, yeah.
1598
01:08:30,840 --> 01:08:31,800
Oh, well, thank you for that.
1599
01:08:31,800 --> 01:08:33,200
Yes.
1600
01:08:33,200 --> 01:08:36,040
I don't necessarily teach Ed Sheeran,
1601
01:08:36,040 --> 01:08:39,440
but I use Taylor Swift, plenty of Taylor Swift.
1602
01:08:39,440 --> 01:08:40,360
Perfect, yes.
1603
01:08:40,360 --> 01:08:42,440
Oh, yes, she's fine with.
1604
01:08:42,440 --> 01:08:44,760
I've just started recording videos
1605
01:08:44,760 --> 01:08:47,960
for me reacting to a pop song
1606
01:08:47,960 --> 01:08:50,800
that has been listed by one of our members
1607
01:08:50,800 --> 01:08:53,680
and then working out how on earth I would teach it.
1608
01:08:53,680 --> 01:08:55,800
And so these are called pop song solutions.
1609
01:08:55,800 --> 01:08:57,800
These are videos inside our membership.
1610
01:08:57,800 --> 01:08:59,760
So people can just sort of scan through
1611
01:08:59,760 --> 01:09:01,680
or just search for, oh crap,
1612
01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:04,600
someone wants to learn Ariana Grande something,
1613
01:09:04,600 --> 01:09:06,080
type it into Top Music Pro.
1614
01:09:06,080 --> 01:09:07,080
Oh, there's Tim teaching it.
1615
01:09:07,080 --> 01:09:08,800
Okay, I've got some ideas.
1616
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:10,320
And that's something that I really enjoy doing.
1617
01:09:10,320 --> 01:09:11,400
I've got to do some more, actually.
1618
01:09:11,400 --> 01:09:13,440
I think we're about time for another batch.
1619
01:09:13,440 --> 01:09:16,120
Okay, I'll make sure to follow.
1620
01:09:16,120 --> 01:09:18,440
Now, so why music education?
1621
01:09:18,440 --> 01:09:23,440
So how does music education contribute to our lives?
1622
01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:26,880
Well, it just enriches everything, doesn't it?
1623
01:09:26,880 --> 01:09:31,800
I mean, imagine the world with all the music gone.
1624
01:09:31,800 --> 01:09:36,800
I mean, and I think students may miss this fact
1625
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:38,480
because they've got headphones in all the time,
1626
01:09:38,480 --> 01:09:40,240
but there's music everywhere,
1627
01:09:40,240 --> 01:09:45,240
behind movies, for advertisements, in shopping centers.
1628
01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:49,360
I mean, music, we're absorbing music all the time.
1629
01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:51,000
And I'm really glad that we are
1630
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:53,800
because it's just such a magical thing.
1631
01:09:53,800 --> 01:09:56,080
And so to, you know, we're in a very lucky position
1632
01:09:56,080 --> 01:09:59,840
to be able to bring this experience to students.
1633
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:01,280
We're really privileged.
1634
01:10:01,280 --> 01:10:03,720
And that's another reason why I want to support teachers
1635
01:10:03,720 --> 01:10:05,600
to do this, because if you have made this choice,
1636
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:07,040
you're not doing it for the money.
1637
01:10:07,040 --> 01:10:08,840
There's no way you're doing it for the love
1638
01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:10,080
and the passion that you have
1639
01:10:10,080 --> 01:10:11,760
and the belief that music can change lives
1640
01:10:11,760 --> 01:10:14,280
and the belief that there is power in music.
1641
01:10:14,280 --> 01:10:16,480
And that's not to even start on the research
1642
01:10:16,480 --> 01:10:20,000
behind music learning, which we like,
1643
01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:21,520
so I was at this conference yesterday
1644
01:10:21,520 --> 01:10:24,120
and one of the speakers, Paul Myatt from Australia,
1645
01:10:24,120 --> 01:10:28,280
who's an amazing teacher and consultant,
1646
01:10:29,720 --> 01:10:32,560
he gave a quote, oh, I wish I could remember it exactly,
1647
01:10:32,560 --> 01:10:36,640
but it was to say the power of music learning.
1648
01:10:36,640 --> 01:10:39,720
So students that learned a musical instrument,
1649
01:10:39,720 --> 01:10:42,400
on average, I'm gonna bungle this,
1650
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:46,840
but on average achieve, you know,
1651
01:10:47,920 --> 01:10:52,600
90% better results or something in exams across the board
1652
01:10:52,600 --> 01:10:53,440
or something.
1653
01:10:53,440 --> 01:10:54,280
I'm not quite right,
1654
01:10:54,280 --> 01:10:56,240
but I hope your listeners will understand.
1655
01:10:56,240 --> 01:10:59,800
The point I'm trying to make is that there is lots
1656
01:10:59,800 --> 01:11:03,920
of research about the power of music learning
1657
01:11:03,920 --> 01:11:06,800
to enrich and strengthen students' abilities
1658
01:11:06,800 --> 01:11:08,040
in other subjects.
1659
01:11:08,040 --> 01:11:11,560
And it teaches resilience and it teaches perseverance
1660
01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:16,560
and it teaches repetition and practice and thinking
1661
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:19,520
and, you know, all so many different areas.
1662
01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:20,880
So yeah.
1663
01:11:20,880 --> 01:11:23,480
What advice do you have for someone starting
1664
01:11:23,480 --> 01:11:25,040
to build a music studio?
1665
01:11:25,040 --> 01:11:26,600
Oh, that's a good question.
1666
01:11:27,560 --> 01:11:30,680
I think when you're first starting,
1667
01:11:31,560 --> 01:11:35,840
you're going to teach just about anybody
1668
01:11:35,840 --> 01:11:37,760
and that's great and you should
1669
01:11:37,760 --> 01:11:38,920
because you're just starting out.
1670
01:11:38,920 --> 01:11:42,040
You're not gonna quite know who you want to teach,
1671
01:11:42,040 --> 01:11:44,120
but over the course of time,
1672
01:11:44,120 --> 01:11:47,720
I want you to start thinking about how you can specialize
1673
01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:50,320
and differentiate yourself from other teachers.
1674
01:11:50,320 --> 01:11:51,160
Who can you be?
1675
01:11:51,160 --> 01:11:52,520
What's gonna be special about you?
1676
01:11:52,520 --> 01:11:54,520
Is it the fact that you do use a particular method
1677
01:11:54,520 --> 01:11:56,320
or approach or backing tracks
1678
01:11:56,320 --> 01:12:00,720
or that you're the best competition preparation winner?
1679
01:12:00,720 --> 01:12:03,440
Or are you the teenage transfer student,
1680
01:12:03,440 --> 01:12:05,160
which is what I was?
1681
01:12:05,160 --> 01:12:06,240
Send me a transfer student.
1682
01:12:06,240 --> 01:12:08,120
That's what I love doing the most.
1683
01:12:09,120 --> 01:12:11,400
So try and start as soon as you can
1684
01:12:11,400 --> 01:12:15,520
when you begin your studio to refine who you like
1685
01:12:15,520 --> 01:12:17,280
and go back to that word authentic.
1686
01:12:17,280 --> 01:12:18,440
What is authentic to you?
1687
01:12:18,440 --> 01:12:23,440
What gives you the most joy in teaching
1688
01:12:23,440 --> 01:12:24,640
and try and work that out
1689
01:12:24,640 --> 01:12:29,640
and then use that as the copy on your website
1690
01:12:30,200 --> 01:12:31,680
and the posts that you do on social media
1691
01:12:31,680 --> 01:12:34,640
to try and attract more of those students to you.
1692
01:12:34,640 --> 01:12:36,520
Make sure you've got a good website.
1693
01:12:36,520 --> 01:12:38,840
Make sure it's modern and up to date and looks great.
1694
01:12:38,840 --> 01:12:40,880
It's got smiling, happy children on there,
1695
01:12:40,880 --> 01:12:43,800
preferably ones that you've taught with their permission
1696
01:12:43,800 --> 01:12:47,600
and that you've got a relatively strong
1697
01:12:47,600 --> 01:12:51,640
relatively structured approach to how you go about teaching
1698
01:12:51,640 --> 01:12:56,320
that you know works and is successful and can be repeated.
1699
01:12:56,320 --> 01:12:59,320
And there's lots of different ways that we all teach.
1700
01:12:59,320 --> 01:13:01,280
There's lots of different resources around it.
1701
01:13:01,280 --> 01:13:04,000
But yes, I think the crucial ones.
1702
01:13:04,000 --> 01:13:06,680
Oh, and I would just say on the business side,
1703
01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:08,480
if you're just starting out,
1704
01:13:08,480 --> 01:13:10,960
make sure you look at what you're doing as a business.
1705
01:13:10,960 --> 01:13:13,080
That means have a separate business account.
1706
01:13:13,080 --> 01:13:18,080
It means thinking business-mindedly in regard to marketing,
1707
01:13:20,360 --> 01:13:21,680
knowing that you're in charge of things.
1708
01:13:21,680 --> 01:13:22,760
You need to make a profit.
1709
01:13:22,760 --> 01:13:25,680
You're not doing this just because it's fun,
1710
01:13:25,680 --> 01:13:27,760
although some people do, of course.
1711
01:13:27,760 --> 01:13:29,040
Most people need to make a profit.
1712
01:13:29,040 --> 01:13:31,200
So think about it as a business
1713
01:13:31,200 --> 01:13:35,440
because you are a business owner and good luck, I say.
1714
01:13:35,440 --> 01:13:36,280
And come and join us
1715
01:13:36,280 --> 01:13:37,720
because we love helping beginner teachers.
1716
01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:39,560
We've got courses, Beginner Teacher Blueprint,
1717
01:13:39,560 --> 01:13:40,960
one of our most popular courses.
1718
01:13:40,960 --> 01:13:43,360
Oh, wow, yes, great.
1719
01:13:43,360 --> 01:13:46,640
Now, any message, advice for young piano students
1720
01:13:46,640 --> 01:13:48,200
and their parents?
1721
01:13:48,200 --> 01:13:49,960
Ooh, okay.
1722
01:13:49,960 --> 01:13:52,160
Yes, stick at it.
1723
01:13:53,480 --> 01:13:54,320
Keep it up.
1724
01:13:55,200 --> 01:13:56,280
I know it's hard.
1725
01:13:56,280 --> 01:14:00,840
I was a bit of a bad student for some of my time.
1726
01:14:00,840 --> 01:14:02,720
If I was enjoying the music I was playing,
1727
01:14:02,720 --> 01:14:04,560
I tended to work really hard on it.
1728
01:14:04,560 --> 01:14:09,560
And so I would say to parents of students,
1729
01:14:09,560 --> 01:14:11,520
try and work with your teacher.
1730
01:14:11,520 --> 01:14:13,960
If they're not the kind of teacher that is flexible
1731
01:14:13,960 --> 01:14:16,240
and has this kind of modern approach,
1732
01:14:16,240 --> 01:14:19,360
then try and encourage them to do some research
1733
01:14:19,360 --> 01:14:21,720
and to look up some of the articles that we supply
1734
01:14:21,720 --> 01:14:26,000
and things to make sure that they're gonna be covering
1735
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:28,720
what your child actually wants, what their goals are.
1736
01:14:28,720 --> 01:14:31,600
Because ultimately a teacher will have a goal in mind.
1737
01:14:31,600 --> 01:14:33,600
The student will have a goal in mind.
1738
01:14:33,600 --> 01:14:35,920
And if there's not crossover and alignment,
1739
01:14:35,920 --> 01:14:38,080
then that's when we have student drop-off.
1740
01:14:38,080 --> 01:14:41,000
So we really have to make sure that there is alignment
1741
01:14:41,000 --> 01:14:43,000
between those two things.
1742
01:14:43,000 --> 01:14:44,680
And parents, I've been a parent.
1743
01:14:44,680 --> 01:14:48,000
I think I'm a bit of a failure as a parent in some ways,
1744
01:14:48,000 --> 01:14:51,640
because both my children have stopped learning music,
1745
01:14:51,640 --> 01:14:52,680
breaks my heart.
1746
01:14:53,680 --> 01:14:57,680
But we know that my younger one is incredibly musical
1747
01:14:57,680 --> 01:15:00,520
and he will pick up any instrument and can play it
1748
01:15:00,520 --> 01:15:02,000
and he can sing and it's really annoying
1749
01:15:02,000 --> 01:15:03,600
because he's really good at all this stuff.
1750
01:15:03,600 --> 01:15:04,840
He doesn't try.
1751
01:15:04,840 --> 01:15:07,880
But the thing I do notice is that he will wander around
1752
01:15:07,880 --> 01:15:10,200
and just pick up a guitar and start playing it for a while.
1753
01:15:10,200 --> 01:15:11,280
So he's not having lessons,
1754
01:15:11,280 --> 01:15:14,040
but he's still musical and enjoying it.
1755
01:15:14,040 --> 01:15:17,360
And so to the parents, I would say, last comment,
1756
01:15:17,360 --> 01:15:18,600
there's gonna be times when your child
1757
01:15:18,600 --> 01:15:22,720
isn't gonna wanna practice and may wanna quit.
1758
01:15:22,720 --> 01:15:26,600
And I can't give you the advice as to which way to go,
1759
01:15:26,600 --> 01:15:29,520
whether you keep pushing them or whether you let them quit.
1760
01:15:29,520 --> 01:15:32,360
It's so hard and I feel for you.
1761
01:15:32,360 --> 01:15:33,600
And I know it's really tricky,
1762
01:15:33,600 --> 01:15:35,800
particularly if you are a musician yourself,
1763
01:15:35,800 --> 01:15:38,800
but hang in there and keep encouraging
1764
01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:43,000
and keep helping the teacher as much as you can
1765
01:15:43,000 --> 01:15:44,840
to keep your child engaged.
1766
01:15:44,840 --> 01:15:47,200
Yes, without mom and dad,
1767
01:15:47,200 --> 01:15:50,000
teachers cannot do by ourselves.
1768
01:15:50,000 --> 01:15:52,320
It's definitely a triangle.
1769
01:15:52,320 --> 01:15:53,160
Oh, definitely.
1770
01:15:53,160 --> 01:15:54,000
Well, thank you.
1771
01:15:54,000 --> 01:15:55,960
So for those of who are listening,
1772
01:15:55,960 --> 01:15:57,800
so Tim has a book,
1773
01:15:57,800 --> 01:16:02,800
No Book Beginners available on everywhere, Amazon, Kindle.
1774
01:16:02,800 --> 01:16:04,960
Amazon, Kindle.
1775
01:16:04,960 --> 01:16:06,720
And if you want the,
1776
01:16:06,720 --> 01:16:09,600
you can grab a download of it if you prefer a PDF
1777
01:16:09,600 --> 01:16:11,320
and you just wanna flip through it on your iPad or something,
1778
01:16:11,320 --> 01:16:13,920
you can get that at topmusic.co slash book.
1779
01:16:13,920 --> 01:16:16,480
And if you grab that, you can also get the audio book.
1780
01:16:16,480 --> 01:16:18,720
So I have recorded the full audio book as well.
1781
01:16:18,720 --> 01:16:19,960
Oh my goodness.
1782
01:16:19,960 --> 01:16:20,800
If you're listening.
1783
01:16:20,800 --> 01:16:23,800
So that's all on the website or yes, as you said,
1784
01:16:23,800 --> 01:16:26,640
Amazon for Kindle or paperback.
1785
01:16:26,640 --> 01:16:27,480
Great.
1786
01:16:27,480 --> 01:16:29,040
And then also Tim's podcast.
1787
01:16:29,040 --> 01:16:31,560
Well, it used to be the integrated music teaching podcast,
1788
01:16:31,560 --> 01:16:33,480
but now it's the piano.
1789
01:16:33,480 --> 01:16:34,960
The top music piano podcast.
1790
01:16:34,960 --> 01:16:37,040
So search for the top music piano podcast.
1791
01:16:37,040 --> 01:16:37,880
Great.
1792
01:16:37,880 --> 01:16:41,600
And also of course, topmusic.co
1793
01:16:41,600 --> 01:16:45,240
to learn more about Tim's business and community.
1794
01:16:45,240 --> 01:16:48,720
So this has been a really fun inspiring conversation Tim.
1795
01:16:48,720 --> 01:16:50,200
So, but before I let you go,
1796
01:16:50,200 --> 01:16:53,080
we have to do this TPP rapid fire questions.
1797
01:16:53,080 --> 01:16:53,920
It's a ritual.
1798
01:16:53,920 --> 01:16:54,760
Oh no.
1799
01:16:54,760 --> 01:16:55,600
You have to get there.
1800
01:16:55,600 --> 01:16:56,440
Oh yes.
1801
01:16:56,440 --> 01:17:00,120
Oh, and these are actually really silly,
1802
01:17:00,120 --> 01:17:01,560
but tough questions.
1803
01:17:01,560 --> 01:17:02,480
So get ready.
1804
01:17:02,480 --> 01:17:04,360
So we'll start with something easy.
1805
01:17:04,360 --> 01:17:07,920
So level one, what is your comfort food?
1806
01:17:07,920 --> 01:17:09,720
Roast mom's roast chicken.
1807
01:17:09,720 --> 01:17:11,160
How do you like your coffee?
1808
01:17:11,160 --> 01:17:13,480
Strong cappuccino.
1809
01:17:13,480 --> 01:17:15,080
So with some milk.
1810
01:17:15,080 --> 01:17:16,200
Cats or dogs?
1811
01:17:16,200 --> 01:17:17,600
Cats, I've got two.
1812
01:17:17,600 --> 01:17:19,320
Oh, how sweet.
1813
01:17:19,320 --> 01:17:20,800
Sunrise or sunset?
1814
01:17:20,800 --> 01:17:23,880
Oh, I'm a morning person.
1815
01:17:23,880 --> 01:17:25,440
So sunrise, I think.
1816
01:17:25,440 --> 01:17:26,280
Okay.
1817
01:17:26,280 --> 01:17:27,120
Summer or winter?
1818
01:17:27,120 --> 01:17:28,880
Definitely summer.
1819
01:17:28,880 --> 01:17:30,360
Paper book or ebook?
1820
01:17:30,360 --> 01:17:34,120
Ooh, ebook, I think, yeah.
1821
01:17:34,120 --> 01:17:34,960
Okay.
1822
01:17:34,960 --> 01:17:36,480
Now level two.
1823
01:17:36,480 --> 01:17:37,760
Oh gosh.
1824
01:17:37,760 --> 01:17:40,360
What skill have you always wanted to learn,
1825
01:17:40,360 --> 01:17:42,200
but haven't had a chance to?
1826
01:17:42,200 --> 01:17:44,040
Easy one, helicopter pilot.
1827
01:17:44,040 --> 01:17:45,680
I've had like two first lessons
1828
01:17:45,680 --> 01:17:46,960
and I've never got any further
1829
01:17:46,960 --> 01:17:49,160
because it's too expensive.
1830
01:17:49,160 --> 01:17:51,040
Well, you know, maybe you'll-
1831
01:17:51,040 --> 01:17:52,720
One day, I'm gonna do it.
1832
01:17:52,720 --> 01:17:53,920
Yep, I will.
1833
01:17:53,920 --> 01:17:54,760
Okay.
1834
01:17:54,760 --> 01:17:59,520
What is your word of words to live by?
1835
01:17:59,520 --> 01:18:01,720
Try anything once.
1836
01:18:01,720 --> 01:18:03,280
What is the most important quality
1837
01:18:03,280 --> 01:18:04,880
you look for in other people?
1838
01:18:04,880 --> 01:18:06,200
Kindness.
1839
01:18:06,200 --> 01:18:11,200
And name three people who inspire you, living or dead.
1840
01:18:11,240 --> 01:18:12,080
Okay.
1841
01:18:13,080 --> 01:18:15,360
My parents, most definitely.
1842
01:18:16,360 --> 01:18:17,840
My husband, David.
1843
01:18:17,840 --> 01:18:19,760
And I'm gonna choose a business person
1844
01:18:19,760 --> 01:18:21,920
because my whole business started
1845
01:18:21,920 --> 01:18:23,320
on the back of one book,
1846
01:18:23,320 --> 01:18:26,920
which was a book called.com secrets
1847
01:18:26,920 --> 01:18:29,120
by a guy called Russell Brunson,
1848
01:18:29,120 --> 01:18:30,520
who some of your listeners may know
1849
01:18:30,520 --> 01:18:34,760
is huge in internet marketing circles.
1850
01:18:34,760 --> 01:18:36,440
And he, without his book,
1851
01:18:36,440 --> 01:18:38,880
I'm not sure I would have got where I am.
1852
01:18:38,880 --> 01:18:41,840
Now name one piece in your current playlist.
1853
01:18:41,840 --> 01:18:42,720
Ooh, okay.
1854
01:18:42,720 --> 01:18:45,040
That's easy because it's on my stand.
1855
01:18:46,520 --> 01:18:47,360
Which one I'll choose.
1856
01:18:47,360 --> 01:18:54,360
I'll choose the fantasy in F minor by Chopin.
1857
01:18:54,400 --> 01:18:57,880
Now level three, two more questions to go.
1858
01:18:57,880 --> 01:19:00,360
So I'm getting scared now.
1859
01:19:00,360 --> 01:19:02,320
If you could meet your future self,
1860
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:05,160
what question would you ask?
1861
01:19:05,160 --> 01:19:09,520
I would ask, oh my gosh, I really don't know.
1862
01:19:09,520 --> 01:19:11,440
Cause I was thinking like,
1863
01:19:11,440 --> 01:19:14,880
I would ask how do you feel you lived your life?
1864
01:19:15,680 --> 01:19:17,040
And I'd like to think that, yes,
1865
01:19:17,040 --> 01:19:19,240
I've had an impact and I've left a legacy.
1866
01:19:20,440 --> 01:19:23,160
No, maybe that's probably the thing that comes to mind.
1867
01:19:23,160 --> 01:19:24,000
Great.
1868
01:19:24,000 --> 01:19:25,720
What a wonderful, great answer.
1869
01:19:25,720 --> 01:19:27,440
Last question, fill in the blank.
1870
01:19:27,440 --> 01:19:28,680
Music is blank.
1871
01:19:29,840 --> 01:19:32,160
Could be so many things, couldn't it?
1872
01:19:32,160 --> 01:19:34,960
Well, first thing that came to my mind is music is life.
1873
01:19:34,960 --> 01:19:37,040
That's like the favorite answers.
1874
01:19:37,040 --> 01:19:37,880
Is it?
1875
01:19:37,880 --> 01:19:38,720
Yeah.
1876
01:19:40,360 --> 01:19:41,520
Well, you know what?
1877
01:19:41,520 --> 01:19:44,440
With the book we get in front of you, music is fun.
1878
01:19:44,440 --> 01:19:45,280
Music is fun.
1879
01:19:45,280 --> 01:19:46,280
Oh, indeed.
1880
01:19:46,280 --> 01:19:47,120
Great.
1881
01:19:47,120 --> 01:19:49,200
That's that perfect answer.
1882
01:19:49,200 --> 01:19:51,920
So that concludes this episode of the PianoPod.
1883
01:19:51,920 --> 01:19:54,080
Thank you, Tim, for joining my show today
1884
01:19:54,080 --> 01:19:56,640
and sharing your stories, insights and expertise.
1885
01:19:56,640 --> 01:19:58,560
So for the PianoPod listeners and viewers,
1886
01:19:58,560 --> 01:20:01,720
please visit topmusic.co to learn more
1887
01:20:01,720 --> 01:20:03,400
about his community and courses
1888
01:20:03,400 --> 01:20:08,160
and check out his insightful resource and resourceful podcast.
1889
01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:10,080
And of course you can purchase his book
1890
01:20:10,080 --> 01:20:11,480
on his website as well.
1891
01:20:11,480 --> 01:20:13,760
So all the links are listed in the show notes.
1892
01:20:13,760 --> 01:20:15,440
Thank you to my wonderful audience fans
1893
01:20:15,440 --> 01:20:16,360
for tuning in today.
1894
01:20:16,360 --> 01:20:17,840
If you enjoyed today's episode,
1895
01:20:17,840 --> 01:20:19,000
please rate and review it
1896
01:20:19,000 --> 01:20:21,280
on whatever podcast platform you use.
1897
01:20:21,280 --> 01:20:22,840
Remember to hit the thumbs up button
1898
01:20:22,840 --> 01:20:24,560
and subscribe to my YouTube channel
1899
01:20:24,560 --> 01:20:27,280
if you are watching this episode on YouTube.
1900
01:20:27,280 --> 01:20:31,040
Follow TPP on social media to get the latest piano news.
1901
01:20:31,040 --> 01:20:34,200
I will see you for the next episode of the PianoPod.
1902
01:20:34,200 --> 01:20:35,240
Thank you, Tim.
1903
01:20:35,240 --> 01:20:36,080
Bye everyone.
1904
01:20:36,080 --> 01:20:36,900
Thank you so much, Ikimi.
1905
01:20:36,900 --> 01:20:37,740
Bye bye everyone.
1906
01:20:37,740 --> 01:20:38,580
Thank you.
1907
01:20:38,580 --> 01:20:49,200
Fei.