Critical Thinking: “What Did You Like About That?”

Upon hearing a student play a piece or passage, asking a them what they like about it teaches them several important concepts which, in time, will lead to independent practice and objective evaluation of their own playing. This is my question in every lesson to encourage young students (and model the behavior for their parents) to listen to their own playing and begin the journey of teaching themselves to practice. Rather than always focusing on what was wrong, something inherent in our nature, this question allows them to explore the beautiful qualities of their playing along with those that may need improvement.

Instead of focusing only on the fact that the note wasn’t quite right, but also noticing how the bow stayed in the rosin highway, the student begins to learn how to listen and evaluate their own playing.

Examples:

• Perhaps they got all the way through the piece for the first time without stopping – mistakes and all. This is something to celebrate!
• Perhaps they opened up their bow arm elbow instead of playing from the shoulder – hooray!

Every passage should have something to celebrate along with something to work on.