My jaw drops as my husband shows me the 60 Minutes interview of the Payam Method to teach piano.
Traditionally, says Founder Payam Khastkhodaei, more than 80% of students quit piano after about a year. We’re, like, the complete opposite of that.
My first piano teacher terrified me. Mr. Bogardus’s military approach (with buzz cut to match) meant playing to the strict tick of a metronome, hands arched precisely so, while he wielded his baton. I suffered through lessons and dreaded recitals.
The Payam Method’s priority of joy and creativity inspires kids to fall in love with music and their teachers. Here’s what’s possible:
Payam’s approach is based in this belief that time and effort is only possible if you fall in love with the piano. After, you’ll grow. That’s how these students become award-winning players.
Young kids learn first by muscle memory, hands on keys, which fosters confidence and allows space for their inner music to be embodied. Teachers are former students who develop special mentor relationships with kids and create community.
Look at what love can do.
In my joyless journey, Mom gives up insisting on lessons when I’m 11. I pick up the guitar, teach myself, and stay in love with music. But my heart never fully recovers from leaving piano behind.
Over years, I encourage myself to sit down and improvise on the keyboard, to enjoy the feel of my fingers on the keys. When I’m alone, I love playing a quality, an emotion, or the silence.
The 60 Minutes interview concludes [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4zUV-J6iU8.] Seeing my reaction, my husband grabs my phone and signs me up for lessons when they’re available in Minneapolis.
I knew there was a reason I bought that keyboard, he says.
That is living as music.
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