Is Kendrick Lamar handy with a hammer?

How’s Saoirse Ronan’s volleyball serve?

Sure, David McCullough is a revered writer, but can he write funny tweets?

We really don’t care. These greats are valued for their contributions to our culture — we don’t need them to be good at everything.

Read More

The mother of a three-year-old revealed in conversation why she didn’t want to teach letters and numbers to her child.

“I don’t want him to be bored in preschool,” she said.

Grateful to have the opportunity and invitation to educate, I suggested that she teach her child without reservation, just as she had done for his first three years. “You are his first and best teacher,” I said.

Read More

Because I began my career as a music teacher, I’m sensitive to pressure from parents to make learning “fun.”

Learning an instrument (or anything) can be enjoyable, satisfying, and invigorating. It can also be frustrating, overwhelming, and exhausting, even when it’s going well and you love what you’re doing.

Yes, learning can be fun, too. But it isn’t inherently fun, and fun is not the goal.

To try to make things fun for kids all the time is sort of like feeding them sweet snacks constantly. It doesn’t allow them to develop a taste for anything else. And yet, even young children have a surprising capacity to appreciate other flavors.

Read More

I wrote yesterday about my reluctance to push a student through developmentally inappropriate material on a too-fast timeline. There is a flip side, however. Learning is not linear, and it’s important to recognize when a student is actually ready to take a leap.

Here’s the uncomfortable part: It may be before you’re ready, and they may leap right over you.

Read More

Every aspiring classical pianist wants to learn to play Beethoven’s “Für Elise.” Some two hundred years after its composition, it’s still irresistible. And the good news is that the well-known theme is very simple. The harmony consists of only four chords, meaning that it can be taught by rote. The hands don’t play together very much — they just overlap. In other words, you can show someone how to play it even if they don’t read music and don’t have a lot of experience.

What many people don’t realize is that “Für Elise” has two other themes that are lesser known than the iconic A-section. These parts are not for beginners.

Read More