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She Taught ME How to Teach

Writer: Diane HidyDiane Hidy
Aug 1, 20202 min read

I finished my Master's Degree at Peabody Conservatory and started a concert career. I participated in big international competitions like the Van Cliburn Competition in Texas and the Artur Rubenstein in Israel. I won the American Pianists Association Fellowship. I played a lot of concerts: solo recitals, chamber music and concertos.


I loved it, I really did.

At least the playing part. But I didn't love traveling by myself. It was too lonely for me, so I started teaching to supplement my concert income.

That's when I got lucky. I began by working as an assistant to a much more experienced teacher. She had more students than she could possibly teach and I had exactly one I'd gotten on my own. At the time I thought, stupidly, that I was doing her a favor by bringing the prestige of my brilliance to her little studio. I couldn't have been more mistaken.

It was she who did me the favor. She taught me how to teach. She taught me how to run a business. She taught me how to deal with tricky piano parents. She showed me that teaching children can be rewarding - both financially and emotionally. She taught me that using a piano method could make my life easier and my teaching more organized. 

I remember one day she was having a particularly rough day so I offered to teach her afternoon students for her.

"Oh NO!" she replied. "Those kids are going to make me feel so much better!"


I think of her every time I'm having a rough day and remember how much better I'll feel after teaching.


I love this picture of her chatting with the famous composer, Jake Heggie, at a party.

I eventually moved from my studio apartment into a house with a big deck that I soon covered with pots of blooming flowers. I stopped teaching in her studio because I had plenty of my own students. I started to create a world of music in my own studio. I built fires in the fireplace on rainy afternoons to make my studio so comfy that people didn't want to leave. (I still do that.)


Now I live in a big house, still with lots of pots of flowers blooming. 


In a twist of fate, it turns out the biggest favor Carol ever did was having a son who has become my closest friend and collaborator, Keith Snell. Thanks, Carol. We couldn't have done it without you.

Who helped you get started?

Are you a new teacher? Could you find a more experienced teacher to help you get started?

Is there someone out there who needs your help to get on the path to being a great teacher?

 
 
 

Comments

© 2019 by Diane Hidy

You'll wonder how you ever taught without this 32-page book. I made these cards for my students to give them plenty of opportunities to practice all the different skills they were acquiring. This series starts with the simplest possible rhythmic patterns on the Landmark notes Middle C, Bass F and Treble G. Each set becomes incrementally more difficult.

Here are a few of the many different ways to use these cards:

  • Encourage students to write in their own fingering. This paves the way for making true fingering choices later on

  • Circle the thirds before starting to read the flashcards. This helps the student focus on the difference between steps and skips.

  • Help your student write in their own staccatos and slurs. Try them out. Talk to them about why they do or don't like them. 

  • Help the student add dynamics and phrase marks.

  • Print these in their entirety and use them as a book.

  • Print them on heavy paper or card stock and cut them into separate cards. Trying sending home a set with a student and ask them to become proficient with each one. At the next lesson, mix them up and play them in random order. It’s a nice combination of preparation and reading.

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