Learning worth sharing
Tell us how. Then play it.
A Music Talk is like a TED Talk, for young pianists. In five minutes or less, tell the story of how you learned a piece: what was hard, what you tried, and what finally worked. Then play it for us, and take questions.
- Date
- Saturday, November 14
- Sessions
- 1:00, 1:45 and 2:30 PM40 minutes each, up to 4 students
- Place
- Oclef Evergreen3623 Cobbert Drive, San Jose, CA 95148
How a Music Talk goes
Tell. Play. Take questions.
Tell
The story of how you learned your piece. Five minutes or less.
Play
Then play it. Now everyone knows what to listen for.
Take questions
From the audience. It's a talk, not a test.
For students
You're the expert on how you learned it.
Nobody knows how you learned this piece better than you do. The hard part isn't something to hide: it's the best part of your talk.
- Which bar fought back the most?
- What did you practise slowly, and why?
- Where did you keep making the same mistake?
- What would you tell your younger self?
Plan your talk in five sentences
- The piece I'll play is
- The hardest part was
- First I tried
- What finally worked was
- When I play it, listen for
Finish each one in your own words. That's a whole talk.
Name your talk
A good title is a promise.
Try one like these, or make your own.
- A Music TalkThe left hand that wouldn't listenby you
- A Music TalkHow slow made me fastby you
- A Music TalkHow practicing eyes closed saved meby you
- A Music TalkThe bar I shouldn't have played a hundred timesby you
Slides
Welcome, never required.
Add them from your private link any time before your session begins, and the host will have them ready. Sign up now and add slides later.
- PDFLooks the same on every screen. Up to 50 MB.
- PowerPointA .pptx or .ppt file. Up to 50 MB.
- Google SlidesA link, shared so anyone with the link can view.
For grown-ups
Saying how you learned something is how you learn it.
Explaining it helps it stick.
Eighth graders asked to explain a text to themselves, line by line, understood it more deeply than classmates who read it twice.
Chi and colleagues, Cognitive Science, 1994Teaching it helps it last.
A week later, students who had taught a lesson remembered it better than students who had only prepared to teach it.
Fiorella and Mayer, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 2013Naming the hard part is what experts do.
Professional musicians could say what was hard in their playing and choose how to practise it. Students are still building that habit.
Hallam, British Journal of Music Education, 2001
How to help at home
- Ask, don't fix. “What was the hardest bar this week?” is the start of a talk.
- Be the first audience. Let them give the talk at dinner, and ask one real question.
- Praise the strategy, not the talent. “Slowing down really worked” beats “You're so talented.” Children praised for being smart enjoyed hard problems less than those praised for their effort (Mueller and Dweck, 1998).
Sign up
Save a seat
12 seats left on Saturday, November 14. A seat is one student; siblings can share a session. Already signed up? Find your signup.
Questions
Good to know
Does my child need slides?
No. Plenty of talks have none. If slides help, add a PDF, a PowerPoint or a Google Slides link from your private link before your session.
Can siblings come to the same session?
Yes. Each student takes one of the session's 4 seats, and one signup can hold up to four students.
What if my child is shy, or very young?
Five minutes is the most, not the least: a short, true talk is a good talk. The five sentence starters above are enough for a whole one.
Can we change our talk, or the time?
Yes, from your private link, until the end of the day before. Slides can change until your session begins. After that, write to info@oclef.com.
We lost our private link.
Find your signup with the email you signed up with and your name or your student's.
Does it count toward the Resonance Medal?
Yes. Music Talks are one of the medal's five kinds of stage. See how the medal works.