How To Respond When Your Students Start Crying in Lessons

It's been a while since I made a student cry, yet wanted to share what has and continues to be helpful to me as a voice, piano and acting private talent instructor. I know I've written a blog about this, yet yesterday was very different on how I handled the last two piano lessons yesterday.

Both of the students are learning new piano solos and the First Grader who takes lessons right after school can arrive being "a stinker", as her mom refers to it. We are currently working on CDE in the Bass Clef, where we played a game to identify where the notes are on the staff and piano. I made up a song about "C is on the second space of the Bass Clef", "D is on the third line of the Bass Clef", "E is on the third space of the Bass Clef". I had larger sized 8x10 flash cards, that are great manipulatives. Plus I wrote two short, eight measured songs for her on MuseScore, using Quarter, Half and Whole Notes. After trying to play two meausres the young girl was crying uncontrollably and the mom and I did everything we could to help her. She was able to finish off the pieces and even though she was still upset, all three of us kept our composure. The mom stated that her daughter gets frustrated when she cant catch on to something quickly and all three of us talked about it.

The last lesson yesterday played through the first two lines of a new song called "Waterfall" by Joey Lieber, which is perfect to introduce two Treble Clefs with the right and left hand. She played the excerpt well. I stated explaining about the next two lines of the piece, that the notes moved up one place on the staff and the kid became upset and every big emotion came up. With both girls, I remained calm. I did everything I could to communicate the next section and was finally able to "use words" that the child understood and was able to play the rest of the song successfully

I didn't take the crying or frustration as a personal attack, staying at Base Line.(Which I usually do). Yet what was different was how I responded to the situation: listening, breaking the music apart, taking small steps towards their progress. The reason students cry is not us, they are dealing with life and processing how it works. When they cry, they are showing vulnerability and the fact that they trust us to help them be successful.

I've never claimed to know everything regarding teaching, yet once you have trust, there will be moments of weakness, insecurity, uncertainty. We just have to listen to their concerns and help them process through the whole situation. Just be there for them and listen all the time. Believe me, I'm still learning.

At times I'll find another activity that they are successful at and return back to what we're working on. Yet there are times we "push" through it and watch the growth. What are some of your "tricks" when students cry, with big emotions? I would love to know. Thanks for your support. Blessings.