Jazz Piano "Therapy" for Adult Students

One of the student types I've attracted over the years is the adult student looking to explore jazz and improvisation.  Perhaps their childhood teacher knew nothing about it.  One time I was teaching a woman who just couldn't get the sight-reading thing mastered.  Every lesson had been a struggle in the past.  But she truly loved music.  A former dancer, she suffered from miserable back pain and life troubles in general.  Simply put, she was unhappy.  I knew these lessons were possibly self-therapy for her.  But the traditional approach wasn't working.  As I find with many students, reading two staves of music is a burdensome chore that stifles their natural musical ability.  So I switched my approach with this student.

One day I asked her to improvise with the C pentatonic scale while I played a swing beat on my keyboard and improvised a 7th chord accompaniment.  I will never forget how transformative this experience was.  The sullen face she usually wore was replaced with a radiant smile.  Her typically rigid body began to bounce freely to the music.  She clearly felt the rhythm of the music, and her improvisations were good!  At the end of the exercise, she was talking rapidly and excitedly:

"That was so much fun, Jennifer!  Oh my!  Oh my!  I've never had so much fun in my whole life!  I've never done anything like this.  Do you think we can do more of this?  I love it!"

She went on raving about the experience for the rest of the lesson.  It was as if I'd given her a magic potion.  She couldn't sit still and couldn't stop talking.  Joy had replaced despondency and I pondered over this transformation for several days.  What was it about that experience that gave her more fun that she had ever had?

I think it was the freedom she found in improvisation.  She could play the notes of her heart.  Her fingers didn't need to get it right, or be mistake-free.  She didn't feel the judgment of a teacher; she didn't feel wrongness and inadequacy, only joy in expression.  She just needed to be herself and let her heart dance to the music.

The man in this article claims that jazz piano lessons cured his mental illness:  http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-04/how-learning-play-jazz-piano-kept-me-sane.

I would encourage everyone considering adult piano lessons (especially jazz) to read this.  I have no doubt that music study was what cured his illness.

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If you're interested in exploring jazz piano as an adult beginner or a returning adult student with classical training, I specialize in making jazz easy and joyful.  And I also teach popular, classic rock, and movie themes from a jazz approach.  Call 571-439-0136, or visit www.musicbyjennifer.net for more information.