8 Phrases that Communicate "I'm Listening" to your Piano Students
- Dr. Elizabeth
- Jan 29
- 2 min read
As a piano teacher, fostering a supportive and engaging environment is key to your students’ growth and confidence. One of the most important aspects of teaching is effective communication, which goes beyond mere instruction.
It’s essential to make your students feel heard and understood, as this can significantly enhance their learning experience and help set them up for success! In this blog post, we’ll explore some simple yet impactful phrases that can help you convey your attentiveness and support, creating a more positive atmosphere in your lessons.
One of the best ways to engage with your students and build trust with them is to let them know you appreciate their individual perspectives (even for very young learners), and that you are truly listening to them. This is one of the most powerful ways to establish a positive lesson environment, too!
Don’t get me wrong, the goal isn’t to provide disingenuous comments or just give mechanical responses to fill the lesson time. Students can tell the difference between genuine feedback and artificial praise (especially neurodivergent learners!) and the phrases below are not only incredibly simple, but also designed to tell the student how much you appreciate them sharing their input with you. ->They also establish groundwork for further conversations, encouraging students to continue asking questions and sharing their observations during lessons!
Here are 8 of my favorite ways to respond to students’ ideas or questions to let them know: I’m listening, I hear you, and I appreciate your input and ideas.
“I’ve never thought it of it that way- I love your creativity!”
“I always enjoy hearing your ideas- thank you for sharing.”
“I love the way you think about this topic- your ideas are fantastic.”
“What a great question- thank you for asking!” (or just, “thank you for asking” or “I’m so glad you asked.”)
“You ask such wonderful questions!”
“You are so observant!”
“Great detective skills in discovering ______!”
“You have such a great memory to remember ______!”
Have you used any of these in lessons? If you haven’t, give it a try and let me know how it goes, and comment below which one(s) you want to use!
Thanks for reading and for being in this community!–Elizabeth
*Bonus tip: If you have hyperactive students, students who tend to be easily distracted or have behavior concerns, this is one of the best ways to help establish joint attention and positive behaviors! Isn’t that amazing?
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