“Why Music Lessons Should Be Enjoyable” – by Dr. Jon Hynes

My road as a pianist is unusual. It’s interesting because you might not imagine how unlikely it is.

I was not born with access to many piano teachers. I was born in the second poorest state of the Union. My mom was my first piano teacher. She taught me to play several things by ear. I was four and could barely read, so playing by ear was a good way to introduce me to piano. She was an accomplished pianist and wanted to share her love of music. She taught piano at home. When I heard her students, I told myself, “I’m going to play that someday.”

By age five, I didn’t understand how it would work out, but I knew that my future would include piano. What is extraordinary is the way it happened.

As a Senior in high school, I had applied to Juilliard, but, at the last minute, my dad lost his job; I could no longer afford to go there. The University of Arkansas heard of me and offered a full ride. The man who became my new teacher went on to be an incredibly successful professor and performer. He has many prizewinning students, including me. He is now a professor at Eastman, Alan Chow. I was not happy about the way that Juilliard worked out. What I did not know at the time is that it is the teacher, not the school, that makes the difference.

In my Junior year at U of A, I had the opportunity to study at the Moscow Conservatory for a summer. It was a different teaching style. Quite a bit firmer, but kind. Kind enough. After graduation from U of A, I received a Rotary International Scholarship to study abroad in Paris, France. I did not understand the teaching mentality at all. I’m sure that not every teacher in France teaches this way, but my world-famous teacher of two years at the Paris Conservatory taught with the idea that “insults will make you try harder.” For those two years, I was nearly destroyed but for a few compliments from him.

When I arrived at Eastman, something miraculous happened. I ended up studying with Natalya Antonova. I had met her two years earlier when I was in Russia. When I entered the studio, she looked at me and saw immediately that I was not the same. I was broken.

I was on the verge of quitting. I showed up only because of a huge scholarship. I had no plan. I wanted to leave.

The amazing part is that I stayed. She saw the books that I was holding and said, “I love this piece you are playing. Open the books and see how wonderful it is.” Then she proceeded to share details I had never known and melodies I had never heard. That was the first day in two years that I was interested in anything anyone had to say about music.

The following year I became her assistant and went on to complete my doctorate with her. I have performed with symphony orchestras, won international competitions, performed throughout the world as a soloist . . . but my greatest joy is teaching.

There are two kinds of teaching. One centers around enjoyment; the other centers around a competitive goal. What is unusual about my studio is that I understand both viewpoints. I have students who want to improve but have no ambition whatsoever to major in music. I also have students who take lessons so seriously as to major in Piano, get Master’s degrees, Doctoral degrees, and win international competitions.

I work with anyone who desires to learn. My goal is to make every lesson enjoyable. When the priority of a lesson is about sharing what is great, everybody wins.