At the end of last week’s show, I mentioned an article by Michael Jensen, professor at Harvard Business School, titled “Integrity: Without it Nothing Works.” I thought it was a great topic for a complete show in itself so here we are.
You might hear people say that studying piano teaches children so much more than music. You’ve probably heard me say that. One of my tenth episodes talked about the non-musical benefits of studying the piano. In PPP100 I listed things like listening, problem solving, and coordination. All great things.
Today, let’s talk about another valuable non-musical concept: INTEGRITY.
What does integrity mean to you? I think we can all remember occasions when we encountered someone who lacked integrity. Just this past week I received an email that almost tricked me into a scam. The person who created that email and website may not be operating completely illegally but they certainly lack integrity. (If you have a suggestion for how I can report them to a proper authority, please send me an email.)
Listen to the full episode here
A dictionary scavenger hunt
As I was doing a word study on integrity, I chased a few rabbits:
integrity “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”, “the state of being whole and undivided.”
integer “whole number” Latin in-tangere “to touch” “intact, whole”
integrate “Combine one thing with another so they become whole.” “A proactive piano parent helps their piano kid integrate piano practice into their daily routine.”
integral “essential, fundamental” “Practice is an integral part of playing the piano.”
Integrity in inanimate objects
Think of an old building or automobile. If the foundation is falling apart and the roof is sagging, you could say the house lacks integrity. If the car starts sometimes or dies while driving, it isn’t very reliable. You cannot depend on it to get you from one place to the next. The car lacks integrity.
Integrity is vital for parents
Michael Jensen compares integrity to gravity. “Like the law of gravity, the law of integrity just is, and if you violate the law of integrity as we define it you get hurt just as if you try to violate the law of gravity with no safety device.”
Piano parent, if you violate the law of integrity with your children, they will learn that you cannot be depended on. Worse, they will follow in your footsteps and dishonor their word as well.
Mean what you say and do it.
All that to say this. Piano kids practice integrity when they honor their word to themselves and their piano teacher when they spend time working on their piano homework each week. They won’t always feel like practicing but they must do it, if only to practice the act of keeping their word.
Practice Integrity in many aspects
Not only do our piano kids need to practice being integrous, their very practice at the piano needs to have integrity.
* How’s their practice environment? Is there enough light? Is the piano in tune? Is the bench covered with backpacks and jackets? Set up their work area around the piano for the best possible outcome.
* Like that old house or car, if they don’t keep up with the skills they are learning, they will become unreliable. Students need to practice new pieces and follow their teacher’s assignments, yes. But they also need to maintain pieces they’ve learned. Encourage your piano kid to keep a piano playlist of pieces they could perform at a moment’s notice.
* How is your integrity with their piano teacher? Are you getting them to their lessons on time and prepared with all their materials? Are you paying your teacher before tuition is due? If your teacher is so busy tracking down payments, how much time are they spending preparing for your child’s piano study this year?
*We expect integrity from our teachers, let’s make that easy for them.
Final Thoughts
When I started planning this episode, I was only thinking about helping our piano kids follow through on their commitment and being true to their word. While that is true, I’ve learned to much more about integrity and how important it is in every relationship we have.
As for me, I’m off to practice integrity for my piano students and follow through with some plans I’ve been making for them. After that, I’ve got some good plans for next week’s show. I’m looking forward to seeing you then!
Keep listening to the outro for details about the practice incentive I’m doing with my students this month to help them practice integrity.
Thanks for listening!
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