Lessons About Teaching

Practical ideas to move your teaching forward from my mentors and what my teachers taught me about teaching.

When I think about my own teachers, I realize that what they gave me extends far beyond notes, technique, or repertoire. They taught me how to listen, how to notice, and how to stay awake inside the music — and inside myself.

Europeana

Over time, these lessons became the foundation of my own teaching. They shaped not just how I work at the piano, but how I show up for my students.

Presence Is the First Lesson

Before anything else, my teachers taught me to be present.

Roy McAllister showed me that wonder is not something we outgrow. His curiosity about sound — even late in life — taught me that attention itself is a form of devotion. I learned that teaching begins with listening, not correcting. With truly hearing what a student is offering, moment by moment.

Presence is what allows learning to happen. Without it, even the best instruction falls flat.

Sound Is a Living Thing

Daniel Ericourt taught me to think of music as dimensional — something that lives in space, color, and motion. Sound, in his studio, was never flat or fixed. It breathed.

As a teacher, this became a guiding principle. I learned to help students imagine sound before producing it, to shape it deliberately, and to understand that tone is not an accident — it is a choice.

Music comes alive when students realize they are building something in real time.

Technique Serves Expression

From Deborah Sobol, I learned discipline — but never for its own sake. Technique, in her world, existed only to serve expression. Every scale, every exercise, every careful repetition pointed toward clarity and meaning.

She also taught me how to practice — and how to love practicing. That gift has echoed through every student I’ve taught. When practice becomes an act of curiosity rather than obligation, something fundamental shifts.

Teaching, at its best, helps students learn how to teach themselves.

Think Big — Then Break It Down

Abbey Simon taught me how to think at scale. How to confront large, complex musical problems without fear. He showed me that mastery comes not from avoiding difficulty, but from engaging it intelligently — breaking things down, solving puzzles, and trusting the process.

This approach became central to my teaching. Students don’t need everything made easy; they need tools, perspective, and encouragement to tackle the work themselves.

Respect grows when students are trusted with real challenges.

Carrying the Line Forward

Over time, I realized that teaching is not about replication. It’s about transmission. Each generation receives something, transforms it, and passes it on — changed, but intact.

I don’t teach the way my teachers taught. I couldn’t — and shouldn’t. But I carry their values with me: curiosity, rigor, generosity, and movement.

Abbey Simon’s words still ring in my ears: “Keep moving, or they’ll bury you.”

Teaching, like music, is a living art. It asks us to remain in motion — learning, listening, growing. My hope is that, in some small way, I can offer my students what my teachers so generously gave me: a path forward, and the courage to walk it.

–Rick Ferguson