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Elton Joel RW2 2'25
With apologies to them both. A rock piano solo without lyrics.
Recording (mp3, 1.9MB)
Elegy RW2 2'25
Many, many parts to weave and balance - needs ensemble skills, even though it's for solo piano.
Recording (mp3, 1.6MB)
Recording (mp3, 1.2MB)
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Snowflakes RW2 2'25Recording (mp3, 0.9MB)
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The Art of the Interview back to magazine homepage
Introduction | Testing Creativity | Verbal Instructions | Swapping chairs
The Practice Snapshot | Concert in 10 minutes | Turnaround Time
Testing Creativity
One of the best ways to stop your job from becoming the same-old-grind is to have students who are able to genuinely surprise you—students who say the unexpected thing, who propose the solution you never considered, and who 
have the knack of ensuring that this week's lesson is entirely unlike last week's.
For that reason, some of the questions I ask in interviews have nothing to do with music at all. Instead ask them to tell me three things that they definitely don't want for their birthday. Or four things they wouldn't expect to find in their fridge at home.
To that second question, some students will say "shoes" or "pencils"—household objects that belong somewhere other than the fridge. Nothing wrong with that. But the really creative students will blow the door off reality completely. I've heard at times:
And one student I remember well:
Now you ask yourself. Who's going to be more fun on the great car trip that is music lessons? The kid whose mind turned the fridge into a Big Top, or the other one who says "honey, because we keep honey in the cupboard, not the fridge, well, usually anyway, I think"
Doesn't really matter what the question is, as long as it's open ended, and something they are unlikely to have considered in advance. Float the scenario—you'll learn a lot about the person in front of you from how they respond.