Do you remember the movie, Groundhog Day? In this wonderful movie, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) relives the same day - Groundhog Day, over and over and over again. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning and it is once again Groundhog Day. This continues until he decides to learn and grow. Only after he begins focusing his efforts on helping others instead of concentrating on himself does he move forward and awaken to a new day.

Piano Groundhog Day Syndrome (or PGDS) is the term I use for students who want to continue to play the same song or the same few songs over and over instead of moving forward and learning new music.

While all students develop favorite songs that they love to play, others get stuck. For most students, this is a temporary thing, and just represents a beautiful song they have learned from memory. When these students sit down at a piano in a friend's house or at their grandparents', they play their favorite piece to impress their friends and relatives. A lot of students, for example, learn to play Beethoven's Fur Elise, which is a wonderful song. They play it over and over, but they are also willing to move forward and play and enjoy new pieces. A student who truly has PGDS, however, will want to only continue to play their most favorite piece in the whole world, which they have worked very hard to learn! They will want to only keep playing it no matter how much other music is presented to them.

There are three stages of PGDS, which varies from mild to severe.

Mild: A parent brings a music book to their child's piano teacher that contains the parent's or the child's favorite kind of music. They ask the teacher to use this book, which the parent also wants to learn to play. The parent then supports the teacher in their child's lessons and encourages their child to let the teacher use their experience and expertise to guide them on their musical journey. Here the parent is just being human. They are excited about piano and want to share this with their child as well as their favorite style of music. Most of us have a mild case PGDS. Therefore this stage is actually pretty normal.

Moderate: A parent brings a stack of music books to their child's piano teacher and insists that the teacher use these and only these materials. Sometimes this happens because the parent doesn't want to purchase new books. However, the books aren't appropriate to the child's skills and abilities. This puts a huge limitation on what the teacher can accomplish. It is like insisting that a child only check out the same three books from the public library each week. Like using the full library, allowing piano teachers to choose from the full range of materials appropriate for a student avoids PGDS.

Severe: A parent brings an older child to a new studio for lessons because they are not happy with their previous teacher. The parent insists that the new teacher use a specific music book that is inappropriate for the child's skill level. But the parent really likes this book and also wants to play these pieces. Their child has managed, with great difficulty and intense help from the parent, to learn one of the songs in the book. The song is impressive and the student played it in their last recital, and they want to play it again this year, in the new teacher's recital. The student, however, hasn't mastered more basic, foundational techniques that are transferable to all music, and resists learning new material because it is so difficult. This situation creates severe PGDS, a huge impediment to learning.

I Would Never Do Anything that Silly!

Now you may be thinking, "I wouldn't do that!" Probably not, but we all get stuck from time to time. We just can't see it in ourselves because GDS comes with myopia. Like the little groundhog tunneling its way through the ground but running into a rock. We humans can focus intently on a false goal without getting anywhere, ending up with only the illusion of accomplishment. Why does this happen to otherwise rational people? Because we imagine a finish line that isn't really there, and end up wasting a lot of time we could have used wisely.

This is where piano teachers can help, by focusing students on step-by-step growth grounded in positive, long-term goals. In this way kids make true progress, become independent learners, and gain transferable knowledge that lasts a lifetime. So remember, for long-term piano success, stop looking for finish lines and stay away from tunnels!

To learn the best way to share the gift of music with children visit Amazon.com for my Piano Adventure Stories for Children These inspirational Piano Adventure stores for children ages 5 to 11 feature the loveable characters, Mrs. Treble Beary and her passionate, new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Children love following along with Albeart to Mrs. Treble Beary's piano studio in Musical Acres Forest. Here they learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand and appreciate! Piano students laugh and giggle while reading "Little Bear's Musical Garden" and "Little Bear's Piano Goals."

For a wealth of free information and piano music online visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources