190 – Retreat Teacher Talk with Mary, Gail, and Angelin

I can’t believe another year has come and gone and here we are with the next Teacher Talk episode from the annual digital organization retreat I host in my home each summer in Indiana. I know how beloved these episodes are and I couldn’t agree more.

In today’s you’ll hear from the three attendees who joined me this year: Mary Woods, Gail Gebhart, and Angelin Chang. As always, there’s always lots of wisdom and laughter all around.

I’ll apologize up front for a couple of moments where you hear a muffled buzz or knocking sounds. The microphone is quite sensitive to any little touch to the table or vibration of a phone and it’s easy to forget in the moment while recording.

Before we get into the episode, I just wanted to let you know I also published a recap post on the blog as well as a reel on social media. Get the link to both of those in the show notes at PianoPantry.com/podcast/episode190

I also recently published a new freebie on the Piano Pantry blog – it’s a free Canva template you can use for having students vote on a recital theme for the year. Visit the blog for the free download.

And now, let’s hear from Mary, Gail, and Angelin.

Amy: I’m so excited to have you guys here in my studio as always. I love doing these recordings with my retreat attendees. And I would just love for you to start by going around the room and sharing your name with everyone, where you’re from, and just let us know a little bit about yourself.

Mary: I’m Mary Woods, and I’m from Ardmore, Alabama. I have two grown sons, a daughter-in-law a dog, a cat, and my dear husband. And I’ve been teaching piano since 2011, and I also teach a few voice students, and one of my piano students recently asked me to help her with flute. And so I’ve added that in a little bit lately.

Gail: I’m Gail Gebhardt. I’m from Farmington Hills, Michigan. I’ve been teaching piano since 1991. I have a studio of 35 students who I teach out of my home. I also teach group classes and theory, and I really enjoy running and quilting and doing puzzles.

Angelin: I’m Angelin Chang. I’m a Grammy-winning pianist and educator in higher education. I am based in Cleveland, Ohio, where I am a professor of music and law at Cleveland State University, where I am coordinator of the keyboard area and advisor for the Entertainment and Sports Law Association. I love helping musicians transform their dreams into reality.

Amy: I love that. I really love that. That’s a good one.

Angelin: And so I do use some transformative techniques to help people get there so that they can make their technique transparent and so that the movement serves expression so that when the music reaches the listener, all you have is artistry and human connection.

Amy: And Gail got a little taste of Angelin, if you don’t mind me sharing. I did. She helped her with a little bit of a passage right here in my studio just right before we recorded this!

Angelin: That was so much fun!

Amy: Well, what brought each of you to this retreat?

Mary: In my case, I had done Amy’s retreat online three years ago. I wanted to do it in person, but because of circumstances, I wasn’t able to. And I really enjoyed it online, and then with this year, more time was freed up and, and I knew that I could commit to driving to Indiana. I don’t like to fly, so I made the drive and and, it’s been even better in person than it was online, but it was really good online, too.

Amy: I think this is the time to tell the story about your drive really quickly, Mary, because that was a big part of this retreat!

Mary: Okay. So I came up from, I’m Ardmore is on the Alabama-Tennessee state line. So I’m about an hour south of Nashville, and so I drove up through Tennessee. I drove up through the western side of Kentucky and took a little lunch break in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I got a little delayed at lunch when they burned my food and had to redo it. And and so by that time I had figured out I would be a little late, and so I texted Amy and, and said how sorry I was that I’d be a little late.

And then one of my other piano teacher friends up here in Indiana had messaged me and said that I was going to be welcomed with gobs of rain when I got into Indiana, and she was beyond right because as I made my way up through Central Indiana, I ended up just taking a little break in New Castle, and I had no idea where I was. It was just the grace of my GPS getting me around at that point- and I quickly realized when I stopped just at a McDonald’s that I wasn’t even hardly gonna be able to make it back out of the parking lot, and I started seeing vehicles submerged underwater in the highway, and I couldn’t even get back out on the road.

And so I called Amy, and she helped direct me out of that parking lot. Took about 13 minutes.

Amy: I was literally looking at my Google Map, like, trying to talk her around where to go.

Mary: And, and so she probably kept me calmer than I would’ve been if I had not called her. And so she kind of set me on the path, and then the GPS was coordinating as well, but the GPS couldn’t tell which roads had been affected by flooding.

And so it was very trial and error. Luckily, it stayed daylight most of the time. And so I would say seven or eight different times I came down roads where I just got to a point where I was hitting spots where I just did not – I could just hear weather guys saying, “Turn around, don’t drown.” And it happened seven or eight times. I got really good at my three-point turns that evening.

And and then finally, I s- out in the distance, I saw some cars driving pretty fast on a state, or no, a US highway. And and so I just I quickly prayed that I would make it to the US highway, and then the GPS told me to go another 12 miles east which was going away from Amy at that point.

And, and then I ventured off north, still on a s- a US highway, and then made it almost to Amy before I had to get back on a non-US highway, which I was a little bit afraid to do.

Amy: I kept calling her, and like five hours later she made it here.

Mary: Yeah. It did, it took extra long, and I should have never been sorry that I was only gonna be a little late because I ended up a lot late,

Amy: And I was like, “What US highway did it take you two hours to get to?” When apparently this was like a one in 1,000 year like flooding here in Indiana, and literally, like my husband pulled the map out, and Newcastle was like the center of where they got like 12 inches. It was the worst place, and she drove straight into it.

Mary: And being from the South, I’m more used to taking shelter with tornado warnings, and they’re having really, really hot weather down there right now, and I was so happy to be getting away from the hot weather, ’cause it’s oppressive down there right now. But I think I still prefer dodging the flooding to the hot weather-

Amy: And it wasn’t just you – Angeline also was dodging the weather as well.

Angelin: Oh, my goodness. I mean, yeah, time for a new car. LOL

Amy: So I’ll go to you real quick then. What brought you to this retreat, Angeline?

Angelin: Well, school’s about to start for us, so this was perfect timing to get all the digital organization in order, and what better person than Amy Chaplin to do that with, right? And I really loved meeting Gail and Mary. It’s been such a real pleasure being at this it’s a retreat for sure. Bed and breakfast feel and excellent meals – just great camaraderie, so I’m really pleased to be here. Thank you.

Amy: And what about you, Gail? How did you how were you brought to this retreat?

Gail: I think I’m on your mailing list, on Amy’s mailing list. And so I saw that retreat, and I thought, “Oh, anything to get control of my computer screen.” And I have, you know, 15,000 emails and, and discovered that I have 151,000 emails that are stored, and also to get my files from all the various aspects of my life, the different things I do, to kind of coordinate those and have them in one place instead of, you know, five different files with the same name in different places.

And it’s really challenging when you’re looking for a file and you know it’s on your computer, but you can’t figure out where to find it or what place it’s in and because it’s filed under some other category than what you can remember at the moment. So that’s why I came – to get a handle on that.

And it sounded lovely to, to come here. I’ve heard good things about your retreats, and so I thought, “Well, this’ll be a great weekend for me to sit down and just focus on taking care of my computer and taking care of that digital stuff so I don’t feel so burdened in during the year.”

Amy: And you really have.

Gail: Yeah.

Amy: Well, what was one or two things that really stand out in each of your minds from the event that you’re gonna take home with you, just like, “Wow, that is just something I’m just not gonna forget”?

Mary: I would say – and I jotted it down several times to remind myself – not to let things back up and accumulate as far as our digital resources be it emails or photos or things on Facebook.

And just try to schedule time to take care of it, which I’m horrible about doing because I’m really bad about procrastinating and just feeling like I don’t have time to do it. But I am able to participate in Amy’s power hours on Wednesdays, and I’m often busy with other things where I can’t get to her power hours, but I’m gonna be more intentional about at least getting to some more of those and and also maybe even letting some of the digital organization be part of my office hours going forward.

Amy: And I think one thing that can help with that is, like, literally, and I’ve done this myself – putting an appointment for yourself on your calendar. And saying even if it’s just like a half an hour a week where you dedicate, like, this is an appointment, this is a date with myself that I have with my computer, right? And whether it’s first thing Monday morning or last thing on Fridays or whatever that, like, that consistent time. It’s scheduled. There’s not gonna be any students. There’s not gonna be practice time for yourself, whatever. Like, that is my work time, so. Gail?

Gail: One thing that stood out to me was I didn’t feel like I had a system for starting keeping track of things. Like, I knew if I could have a system to do it, then I would be able to manage it, but I just was overwhelmed with, like, where do I start? What do I start with?

And so I think one of the tips is kind of just clearing the space completely, however I do that, but clearing it, putting it away so that it’s kind of not there anymore, and then slowly tackling in a kind of sequential way the information and how to manage it and that it’s possible to do that.

And I’m gonna take that home with me ’cause I think that’s also gonna be true in managing my office and managing my music and all of those different things. So I felt like that stood out to me. Like, I got so much more than just what was here in the days that we were here to take home with me and remember. So thank you.

Amy: Yeah, sometimes it’s beneficial to, like, literally clear things out. For example, what she’s talking about is, for example like the desktop. Your computer desktop, right? Like we talked about doing a desktop dump.

Gail: Yes …

Amy: Everything that’s on it, just put it into one folder on your desktop.

Gail: Yeah.

Amy: And then, like, you, like, you kind of have that, that breath of fresh air. It’s cleared but it’s not gone. It’s just a quick win basically. And then, you know, then you can take the time that needs to actually process it properly without just feeling overwhelmed by processing every file and never seeing it clear, you know? So that’s what she was kind of referring to.

Gail: Yes, it’s amazing how much I could accomplish once that system was in place. I was able to empty my dump folders, which was fantastic. So yeah, it was really valuable.

Amy: Angelin

Angelin: Beautifully said. All the above, plus wonderful food. Oh my goodness. You outdid yourself. LOL

Amy: LOL. The one thing she’s taking away is the experience of the food.

Angelin: Oh my goodness….but how life should be. Well organized in your computer, your digital organization, your space, physical space, and for your whole body too, right? So yeah, just being healthy all around in so many different ways, so… I think they’re all transferable, everything that, that we’ve experienced here, so.

Mary: We have literally been in the Piano Pantry.

Amy: That’s right! LOL

Angelin: There we go!

Amy: I love that.

Well, what is something that maybe surprised you in attending this event?

Mary: I would have to say the floodwaters.

Amy: Right.

Mary: I was completely not counting on that. I guess – I didn’t think that you were just gonna copy what you did three years ago, but I was pleasantly surprised that you had redone so many things. I could tell that you had worked to try to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

Amy: Continually improve.

Mary: Right. And that you had added some things to it, and that it wasn’t just pull out a template and here you go.

Amy: Not the exact same thing from three years ago.

Mary: Right, yeah. So I was very pleased by seeing that you had just almost like you just started over and did it again and said what works for this year.

Amy: Yeah. Thank you.

Gail: Something that surprised me is making some new friends. That’s been really fun. I didn’t expect that. I expected to get some handle on my computer files, but making friends – meeting you all, that’s been wonderful. The food was surprising. Like, it’s been so delicious. It’s not just…

Angelin: I know – and healthy too…

Gail: Yes, and healthy too, yeah. And yeah. And then I didn’t expect to feel so rejuvenated after just a couple of days because of that, those things together.

Amy: Yeah, I told Gail, we were talking about, like, NCKP and I said, “Gail, you have to come to NCKP.”

Gail: I know!

Amy: Now you have friends, and we can, like, hang out.

Gail: Yeah, I know.

Amy: We know more people.

Gail: Yeah – and I will!

Amy: So Angelin, what is something that surprised you in attending this event?

Angelin: I wouldn’t say necessarily surprised, but what I really appreciate is how well-paced you did it. It’s sure, there, there are work sessions and we’re learning some things that may be very helpful, but there was plenty of downtime too to be able to either continue our work, do something related or unrelated. And so I think it was very well-paced. It felt very much like a retreat instead of just a work session.

Amy: Even though you were working

Angelin: …even though you were working. Yeah. And I appreciate how you’re very receptive to different questions. And even if it might not be part of your original thought as far as curriculum, but to be able to address things even if it wasn’t something that you originally planned for. So appreciate that.

Amy: Well, just having someone to bounce ideas off of and, you know… just like, “What do you know about this? I’ve heard about this. But what do you know?”

Angelin: Yeah!

Amy: We talked about all kinds of things.

Angelin: Yeah!

Amy: What advice would you give to someone that was considering attending the retreat?

Mary: I would say, especially based on both times that I’ve done it, most of my devices are not like Amy’s. My email is nothing like Amy’s, and I didn’t want to just assume that I wouldn’t get very much out of it because all of my things were so much different from hers. I just wanted to listen to what she had to say and see if I could pull from it and find similarities on my devices.

And sure enough, both years I’ve – just as she would speak, it’d make me think about something and I would go hunting for it. It might be in a different place where I was looking in a program, but I would usually find something very similar and be able to sort and delete and do all the things even though my devices didn’t match up very much.

So don’t let that deter you if you don’t have a lot of the same devices that Amy would be using. Don’t let that be a deterrent to coming.

Amy: That’s great advice, actually.

Gail: I would say go before you get overwhelmed by your digital world. I wish I had not waited so long to do something so that – I’m never gonna do that again. So that there were so many emails piled up.

But I also appreciated that I didn’t feel like very expertise in this area at all, and I thought you really did a good job of bringing everybody’s experience together and normalizing that and having us all feel really comfortable with knowing or not knowing what we did. And so my advice would be take the workshop. It’s really valuable and well worth the money to come.

Angelin: Yeah, ditto. I’m, come. Yeah, go for it. Yeah. You’ll have a wonderful meal, great place to stay, great friends, and you get some work done on your computer.

Amy: It’s like that’s just the bonus.

Anglin: Yeah, that’s just the bonus.

Mary: As Chris Farley said in the movie Almost Heroes, “The food alone is worth the trip.”

Angelin: That’s right.

Amy: I think I’ve heard that before. LOL

So what is something that you guys are each looking forward to this coming year? And it could be something personal, something with your studio, professionally.

Mary: I was fortunate to have a piano teacher friend that’s in my local area. She’s involved with a group that has traveled to New York City. I think they went two years ago and got to sing in a huge choir at Carnegie Hall, and I just in passing told her if she ever went back that I would love to go and for her to let me know, and she did.

And so about a year ago, she started getting us signed up to go and started having us make payments toward the trip, and I’ve never even been to New York City, so I will get to go for the first time in November and get to sing at Carnegie Hall in this huge choir. And and singing to me, it comes even more naturally than playing the piano. ‘Cause I guess it’s because I’ve been doing it longer and I love to sing and so I believe that that’s just gonna be so much fun and laid back. But, like…it’s Carnegie Hall!

Amy: How cool is that?

Mary: A once in a lifetime kind of trip, but if my friend Ruth is any example, maybe I’ll get to go back again and it won’t be once in a lifetime. But I do have to fly, and I’m not too thrilled about that, so that’s the only drawback, but I am looking forward to it, and it’s just gonna be crazy and then it’s gonna be over in a flash, and then I’ll have to find something else to do besides my piano teaching.

Amy: That’s gonna be awesome.

Gail?

Gail: I’m looking forward to this fall having a chamber festival for our local MTNA group, the Michigan Livonia Area Piano Teachers Forum.

And I have a composer, a friend who makes triolets for piano pieces for, like, standard classical piano repertoire, and a few pieces from teaching books, like the Bach minuets or Beethoven Sonatina, and it allows a young student who’s not super advanced to be able to play with a violin and a cello just like they were in a piano trio. They get that experience of playing with other people, and they get to see what it’s like to have to cue or watch for cueing because some of the pieces have introductions. And I think the kids really get a lot out of it.

And I designed it so that it was be for not just the most advanced students, but just for your average student who works hard and has learned a piece and is getting ready for their student achievement testing or some other performance, and they can come and play their piece and have really a lot of fun, and then in a rehearsal, and then we had a performance in the evening of that, and I look forward to having that happen again.

Angelin: That’s terrific. Yeah. That’s terrific. And I’m looking forward to performing. I have some things coming up here, New York, and Europe and also getting back to teaching starting next week, basically. Doing some different programs including music and entertainment law, as well as some wellness workshop classes that I’ll be doing at the university. And also very excited, I recently just completed a an intensive experience I offered, similar to what I did with you, Gail with some of the technical aspects where I’d incorporate biomechanics and, and artistry. So it’s really artistry in motion. So I’m looking forward to doing more of that and offering that down the road too for folks to really turn their dreams into reality.

Gail: I’m coming!

Angelin: Yay!

Amy: Angeline has a new student. LOL

Well, if you guys could just share one piece of wisdom with future piano teachers, what would you like to say to them?

Mary: I would say be prepared to work hard and to be yourself as a teacher. We’re all different. We’re all unique. We all bring different experiences to it. And so to be yourself and do your best, and not compare yourself with other teachers, because that comparison thing can kind of rob you of your joy in teaching sometimes. But if you’ll just be, be yourself and be with your students and just understand that you’re there for them, they’re there for you, and you as a studio, you’re doing things that others won’t do, and that’s okay.

Gail: I think I would say that the teachers who have a lot of experience or have expertise in one way are anxious and really wanna share the information and the experiences that they’ve had. And so, um, as you’re thinking of being a piano teacher, just ask everybody questions about how do I do this or what worked for this, and share those experiences, because you will gain a lot of ideas and a lot of exposure and a lot of richness from getting to know those people who are in the field.

Angelin: Beautiful. And I think our theme here is also being authentic. And I think each one of us has been able to do that in our different studios and whatnot. So I think that’s something to really keep in mind because even when you’re working on technique, for me the highest form of technique is when it’s invisible. And so that allows not only the music, the artistry, but the human spirit to be heard and felt, and I think that’s very important, if not the most important, to get that across because that really allows for authenticity, what we really feel inside to be expressed not only for ourselves, but for others that we share it with. So I really encourage everybody to continue playing and dare to play music and dare to play music that really explores.

Amy: I would encourage teachers to get with other teachers. Because any time you get together with other teachers it always blesses you, I feel like. And just learning from each other and being encouraged by each other, and experiencing just different teachers that are different than you even is really encouraging and will be a huge part of what keeps us going.

Angelin: Beautiful.

Amy: Thank you guys so much for being here!

Gail: Wonderful. Thank you so much.

Angelin: Thank you, Amy!

Amy: Yeah. Thanks for being here.

Like I said at the beginning, I just love listening to these episodes. Such beautiful women and teachers to glean wisdom from.

At one point, you heard Mary talk about participating in my Power Hour. That opportunity is part of my Patreon partners who support this podcast. You can join as a silent partner for $4 a month or as an insider for $7 which gets you few extra perks including weekly power hours.

It’s a pretty good deal and an easy way to support the work of the Piano Pantry blog and podcast. Visit pianopantry.com/patreon to join today.

If you would like to join the waitlist for next years retreat, visit pianopantry.com/retreat for details.

Thanks for hanging out with us today and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks for the next episode. Be sure and hit that subscribe button so new episodes download automatically.