March 28, 2005 - Monday
I sat down with Harry this evening to help him practice his drums. His teacher gave him a new book with some new things to learn that included a marimba part I could play with him on the piano. It didn't seem to me that there was anything that was much more advanced than some of the other things Harry has worked on so far, but tonight did not go well. Harry got extremely frustrated very quickly and started to cry and whimper. It's just the kind of thing that his mother said she remembers doing when she was forced to practice piano.

So, what does one do? Harry is the type to learn something quickly, but then stick with what he already knows and refuse to work harder to learn more.  That's not always the case. Just last week he was quite the opposite , working through a particular pattern that was a little tricky, and it was beautiful to watch. He let go of his self-consciousness and I could just see his mind working through the puzzle. It's Harry at his most inspired and inspiring. Tonight, however, he wouldn't go there.

Do we just let it go and give up for the night? Do we push forward at the risk of making practicing a frustrating experience? I choose the latter and just kept telling him in different ways that it doesn't matter if he makes mistakes while particing. It's what practicing is for. Nobody can do everything right the first time. I'm more proud what he learns than what he can already do.

Eventually, he did his rhythm and was proud of it, but I'd be hard pressed to say that it made it all worth it for either him or me. I am convince, though, that it's a character trait that we need to help him work through for drumming and just about anything else in life.


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