Growth Mindset in Music Teaching

Many of you have probably heard of the growth and fixed mindsets researched by Carol Dweck.¹ In life we really do meet people with different ways of thinking. Some lift us up. Others leave us, after a conversation, with a sense of hopelessness and inner stagnation. These feelings can be partly explained by the kind of mindset each of us carries.

I’d especially like to draw attention to why this way of thinking matters for teachers. A teacher may believe that a growth mindset is a useful and positive thing, but if their vocabulary and the way they talk to children don’t show it, theoretical knowledge alone isn’t enough. We need concrete patterns of communication, actual words, for how we talk about success and failure, how we praise, and how we help a child accept a mistake.

Fixed and growth mindsets

The core idea of a growth mindset is that our brains change and improve.

A fixed mindset says that people are born with certain abilities and can’t develop beyond what they were given. Setbacks and mistakes then lead to frustration and disappointment in oneself. From there it’s a short step to thinking that failure simply proves a person isn’t talented and can’t do or learn certain things.

A growth mindset, by contrast, is about adapting and learning. Difficulties become opportunities to grow, and mistakes become something wonderful that helps us improve.

In music this matters enormously. A teacher’s words can either nurture a child’s growth mindset or, on the contrary, feed their self-doubt.

Instead of a general:

“Well done.” “Amazing.” “Great.”

we can say:

“You handled the rhythmic difficulties in this passage really well.”

Setbacks and mistakes should be made specific in the same way. Instead of:

“You’re playing badly today.”

we can say:

“A couple of mistakes crept into this passage today. Let’s try to find them.”

This way, a mistake is no longer a judgement of the child’s abilities or of the child themselves. It becomes a concrete task: something to find, understand and solve.

First comes confidence in yourself

To speak to ourselves in the language of a growth mindset too, we first need to trust our own abilities, without constantly comparing ourselves to others.

Comparing ourselves with others holds us back and keeps us from seeing what we ourselves can do.

In learning music, three components matter a great deal to me. I call them the Three P’s: Passion, Patience and Practice.

Passion: motivation and a personal connection with music

Students aren’t always motivated. That raises the question: how does a teacher spark motivation? What words help a child become eager to play?

For me, this is about helping the student build their own personal connection with music, so that they play for themselves, not for anyone else.

For that, learning to enjoy the process is essential.

Patience: patience and self-compassion

Without patience, nothing will happen.

Patience means accepting your mistakes and setbacks, not giving up, and trying again. Patience and self-compassion go hand in hand.

A teacher who understands the importance of patience wants the child to feel their own worth and confidence precisely through that patient presence, and to understand that mistakes and setbacks are accepted and are an inseparable part of learning.

Practice: practising

Practice is the time a child physically spends at the piano, playing.

For me, though, it’s something like the final step. We arrive at it already carrying an enjoyment of the process, confidence in our own abilities, acceptance of our setbacks and mistakes, and curiosity.

Practising demands a lot of neuroplasticity: new neural pathways are being built and strengthened in the brain.² That’s why, while practising, it’s so important to separate your ego from the learning process itself.

The brain needs time. We give it that time through repetition and patient, mindful practice.

Our brains change and improve. That is one of the most important ideas I want to pass on to a student.

So a setback shouldn’t mean:

“I can’t do it.”

It can mean:

“My brain still needs time, repetition and a different way to learn this.”

A teacher’s words shape how a student relates to themselves

A growth mindset isn’t just a nice theory. It shows up in everyday language, in the small phrases a child hears from their teacher again and again.

Are we judging the child, or talking about a specific action?

Does a mistake become proof that the student “can’t”, or information about what still needs to be learned?

After a lesson, does the student feel talented or untalented, or do they feel that they’re in the process?

To me, this is where a real growth mindset begins.

In an upcoming post, I’ll talk about the importance of nonviolent communication: how we can avoid words that hurt and break connection.

For example:

“You’ll never learn.”

“You’re always late.”

These are words that don’t build anything. They can damage the connection.

And everything in this world is about connection.