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Since I've never been a teenaged girl, I'm not going to tackle that. I'm from Mars.

Let's hear from the people from Venus.

Remember that scene in the first Indiana Jones movie, of the young college girls with messages written on their eyelids? There seems to be some "motivational" chemistry involved even with older "professors."

I mostly agree with you on that. But I have to tell you that I have students work extra hard when they see that they are getting close to those staples so that they can get their pencil sooner
I haven't seen anyone kick into high gear for a few weeks, for an "atta boy".

Wow, lots of great stuff here. Here are my favorites...

- Gary D. - Genuine Praise - It sure is great to get a compliment, no matter who you are. And it can open the mind to constructive criticism.

- dumdumdiddle - Weekly stickers - A way to see your progress is a great motivator.

- Kreisler - Performances as a motivator - Nothing like a deadline to light a fire!

- John v.d.Brook - Sense of community, fun experience in performing, persona of teacher - The human element!

- Ebony and Ivory - External motivators - Reminds me of a kid I taught who had to take lessons in order to be able to play his XBox360! Mom and dad are good motivators, too.

Morodiene - Certain students do need a tougher approach sometimes. Different students require different strategies.

And, finally, I'll make my addition - the Music. I truly believe (as I'm sure you all do - that's why you do what you do!) that if you can open a student's eyes up to the magic of the music, even if it is just being able to re-create a simple melody, that in and of itself is the lasting motivator. I suppose it just went without saying!

aEquals - super review of the thread - some great information for all of us to review. Thanks.

Dr. J - The More You Play the Better Your Day

Who's talking about "for a few weeks"? With the students who are sincere about trying, I know nothing that works better than a consistently sincere praise.

As for giving students things for motivation, the best thing is some piece of music that they have been dreaming to play and NOW are ready to play.

Yeah, I agree with all those things, and I do that too. But what I'm saying is that they do their normal everyday playing, and when they see the staples are coming up, they practice a lot more for awhile. Then they're back to their normal practice.

Like they go from 1/2 hour a day to 45 minutes a day, cuz they really want that pencil, and they know that they don't get it until they have mastered those last few pieces in their books.

I don't use method books, and I don't give any kind of reward for completing things more slowly or more quickly. ALL my instruction is about how to learn more in less time. For my students the reward is learning how to play things they like more with less work. By "less work", I mean more efficient time management.

When people get more done in less time, it is very rare that they don't increase the amount of time the spend playing.

My students just don't respond the same way as yours appear to do, and I honestly don't know why.

Lots of good ideas for sure!

But isn`t this the million dollar question!

First, each student is different, so each student will be motivated differently. I`d say, study your student and listen to what they say. Asking them why they want to take piano, is aways a good start. Then really listen to what they say! Soon or later they will reveal what motivates them. Then it`s time to push the button for all it`s worth!

I find inexpensive piano CD at dollar stores and give them to my students. I don't think students hear enough piano music. If a students seems unmotivated, occasionaly I spend part of lesson playing the piano....I said I do this occasionaly because there is not much lesson time but it seems to light the fire again.

I don't over praise but I do greet students with a lot of enthusiasm. I may say, "I've been looking forward to hearing you play all week" Or "Are you ready to make some music" or "Thank you for working so hard today, we worked those fingers"

I had one student who was very young and preparing for a recital. Her piece was very elementary but her attention span was short She needed to spend time playing the piece over and over. I bought a package of inexpensive rings and each time she played through her piece I put a ring on her finger. She played the piece ten times and got 10 rings. Getting her to play it that much was impossible but rings worked. It helped tremendously. She was able to go home and succesfully practice the piece.

I used to reward with candy when I first started teaching 15 yrs ago and it just got out of hand. The lessons became all about "what am I getting at the end," "did you buy new candy?" and it really hampered the learning process.

As I grew as a teacher (and a person) I realized that any sort of material reward is no substitute for genuine support and praise that I can give a student.

Now as an arranger and writer of piano books I "reward" my students by working hard to customize their lessons so that they have a truly enjoyable experience. I let them request songs they want to play, etc. This often means extra hours at the computer writing/transcribing but it makes the whole process so much more rewarding for both me and my students when they get really excited about a new piece.

On a side note I think we have to be careful about rewarding with sugar. Young minds are impressionable and I know growing up in a household where I was "rewarded" with dessert left me with some food issues. I know it seems unlikely, but kids soak it all in and you don't want to set them up with a mentality that they only "deserve" food if they've done something right, etc.

Just my .02

~Jennifer Eklund

This is what I do. I want the reward to be something musical. And a agree that avoiding sugar, as a reward, is important. On the rare occasions when I have passed out anything that is sweet (and it's not done as a reward but for special ocassions, I always ask the parents first if sugar is OK.)