# 116: What If You’ve Missed the Whole Point of Teaching

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808/116-what-if-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-teaching
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808/116-what-if-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-teaching.md
Podcast: [TopMusic Piano Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808)
Published: 2026-05-29T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://topmusic.co/piano-podcast/
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8aa1cf13-b6d7-4840-b854-b625905c0eda.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808/episodes/116-what-if-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-teaching
Duration seconds: 1005

## Resource

Sometimes I wonder if we get so focused on goals, repertoire, and achievement that we miss the bigger picture of why we teach music in the first place. In this episode, we're talking about what it means to create truly musical students, why collaborative experiences matter, and how the journey of learning may be more important than any destination we imagine for our students. Rachel challenged teachers to rethink what success in music lessons really means. She used the metaphor of a bus journey to illustrate different teaching approaches. Why the journey of learning is more important than a final destination. How creative activities build deeper musicianship. The value of movement, exploration, and play in lessons was emphasized. Rachel explained how collaborative activities strengthen multiple musical skills at once. How conducting, echo games, and singing support overall musicianship. She encouraged teachers to use duet playing as more than just a performance activity. How collaborative skills open lifelong musical opportunities for students. Rachel reminded teachers that the goal is to create lifelong music makers who find joy in music. Links Mentioned TMPP 115: Sight-Reading and Collaborative Skills for Young Learners with Jenna Braaksma Free Resource: A Piano Teacher's Guide to Collaboration About Rachel Ehring Dr. Rachel Ehring is a pianist, teacher, music administrator, and lover of piano teaching gadgets. She holds a DMA in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder and a MM in Accompanying from the University of Kansas. She currently serves as Director at St. John’s Conservatory of the Arts in Orange County, CA. Previously, she held positions at Concordia University Irvine and Henderson State University. Rachel is passionate about empowering m…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808/episodes/116-what-if-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-teaching/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/topmusic-piano-podcast-6711808/116-what-if-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-teaching.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.