#2 What Neuroscientists Discovered About Learning

What Neuroscientists Discovered About Learning - Every Piano Teacher Must Know

Have you ever watched a piano student’s eyes glaze over — even though they’re “doing the work”?

In this episode, Gillian and Paul unpack groundbreaking neuroscience research that explains why this happens — and what actually helps students learn faster, retain more, and enjoy lessons again.

We explore Dr Stanislas Dehaene’s Four Pillars of Learning and show exactly how they apply to modern piano teaching through the Whole Body Learning (WBL) approach.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn…

The four conditions the brain needs to learn
Why passive learning doesn’t work - and what to do instead
How to keep students’ attention without battling them
How to prevent kids from coming back week after week with the same mistakes (which are typically so hard to reprogram!)
Simple teaching tips to avoid mistakes in the first place
The remarkable technique that means not a lot of practice is needed (phew)
The tools that help students listen, adjust, and stay in time
The secret so learning is never boring

Practical Teaching Example:

We apply the Four Pillars to the piece “Cha Cha Cha”, showing how movement, listening, and playful repetition create deeper learning in less time.

Resources mentioned:

🎵 Cha Cha Cha teaching resource (including backing track and lesson ideas)
🧠 Dehaene’s Four Pillars of Learning overview

Links to all resources are in the show notes.

Coming up next:

In Episode 3, we break down the 3 M’s of Whole Body Learning and show how this multi-dimensional approach can transform your piano studio.

Thanks for listening — and we’ll see you in the next episode 🎹✨

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#2 What Neuroscientists Discovered About Learning - Every Piano Teacher Must Know

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