Participants in the Zinn Piano Program and Preschool Piano Kids! have recently posted their very own website. See and hear them play their favorite pieces by visiting www.pianokidsite.com.
Welcome to Pianoweb.net, official website of the Zinn Piano Program (ZPP), a cross-disciplinary program for children ages 6 through 16*. ZPP is unique in that it effectively combines cognitive neuroscience and psychology with comprehensive piano instruction. We are dedicated to promoting optimal piano playing through personalized interventions. Our program is personalized to achieve optimal functioning in psychological, emotional, and cognitive health on the individual level. Operating under the Attainment Center for Neuroeducation, ZPP combines the latest computer technology, research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology Social Learning Theory and Rehabilitation Psychology (health psychology) to improve brain functions for optimal performance in the piano lesson, school and other endeavors for every child.
"The highest level of learning is best achieved by first organizing what you have learned by observing others, in your head (cognitively), THEN by alternating cognitive rehearsal and actually doing the modeled event." A. Richardson, Ph.D.
"Because the belief that an activity must be done (performed) before it is said to be learned is deeply entrenched in our society, many do not acknowledge the powerful effects of observational learning." Albert Bandura, Ph.D., author of Social Learning Theory
Have you ever observed children on a playground? Of course you have! When one child tries a new thing, it is a pretty sure thing that the other children will be trying the same activity in a short time. One of the most fundamental ways by which we learn new things or modify existing behaviors is through modeling, or social learning (same thing). Modeling, or social learning, is innate. In other words, it is prewired into us and appears in all of us. The mirror neuron system mediates modeling.
Social learning, or modeling is primarily informative; virtually everything that can be learned by direct experience can be learned through the observation of others' behavior and what happens as a result of what that person does (consequences). What can be learned? We can learn intricate patterns of behavior (like knitting, piano playing, etc.), emotional responses, fear, anxiety, pleasure, reduction of fear or anxiety, etc. Some of the synonyms include 'copying,' ' imitation,' 'identification,' 'contagion,' ' role-playing.' In short, we observe somebody doing something, and we learn at least part of the thing they are doing, along with the emotions the person is having at the time.
As parents, we know about this phenomenon already--it can appear as peer pressure. What is the 'pressure?' It is when the child feels impelled to model other children's behaviors, language, attitudes, thoughts, emotions and the like. In other words, the child is in a position to match the others' behaviors or be 'ousted' from the peer group. It is important to know that, regardless of what is learned, that the same learning process is taking place. The learner is benefiting from observing the models from whom the newly-learned material is acquired, along with the conditions under which the matching behavior takes place.
Mark Zinn is assistant director and instructor at the Zinn Piano Program. He holds a post-graduate degree in piano performance from Northern Illinois University, having received an artist's diploma under the guidance of renowned pianist and instructor Donald Walker, a graduate of the Julliard School of Music. Mr. Zinn also received his Master's Degree in piano performance from Northern Illinois University and his Bachelor's Degree in piano performance from the University of Southern California. At USC, Mr. Zinn studied with Daniel Pollack, a world-class concert pianist and graduate of Julliard School of Music. Mr. Zinn has performed a number of solo piano recitals in the United States and Canada. In addition to his list of music accomplishments, he has studied psychology in two APA-accredited programs. His has published clinical research articles and given scholarly presentations at national conferences pertaining to performing arts psychology , biofeedback and psychophysiology. He co-founded the Society for Psychology in the Performing Arts. He is also a member of the Performing Arts Medical Association, Golden Key National Honor Society, Phi Kappa Lambda, and Psi Beta. Mr. Zinn is also nationally certified in piano performance by the Music Teachers National Association. Mr. Zinn was recently recognized by Who's Who in Education in 2007.
Dr. Marcie Zinn is the founder, director and mentor at the Zinn Piano Program. She holds a dual Ph.D. in clinical and rehabilitiation psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology. In addition to her doctorate in psychology, Dr. Zinn obtained her bachelor's degree in piano performance at Illinois State University, Cum Laude and Master of Science in psychology at Illinois State University. Her master's degree specialized in psychology, learning, and behavior. While pursuing her Master's degree in psychology, she conducted master's level piano study extensively with renowned pianist and instructor Donald Walker at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Zinn has published numerous articles in magazines and scientific journals. She is nationally certified by the Music Teachers National Association in 3 areas: piano performance, piano pedagogy, and music theory. She is also certified by the Robert Pace National Piano Teaching Foundation and the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA). Memberships for Dr. Zinn include the American Academy of Neurology, American Psychological Association, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Performing Arts Medical Association, Gold Key National Honor Society, Phi Kappa Lambda, and MENSA. Dr. Zinn has also done public speaking and given presentations and many national and international conferences. Her clinical research focuses on performing arts psychology, stress management, and psychophysiology. Recently, Dr. Zinn founded the Society for Psychology in the Performing Arts an organization for performing artists, psychologists, teachers, and researchers interested in applying psychological research findings and developing new empirical applications to advance the performing arts.
Optimal Performance Training
Applied Performing Arts Psychology
Written by Marcie Zinn, Ph.D.
Development of optimal performance skills seems easy--just make sure the child practices a lot and starts training very young. This long-held viewpoint is patently false. One must learn to perform in the same way one learns other things--repetition in an environment that supports all phases of the learning process. Most teachers themselves have trouble performing (have performance anxiety); others do perform well but do not have relevant knowledge about how their own performance skills came to be. We know how to perform ourselves, and we know how to train others to do the same.
Basically, when one performs easily and well, it is due to having something called high Self Efficacy. Self-efficacy is concerned with how one believes one will do in a situation that contains several ambiguous and unpredictable events. In music education, performance opportunities are typically few. We increase the number of performance opportunities through group lessons, but most importantly, we teach students how to foster their own self-direction between those opportunities. Students are taught to provide their own motivation and action. This is where psychology comes in--helping students learn self-directedness through cognitive structures that mediate perception, self-evaluation, motivation and regulation of behavior. Here's a very brief outline of what we do:
“After 23 years of research and seeing all phases of artists in the clinic, we know that 99% of artists' medical problems are stress-related problems. We now know that these problems start in childhood. By the time our patients reach us, their problems are decades old. We cannot do much for them.”
Alice Brandfonbrener, MD, founder and director of the Performing Arts Medicine Association.
We do not simply focus on knowledge of music itself in our music program. In going beyond simple music instruction, we include sound knowledge of individual differences and vulnerability to risk of problems that can emanate from instructional practices. Not long ago, emotion and cognition were considered independent brain functions with cognition seen as more important than emotion. This view has drastically changed in the last decade with science now elucidating the close interaction between the two. As such, we look at basic and applied research in Childhood Psychology, Clinical Health Psychology, Learning and Motivation, and Cognitive Neuroscience. We know that knowledge can be drawn from these seemingly diverse dimensions to give us information about the interdependence of psychology and performing arts. The performing arts as a whole, has been resistant to utilization of the vast information from these diverse dimensions. We are not part of that resistance. We use a great deal of information from social, biological and neuro science, and it has taken us years to synthesize and put these seemingly diverse areas into practice.
Why Focus on Childhood Problems?
Mental and behavioral problems in childhood end up creating a large burden on society, simply because impairments learned in childhood can last a lifetime. In music instruction, the result of a few years of lessons is all too often, either an adult who had lessons and hated it and was profusely shamed by their experience, or someone who dropped prematurely due to the overwhelming negative experiences present during their instruction. A third scenario is someone who stayed in despite the lack of awareness in the arts about psychological problems, then later attempts to work out those problems without help from a professional. Even as we are seeing significant societal changes and opportunities with regards to helping children with emotional problems in the school system and in other venues, the performing arts as a discipline is reticent about utilizing these changes. Sport Psychology is 22 years ahead. Here, at the Attainment Center for Education, we do utilize them. That’s what makes us very different from others. Perhaps your child is in another piano program elsewhere; perhaps you are thinking of a friend or relative who is in lessons somewhere else. If that is true, it is nearly certain that the instructor is not taking advantage of the vast knowledge available from other disciplines to help children in their musical endeavors.
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Mark Zinn is assistant director and instructor at the Zinn Piano Program. He holds a post-graduate degree in piano performance from Northern Illinois University, having received an artist's diploma under the guidance of renowned pianist and instructor Donald Walker, a graduate of the Julliard School of Music. Mr. Zinn also received his Master's Degree in piano performance from Northern Illinois University and his Bachelor's Degree in piano performance from the University of Southern California. At USC, Mr. Zinn studied with 
from the Illinois Institute of Technology. In addition to her doctorate in psychology, Dr. Zinn obtained her bachelor's degree in piano performance at Illinois State University, Cum Laude and Master of Science in psychology at Illinois State University. Her master's degree specialized in psychology, learning, and behavior. While pursuing her Master's degree in psychology, she conducted master's level piano study extensively with renowned pianist and instructor Donald Walker at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Zinn has published numerous articles in magazines and scientific journals. She is nationally certified by the 