As much as I hate to admit it, these words actually came out of my mouth recently. But I have a good reason, I promise. Hear me out, okay?

I have a middle school student who has been taking piano and voice lessons from me for over two years now. This particular student is very sweet and always tries his best, but has told me on numerous occasions that honestly, he just isn’t that into playing the piano or singing.

However, his tune had changed when he came for his lesson last week. He looked at me very seriously and said:

“You know, Miss Rachel, I’ve been thinking. I really want to get more into singing, because I think I could be really good. You know, like Justin Bieber.”

I’ve never been struck by Bieber Fever, nor really seen the appeal at all, but I’m all for my students getting their inspiration anywhere they can find it. So I went with it. After sharing my excitement with my student over his new-found passion for singing, we got down to business.

One of the things we’ve been working on during his voice lessons is projection. I’m always searching for ways to help him turn up his volume, and today I knew just what to say. You guessed it:

What would Justin Bieber do?

My student answered that Justin Bieber would probably sing louder, and with more confidence. That he would smile, relax, and take bigger breaths from his diaphragm. Most of the directions I’ve been giving him for the past two years came tumbling out of his mouth, all because of this simple question.

He was a different singer for the rest of that lesson, and I’m hoping the trend continues. Thank you, Justin Bieber — not for your bubble gum pop songs, but for inspiring my student and countless other kids, I’m sure.

(Yes, I really did just thank Justin Bieber in a blog post. What is the world coming to?!)