Q&A: One-handed lessons

Tags

Broken arm, Creative teaching, Education, Sight reading, student, teacher

US Congressman Donald Manzullo signs a short arm cast. (Photo: Wikipedia)

A reader asks:

One of my piano students broke her right arm.  Do you know of any method books to help improve her left hand during the 6 weeks she’ll be in a cast?

Response:

I understand your reasons for using this as an opportunity to address a common problem. However, you may want to put yourself in your student’s place for a moment first.

• Everyone’s left hand is 2 weeks behind the right.
• The left hand often learns by imitating the right.
• Someone who is forced to use only one hand is at risk of overuse and injury.  The uninjured hand is being used all day for everything.  That is tiring!  Have you ever tried it?

If this were my student, I would go with the situation instead.  There is so much variety to be found!  You and your student will both have fun, and your student will learn more than you imagine in the process.

A few suggestions:

• Duets
  • use music for 2 hands, with student playing one part and teacher playing the other.  Then switch parts.  (Your student will be playing the treble part with her left hand!  How unusual is that?)
  • play duets written for 4 hands, leaving 1 part out.  (You have 3 hands between you.)
• Chorus music or hymns
  • student can play all 4 parts, one at a time.  This is wonderful sight-reading practice.
• Teacher plays
  • student pedals
  • student walks around the room in rhythm, counts out loud, sings names of notes, plays triangle or drum with 1 hand
• Listen to a recording and talk about it
• Make up a piece

OK, now that I’ve gotten you started, it’s your turn!  I’m sure you will have more ideas.  Just go with it!  You can make up a lesson as you go along. Your student will have plenty of ideas, too.

Good luck, and have fun!

Have you taught a student who broke his/her arm?  What did you do?  Please share your thoughts in the Comment Section below!

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Extreme patience pays!

Tags

Chord (music), flute, piano, student

Patience (George Michael album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my adult students broke so many long-term barriers last weekend!  This is the first time she has achieved consistency and sustained concentration.  What a lesson!

She started playing flute as an adult beginner, then added piano class about 2  years later.  When my piano class was discontinued, she tried progressing on her own at first, then started private lessons 6 months later.

So she has been plugging away for about 12 years now.  That is a huge commitment on her part.

Breakthrough #1

2 triads were marked to be played legato, but the top note of each was to be played with the thumb.  Instinct took over at last, and my student played the lowest 2 notes of each chord legato.  Definitely a first!

#2

Several right-hand notes happened to be below the staff.  My student, having started out playing flute, was not required to read below the staff for at least 2 years.  (The lowest note on the flute is middle C.)

Her usual way of finding notes below the staff is to say “one below C,” “two below C,” etc.  That works, but that was the only method available to her.

On Saturday, something wonderful happened.  She played an A below the staff right away, no calculation necessary.  Then, on the next system and 1/2 a page to the right, she played a G!  I was flabbergasted!  She just did it!

After she had finished playing the piece, I mentioned the feat she had just accomplished.  She shrugged it off because G is next to A.  I certainly didn’t expect that.  She has never thought notes below the staff could be easy.

#3

We were checking out the theme to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.  This was completely new to her.  She will be learning the Bastien arrangement over the next 2 weeks.

First, we looked at the triplets.  My goal was to remove the need to look closely at every note, since each triplet is part of a scale.

My student played each triplet, no problem.

Next, I asked her to add the next note (a quarter note) in order to eliminate a possible glitch in the flow of the music.  She did it!  She was able to look at the 1st note of each triplet, then move her eyes over to the quarter note.  She played each of the snippets perfectly the 1st time!  There was never a triplet, pause on the 3rd note, stop to figure out where the quarter note was, then play the quarter note.  (When a passage is learned that way, it is very hard to remove the glitch and find the line.)

After that, she played the entire melody.  I was so happy that no past fears crept in.

#4

In the theme from Sheherazade, the accompaniment in the left hand includes something that has been a problem in past lessons.  Two quarters in the top part descend to a half note, while the lower part has two half notes.  Everything is marked legato.  Holding a key down with part of the hand while changing pitches with another part of the same hand is not easy!  Again, she just did it.

And finally, a potential problem, nipped in the bud  🙂

When we looked at the left hand accompaniment in the Tchaikovsky, my student announced, “I’m not going to count the rests.”  So she “tried out” the left hand in that manner.

While she was playing, I thought about her comment.

“Trying it out” is a habit of hers that is hard to overcome.  It must feel safer to play so no one can really hear you.  It occurred to me that random chords allowed for random glitches, too.

After the 1st time through the chords, we talked about this.  When I suggested that counting could save later rhythmic problems, I demonstrated by playing 2 adjacent chords; randomly the 1st time, then rhythmically.

I think she bought it… we’ll see in 2 weeks.

And the credit goes to…

My wonderful, extremely patient, persevering student!  Congratulations!!!

What do you think?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

For more information about practicing:

E-book

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

Are you stuck?  My book provides tested methods for you and your students to identify problems and eliminate them forever!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

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Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Adult student sees the mountaintop!

Tags

Borodin, Kismet, Lessons and Instruction, music education, student

MAROON LAKE CAMPSITE, 12 MILES NORTH OF ASPEN. SNOW COVERED PEAKS IN BACKGROUND ARE THE 14,000 FOOT MAROON BELLS – NARA – 545714 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My Saturday morning student, an adult beginner, went all the way last week!  What a wonderful experience.  The usual enormous amount of interference was completely replaced by fluid playing.

Background

This student started out in my piano class.  When the class schedule changed, she could no longer attend.  She decided to try it on her own.  That worked for a while, and then I received a phone call about 6 months later.

She has a lot of anxiety going on and regularly constructs roadblocks.  The ever-present analysis about everything that could go wrong impedes progress in a major way.

More recently

Some of the problems have disappeared in the past few months, allowing for more understanding, looking ahead, using good fingering, and gracefully negotiating a phrase here and there.  This all happened gradually.

Last week’s lesson

Something incredible happened!  There was no angst about the difference between the student’s keyboard and my acoustic piano.  No disastrous scenarios were offered before playing a note.  For the first time ever, the student just played!

The piece for the day was a “Polovetzian Dance” by Borodin, arr. by Bastien.  The theme is also heard in the musical Kismet, where it is known by the title “Stranger in Paradise.”

Source:  Wikipedia

The Bastien arrangement is simplified.

Requirements of the piece

Immediately following the lesson, I made a list of the problems presented in this piece:

• Sustaining the low note of the left hand chord, then adding chords above it to form triads.

• Crossing over the thumb in 2 different ways:
  • moving hand after thumb plays, as in playing a scale.
  • leaving hand in the new, contracted position after thumb plays in order to facilitate a fingering 2 notes later.

• Play a phrase smoothly that extends from one staff to the next, negotiating the cross over the thumb on the 2nd staff.

• Play the melody clearly when it moves between hands.

• Do the same when the melody changes hands with no rest between phrases.

• Finish the left hand’s accompanying phrase while beginning a new phrase in the right hand’s melody.

Success!

This piece has quite a few difficulties!

My student nailed it!!!  I have to say that I was taken completely by surprise.

We have worked together for about 12 years, and this was a first at a whole new level.  Individual challenges had seen some progress.  But this is the first time sp many things worked together.

This did not happen because of mindless hours of practice.  My student has been very busy at work, pushing to finish a project on deadline.  She probably practiced 2 or 3 times last week.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  It’s not the amount of time you spend at the keyboard.  It’s how you use the time you have.

So, determination and patience do pay off.  It was time for everything to come together.

Have you experienced long-delayed success with a student?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

Does your practice time get results?  If you are spinning your wheels, this book is for you.

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 9 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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How to Actively Engage Students in Their Musical Education

Tags

arts, Child, Methods and Theories, Music, music education, student

Learning by Doing (Photo credit: BrianCSmith)

Guest post by Eric Rader

It takes a lot of work to reach a child; it takes even more to engage them.  In an area such as music education where students may not see merit or inherent value, there is a strong disconnect between the student and the material.

Students, especially young ones, do not understand the value that music can have in their lives.  As adults, we see the importance of music education and its many benefits.  Students however, do not.  It’s our responsibility as adults to help create an atmosphere that makes learning music a more enjoyable and life-long experience.

How to Engage Students

Whether we are music teachers in public schools or private instructors, it’s important that the students we teach are being engaged.  Not that they just “have fun,” but that they are actively engaged in what they are learning.  This means that we try to create an attitude of “learning for learning’s sake.”  Help them to want to learn the material because they are excited about it.

This is a very hard task to accomplish, especially with children.  Between short attention spans and wandering minds, children require much more attention when teaching a topic.

Here are a few tips that you can use to help motivate students to become actively involved and engaged in the musical learning process:

1.  Use Hands-on and Kinesthetic Activities

Children love to use hands-on actives when learning.  Children love to be active.  Using an activity that promotes hands-on learning will not only help engage the student, but will help stimulate a part of their brain that visual and verbal instruction can’t reach.

Allowing students to use manipulative and hands-on models will extend their attention span and make their learning experience more fun and enjoyable.  Using activities with hand-held objects will keep students excited about learning music.

2.  Promote Success

When learning to play an instrument or any other musical concept, it is important that the student feels as though they are succeeding.  Try to set short easy to achieve goals for the student at first.  This will help the student feel more confident and comfortable in their abilities and in the new concept.

You want to make sure that you are challenging the student.  However, you want to use tasks that will promote their success, then elevate to more complicated assignments.

Start small.  Allow the student to gain confidence, and then begin to add more rigorous activities as they become more successful.

3.  Use Multiple Styles of Learning

Above, I discussed using hands-on activities to help keep kids excited and focused on learning music.  There are many other types of learning that will not only excite children, but will also meet the needs of different types of learners.

Use a variety of visual, verbal, and kinesthetic activities.  Not all children learn the same way.  Some students may work best by hearing a piece of music, while others will do best by reading sheet music.  Make sure that you use each style.

Know the area of strength for each specific student and work with that style to help them succeed, but do not work with only one style.  Make sure to challenge the student to grow in multiple areas, but make sure to note the areas in which the student is most proficient.  Then build on the other areas to form a well-rounded musician.

Reaching students, whether in a classroom or a private studio, can be very difficult.  We are responsible for instilling a love and enjoyment of music into each child that we serve.  It is our job to take the drudgery out of music.  Today’s students are less likely to sit at an instrument for hours upon hours practicing scales and warm-ups.  They need something that is going to excite them, that will make them want to practice and learn.  Strive to make music enjoyable, and continue to pass on the love of music.

Eric’s website:  http://www.piano-lessons-made-simple.com/

Do you incorporate hands-on activities into your teaching? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

Save time!  When you improve your focus on what needs to be practiced, you will find yourself knowing the music better in shorter practice sessions.

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 9 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Untempered criticism: does it have a place in music lessons?

Tags

arts, Education, effective criticism, Music, student, teacher

Thumbs down icon.  Picture credit:  Wikipedia.

During dinner with a good friend on Monday evening, the conversation turned to effective methods of personal interaction between the person in charge and those she is supervising.

My dinner companion works as a facilitator in various group homes for developmentally disabled adults.  Like most people, these residents like to test their limits.

She has found that the residents respond much better to positive feedback and helpful direction than to “No!”  When they hear “You can’t do that,” they actually hear what the no-no is, but not “you can’t.”  And then, you guessed it… they go ahead and do exactly that.

If you are the supervisor, what do you do next?  Say “no” again?  That could spiral downward all day long!

Later that evening

After I arrived home, I found myself returning to our conversation.  Since my experience is in the field of music, not social services, I began running “yes” and “no” scenarios in my head.

Throughout my life as a student, from age 6 through graduate school, I had several different piano teachers, each with her/his own interpersonal skills or lack of same.

Speaking for myself, positive feedback and direction were so much more effective in my own lessons as a student.  That is also the approach I hope my students experience when I am their teacher.

Untempered criticism

I know several excellent musicians who were criticized severely in every lesson as students.  Yet they now have busy careers.

In addition, I have experienced students being yelled at by their teachers when I played for their lessons.

My conclusion, based on at least this much experience, is that sometimes untempered criticism can work.

Possible reasons for its success

• Maybe the student has a thick skin.
• From time to time, the teacher is so extraordinarily talented that the student is all ears regardless, giving the teacher a “pass” for his/her approach.

One teacher whose students I played for a few times would swear in every lesson.  This began with the very first mistake the student made, no matter how minor.  (If the student used a different fingering from the one the teacher thought to be optimal, that was considered a mistake.)  In this case, the teacher was so brilliant (in his late 80’s, knew the entire repertoire for the instrument, memorized, fingerings included) that I can understand why students put up with the bad mood.

In a different studio, the teacher would yell at her students.  She had a system for singing which involved assigning a number to the size of one’s mouth cavity.  The space increases as the singer goes up in range.  During lessons, the teacher would be seated behind the piano bench.  She would scream “HOW can you be at a 2 when you SHOULD be at a 7?”  Her piercing sound had no relation to where the singer was regarding the phrasing.  I jumped every time the teacher started in.  I see no use for that approach at all, ever.  How can a singer progress when the teacher is screaming?  Singers need to be relaxed!

Possible causes of unpleasant moods in a teacher

• Sometimes, teachers are so talented that they never had to figure out how to make things work.  Even when asked to explain something, they can’t.

• Another possibility is that the teacher has been in the business so long that they have forgotten what it was like when they first started.

• Maybe the teacher has an ego problem.  Believe me, this happens a lot.

• Or maybe the teacher has a headache.  Hopefully the next lesson will be more pleasant.

How have you experienced criticism?  How do you offer criticism to your students? 

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

This is the perfect opportunity to jump-start your practice, just in time for Fall!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 9 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Sticky fingers

Tags

Mozart Minuet, Music lesson, student

Image by Myles! via Flickr

We already know what his hands look like!

This post is a followup to “Student makes a breakthrough!”

After my student’s lesson this past Saturday, I have become a shameless advocate for sticky fingers!

Sticky fingers? I don’t want anyone to play my piano with sticky fingers…

Neither do I!  Let me explain.

Brief recap

Two lessons ago, an “adult beginner” and I spent the entire time on a Mozart Minuet. For the first time ever, my student understood how to use the indicated fingerings.

Throughout the next lesson, she stuck to the fingerings! She played the entire Minuet perfectly. So we decided that we would explore the Trio (the middle section of the Minuet and Trio) at the following lesson.

The most amazing progress!

My student arrived this week with the Trio ready to go.

She played hands alone first, with perfect fingering, phrasing and dynamics.

The she played hands together the same way!

Funniest moment

My student told me about finishing a practice session.  As she stood up from the keyboard, she glanced at the music again. Her eyes took in a ledger line note above the treble clef.  This is what went through her head:

It’s a “C” on flute.  I wonder what it is on piano?
Oh, right.  I read the music the same way I always have.

New achievements this week

• The learning time for the Trio was 3 times faster than for the Minuet.  The difficulty level is the same.
• The fingering, phrasing and dynamics were all there the 1^st time.
• The Trio had direction! There were absolutely no pauses.

Our discussion

I was, of course, thrilled. But since this wasn’t my lesson, I wanted to discuss things with my student.

When I asked her how it felt to be able to play this way, she was reluctant to own her success:

I thought maybe it (the Trio) was just easier (than the Minuet).

But I’m sure she’s remembering all the angst she usually goes through. I responded with encouragement, repeating that I was very happy and that she had made major progress.

Next, I asked her how she did it!

Me:  Did you put in more time practicing?

Student:  No.

Me:  How much would you say you practiced?

Student:  Oh, about 5 or 6 times.

Me:  For 1/2 hour each?

Student:  Yes, for about ½ hour. 

Me:  How did you go about it?

Student:  I kept saying to myself, “Not flute!  Not flute!”

because flute and piano fingering are different (she plays both). 

Her next comment is well worth remembering:

It’s a matter of focus (not added practice time). When I focus on the fingerings (and not all the other things that usually lurk around), I can play it!

In addition, she realized that when she feels tired, it’s time to stop.  Mindless repetition is not helpful, and neither is the influence of force.

The “secret”

There is no secret about how to do this. Nevertheless, I learned something today:

• No additional practice time was required.  (It would have been my assumption that it was.)
  
• It is important for teachers to be very specific. Don’t just say “Pay attention to the fingerings.” Show your students how they can do that.  Make sure they can do that at least twice before they leave.
• I will always discuss practicing with my students.
• As my student said without prompting, “It’s a matter of focus.”

Upcoming lesson

I get to hear both the Minuet and Trio! And we’ll do some Christmas music, too.  This student is, just in the past month, no longer a beginner. I can’t wait!

All of us need to remember:

It’s about focus, not time!

More discussion about this is presented in my E-book (see below).

How do you work on fingering with your adult students? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Related article

• Student clears a hurdle! (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)

E-books

Give the gift of music! “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” will give every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

August 2011 review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

When You Buy a Piano

How to Maintain Your Piano

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Student makes a breakthrough!

Tags

arts, flute, music education, piano lesson, student

Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) ~ "The Piano Lesson" ~ Image by wallyg via Flickr

Fingering matters!

The 2 most recent lessons my adult student experienced overwhelmingly prove the point.

Relevant history

My student has played flute for several years, taking up piano more recently.

Flute vs. piano fingering

Playing the flute involves one position for the hands most of the time.

Flute fingering is notated with T(thumb) 1 2 3 4.
Piano fingering is different: 1(thumb) 2 3 4 5.

Printed music

Since the lowest note on the flute is Middle C, flute music is notated in the treble clef, on one staff.

Piano music is usually notated on 2 staves, with treble clef for the right hand and bass clef for the left. So it looks more complicated right away.

Lesson

We are working on a Mozart Minuet and Trio.

My student’s approach is to use just about any available finger at random.

One left hand passage, C G rest C D, is fingered 5 2 rest 2 1.

We discussed how using the correct fingering would make this passage easier to play… reliable, no hesitation between notes.

My student tried the fingering as written.  The outcome was C G, what’s next?  C D.  Whew.

I showed her how she could play 5 2, then keep move her hand to the next spot on the keyboard keeping the 2^nd finger ready to play immediately.

She tried that. When she reached the G with her 2^nd finger (so far, so good!), she switched to her 3^rd finger while still playing G. (That happens a lot.)

We talked about that, and she tried it again.

The same thing happened. I made an involuntary sound in my throat, and she picked up on it.  When we talked about that, I said, “I know you can do it!  Try it again!”  She was almost there.  I wasn’t ready to give up.

So she tried a 3^rd time, and voilà!  She played the passage perfectly!

Next step

We discussed how that sounded, and decided it had musical flow!

We talked about how it felt to be able to do that, and my student was very happy!

I gave her an assignment, asking her to focus only on the fingering in this one piece for next time.

She mentioned having to look at the notes, too.

I encouraged her to look at the notes and the fingerings together.  She tried it, and played the passage flawlessly!

My misgivings

After my student left her lesson, I began feeling that perhaps I had pushed her too hard.

Next lesson

Two weeks later, my student played the entire Minuet with perfect notes and perfect fingering!  This is a first!!!

Since the fingering was perfect in more than one lesson, there’s a good chance that the new approach will stick.

The piece is under tempo, but that isn’t what we’re working on right now. She didn’t backtrack and she didn’t give up.

That’s progress!!!  ♥ ♥ ♥

How do approach fingering with your adult students? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Related article

• Student clears a hurdle! (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)

E-books

Give the gift of music! “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” will give every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

Goal-oriented Practice

August 2011 review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

When You Buy a Piano

How to Maintain Your Piano

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Let the music flourish!

Tags

Chopin, Music, piano, student, teaching

photo credit: Daniel Barkley

This post was inspired by one of my wonderful students.

Background

She is a 1st-year college student.  Her past involvement in music includes piano lessons in 2nd grade (which she hated) and choral singing.  She is also singing in chorus this year.

Aptitude

A good ear, easy ability to feel chords in hands, immediate recognition of interval spacing as it translates to the keyboard, naturally clear pedaling.  She may have perfect pitch.

Motivation

She possesses a great deal of self-motivation and curiosity.

Lessons

In September, we started with an adult beginner’s book and a book of exercises.

That soon changed to pieces chosen by my student in place of the beginner’s book.  In this case, it was the right choice.  We are working our way through the exercises a page or two at a time at the beginning of each lesson.

About 2 weeks ago, my student mentioned a piece she had on her iPod.  She couldn’t quite sing it, but I thought I recognized part of it.  So I played the beginning of the melody.

She became quite animated and said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”  Her iPod listed the title.  It was Chopin‘s Prelude in E minor.

As soon as we confirmed that we had the same piece in mind, she said, “Teach me!  Teach me!”  So we did some of the melody by ear.  At the next lesson, we had the printed music.

Then something amazing happened.  My student sight-read the entire piece, hands together!   Sure, it was under tempo.  Of course she needed to eyeball the chords.  But she’s a beginner, and she sight-read it!  She didn’t give up, didn’t give in to frustration, and never doubted herself.

She was so excited!  She couldn’t believe she could do that.

After working on fingering and chord progressions for a few minutes, I asked her what kind of piece she thought it was.  She was immediately able to supply descriptive words, which made me very happy.

Then I showed her about harmonic rhythm and how to make the left hand more subtle while sustaining the melody.

And even without having technique that is advanced enough to do that, she did it!  All of a sudden, she was producing beautiful music.

So this is what I think:

Perception begets technique;

Motivation lets the music bud, flower, and then flourish;

And we all need to stop trying so hard and get out of the way!  We all have music in our hearts and souls ~ otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

What do you think?  Do you sometimes get in your own way?  Do you experience a better outcome when you stay out of the way of the music?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Check out my low-priced E-books! Just click on titles near the top of the left sidebar.

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Adult beginner sees the light!

Tags

Music, pedagogy, piano, student, teaching

Source: Wikimedia Commons

My mother was afraid of the water.  She took swimming lessons for the first time in her late forties.  She must have been very scared.

One of my students, an adult beginner, is similarly afraid of the piano.  But she had an “aha” moment this week!  I was so happy for her!

Background

My student, in her 50’s, enrolled in my piano class a few years ago.  She returned every semester until the class moved to a different day.  Then she had a schedule conflict, so decided to try playing on her own.  Six months later, we started private lessons every other week.

She comes from a strict background, which shows up during lessons as an extended litany of why whatever we’re working on will fail.  In addition, she has played flute for several years.  She reads treble clef well, but continues to have problems with bass clef.

Her sight-reading in lessons is often better than her playing of the music she has practiced.

​Two weeks ago

We were working on a right-hand exercise from A Dozen a Day.  After one or two minor fixes, it went well and seemed to make sense.

Next, we looked at the left-hand version of the same exercise.  Big problems cropped up, so I was trying to understand why.

The left-hand exercise begins with the thumb on Middle C, a whole note.  The 5th finger continues on beat 2 with an F for 3 staccato quarters.  Then the thumb repeats Middle C, with the 5th finger playing 3 E’s in the same manner.  (You can go on from there.)

My student would play Middle C, and then the trouble started.  She had a glitch in finding the first note for the 5th finger.

I realized that she hadn’t looked ahead, even as far as the 2nd note.  When I reminded her, there was no improvement.  What was going on?

I asked her to say aloud the name of each beginning 5th finger note, i.e. “F,” “E,” “D,” “C.”

What do you think happened?

She was unable to do that right away.  I was surprised, but then, I’m not an adult beginner.  There was a ton of interference going on about the perceived difficulty of blocking everything else out and focusing on one note.

This seemed to go all the way back to the way things were in piano class.  The question, “Which note is next?” triggered consideration of all 88 keys.  Anything was fair game.

In her lesson this time, she was able to calm down and name the notes, but it took at least 5 minutes of cutting through the static.

And then something extraordinary happened.

This week

We started the lesson with the left-hand exercise.  She aced it!

I wanted to know why.  Wouldn’t you?

In thinking about how to investigate, I decided to ask how she had practiced the exercise.

She said, “I knew I started on F.”  There was no angst.  It was an immediate, clear answer.

YES!  She was grounded before starting to play.  I’m quite sure this is the very first time she has been able to play without being petrified.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic.  This is a huge step.

Have you experienced similar moments with your students, or in your own lessons?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Reader Q & A: how to get students excited about learning tempi

Tags

choosing repertoire, involvement, Music, pedagogy, student, teacher, teaching, tempo

Image by 姒儿喵喵 via Flickr

When a student has only minimal interest/ involvement in a piece s/he is playing, we need to ask ourselves why.

I’m going to assume that the student had some say in choosing the piece.  Assigning repertoire and expecting compliance is not the way to go, in my opinion.

Background:  when I was in high school, my teacher assigned music I didn’t like.  Or at least I didn’t understand most of it.  There was no discussion, unfortunately.  I was too shy to say anything to my teacher, so I sightread all my lessons for 4 years instead.

Let’s assume that the student simply hasn’t gotten “into” it yet.

I often start asking questions.

• What do you think this piece about?  (You can start with the title!)
• Do you like it?
• Why/why not?

etc.

During the discussion, find a way to draw the student out. There is no such thing as a wrong answer. Their thoughts are important, and can change everything about our teaching.  If a response is “I don’t like it because…,” you can always counter with “what if?”

When you have arrived at what the piece is about and what it means to the student, you can discover a tempo together.

To make a tempo mean something, or “stick,” I have marched, danced, walked slowly, run, skipped, jumped, and hopped around the room with my students.  Make up words.  Have them write a story or poem or draw a picture about the piece.  You’d be surprised what they come up with!  If your student wants to change a phrase, allow them to do that.

When attempting to discuss a piece with a middle school student recently, I received “eh” and “uh” and shoulder shrug answers.  After several minutes of this, I’d had it!  I found myself doing an exaggerated imitation.

“Why is it, when you come for your lessons, you’re smiling and have all this energy, and when you leave, you have an animated conversation with your mom?  But right now, you look like you’re in a coma, couldn’t possibly play two notes, and don’t care a thing about the music?”  At that point, I sighed loudly.  “Could we please try this again?”  I exaggerated her facial expressions, posture, and “speech,” and tried to be funny.

In retrospect, it must have been the exaggeration that cracked the ice.  The student laughed!  That’s progress.  After that, we had a much better back-and-forth.

Demonstrating a phrase or two in the “wrong” tempo makes an impression, as long as you exaggerate.  When you play too fast, be sure to have a train wreck.  And when you play too slow, yawning can be effective… or sing words, running out of breath before the end of the first or second syllable.  Then stop while you loudly gasp for air, and go on.

So go ahead! Exaggerate!  Dance, sing, clap, whistle, yodel, conduct, jump ~ whatever you have to do.

First you have to get their attention.

How do you get communication going with your students?  Please share your thoughts, and anything I’ve left out, in the comment section below!

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Related articles

• Recital takes a detour (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com) about what happens when students play for each other.

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