Tracking practice minutes is important Did you have to practice piano a set amount of time each day? Some teachers encourage setting a buzzer, while others suggest a set time each day for practice …but did you know that keeping track of practice minutes is very helpful for both students and teachers? Teachers need to…
Keep your students focused during lessons If you want to keep your students focused during piano lessons, keep their hands on the keyboard. Don’t just try to engage them with conversation about their work at hand- help them to experience it. Staying focused requires keeping their hands busy for the whole lesson. Hands-on learning makes…
Teaching students in a small group helps them overcome stage fright Many people learn to play the piano, yet few learn to play comfortably in front of others. Is this just a personality thing? Are shy students just unable to perform while out-going kids do just fine? Can everyone learn to perform? Maybe not every single…
Small groups offer better ways to learn rhythm I was a terrible student when it came to counting. My teacher insisted I count aloud while playing. At age 8, I hadn’t even learned fractions and well, I just couldn’t say, 1+2 for one note but just + on another. I really couldn’t do it. She…
Scales are our friends When I learned scales, it was a monotonous experience. It was a weekly thing, done drearily each practice and before we could get to the songs. There was never a reason given, I just had to do them. Like eating my vegetables. When I teach scales, I explain they are like…
Do you know and understand the Circle of Fifths? When I learned the Circle of Fifths, it was in a workbook. I hated it. My teacher explained how to use Major chords to figure it out, but at that point, I didn’t even fully understand a Major chord. So, she backed up and began with chords…
Playing music we love is important when learning to play the piano Old School When I was a young student, there was an emphasis on playing music you’d never heard. The idea was that if you’d never heard it before, then your rhythm was learned from your lessons and practice, not from having heard it…
Use Patterns to boost piano student Progress There are so many ways to teach music but one that keeps students progressing fastest is when we teach them to find patterns in their songs. From PreSchool or Kindergarrten, children are taught to identify A B patterns and how they repeat. Music has these same patterns. There…
Colored Pencils in Every Class When I discovered the magic that colored pencils could create in my classroom with flashcards, I began keeping them close in every piano lesson. When someone struggles to find a note, I simply mark the closest C on the page. I simply give a little colored reminder of where the…
Digital Vs Real When I was a child, having a real piano was a requirement if you were taking piano lessons for beginners. Digital pianos have come along and changed this expensive barrier to learning how to play piano. Digital pianos are getting more and more affordable with time, and many of them are lightweight…