Chronicles of Piano Teaching - May 9, 2024

Rushing

Playing too fast is one of the biggest issues new students have. I think this stems from the fast pace of life. From timed tests to deadlines to instant messaging and instant food, we do everything on turbo setting. Life can feel like a race. But music should never, ever be a race.

I used to be a chronic rusher. Dave says I still am sometimes, and he's probably right. But mastering a musical instrument requires slowness. A slow, patient, methodical approach to learning a new piece begets both accuracy and feeling. One of the most moving pieces of all time is also one of the slowest (Adagio for Strings by Barber). I cannot listen to this piece without bawling. On the contrary, so many fast performances sound like showing off to me; they are just notes devoid of soul.

Years ago I was recording an album of my compositions. I was playing too fast and just not getting the accuracy I needed. The recording engineer told me to play like I was drunk. The suggestion worked. It's hard to go back and listen to that album because I hear my immaturity as a musician and my need to show off. The pieces are just too fast. If I had just played 25% slower, it would have had 100% more feeling.

How do I get students to slow down? I can't really tell my young students to play like they're drunk, so I tell them that this song is like the lazy river ride at the water-park, not the waterslide. (They GET that).

Funny Kids

It's really cute when your student uses the phraseology of a bygone era. I was reminding a third-grade student to connect the left-hand notes throughout and she said, "Yeah, I think I got the memo." ; ) I realize this may give away my age, but I remember paper memos that were circulated via office mailboxes. (Yes, I had a few office jobs). But how does she know about those?

End with Encouragement

There's a time and a place for correction and discipline, but every lesson should end with encouragement. Compliment whatever you can, even when it's hard. Even if everything sounded terrible, thank them for their conscientious effort and focus during the lesson. Thank them for having the courage to show up and not cancel.

D Blues Scale with Comping Exercise

*** Note:  I forgot to note this on the sheet music!  Please practice this exercise in swing rhythm (a long-short pattern in the eighth notes). ***

What will you get with this exercise? (LINK BELOW)

✅ D blues scale practice with proper fingering

✅  Practice comping chords WHILE playing a blues scale

✅  Practice of ii-V-i ending

✅`Practice of syncopated rhythms typical in jazz

✅ Preparation for improvising over chords in the blues scale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wanted one of my adult students to start comping chords in the left hand while improvising in the blues scale in the right hand, so I wrote this exercise.  Why D blues first?  Because it's a relatively easy blues scale, and only has one black key in it.  

This is an early-intermediate level exercise but can be used for more advanced levels if you're new to jazz or blues scales.  In this exercise, the right hand will be running up and down the D blues scale with a syncopated rhythm that is typical of jazz, and you will get lots of practice mastering the D blues scale fingering in the process!   Practice the right hand alone first. 

Once you have the right hand down, start adding in the left hand chords.  Once you've mastered the first half of the page, which only has whole notes in the left hand, practice the new left hand rhythm found in the second half of the exercise.  This is a syncopated left-hand jazz rhythm that is frequently used in jazz music.  

After you've mastered the second half, try to get creative!  First, improvise a melody using the D blues scale tones, but make sure you do them out of order.  Keep your left hand going in the same rhythm all the way through. Here's the pdf:   D Blues with Comping Exercise

I hope it helps you get started practicing blues!

Piano Lesson Activities for the Youngest Beginner (Ages 4.5 - 6)

I'll be the first to admit that I didn't feel comfortable teaching students under the age of seven when I first started teaching piano.  College professors warned piano majors not to take any students under seven, so I didn't at first. But the demand for lessons at this age was so high, I became determined to find a way to teach this age group!  Now I have a pretty good system down and have developed many of my own teaching techniques to warm up the young beginner to the challenge of playing the piano.

Here's what I've learned about the 4.5 to 6-year old beginner.

Teachers must start VERY, VERY basic...more basic than parents might imagine!  The teacher must assume that the child knows NOTHING:

• The student does not know how to read
• The student does not know his left from right hand (yes, this is usually true at this age)
• The student does not know his finger numbers
• The student does not know the ABCs of the piano keys
• The student will probably not be steady at first and will race/ slow down tempos
• The student may not be able to match his/her voice very well to piano pitches
• The student does not have as much control over the tiny muscles of the fingers as an older student does.  Fine motor skills are not as developed.

So what can the young beginner do?  We as teachers have to select lesson material/activities around what these students can do.  The young beginner can...

• Sing/ chant poems and repetitive songs (pitch will improve with frequent singing with the teacher)
• "Copy-cat" rhythmic patterns
• Incorporate movement into songs  
• Learn very basic, repetitive black-key songs by rote until reading process is established
• Visually identify groups of two and three black keys on the piano
• Be taught hand position and the basics of piano technique
• Color and use manipulatives

So in case you're wondering what I do at those first lessons with a 4.5 - 6 year old, this video will offer an idea.  Of course, it all depends on the student, and some come in knowing more than others.