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.

"Train is Going Down The Track": Teacher-Student Activity for the Young Beginner (4 - 6)

This is my youngest son (5 in October) at his first piano lesson with mom (me) last night. I made up this repetitive chant/rap for beginners (because all 5-year-olds love trains). It's just a little 12-bar blues, boogie-style in C. Little did I know that this would become a top request at my youngest students' lessons (go figure). The idea is to train them to FEEL THE BEAT, and eventually...fall in line with it musically. [NOTE: NO PRIOR PREPARATION HERE AND INITIAL SLOPPINESS ON STUDENT'S PART IS WELCOME...IT'S PART OF THE PROCESS]. He had never heard this before, but you'll notice he's trying to mouth the words and learn the chanting part already. He's also already trying to match my rhythm with the "Choo-Choo-Choo" (they all do...I coach them with my body language). He also matches my shimmy (an unsophisticated word for tremolo) at the end. 

First, I marked a C and G on the piano with hot pink post-it flags. There is no right or wrong answer on his part, and a little chaos in the beginning is ok. I just mark the two keys he needs to play, and he can do whatever he wants with those two keys. The first week (like this) sounds sloppy, but after a few weeks of doing this, kids start to fall in line with the beat and sound more orderly with their rhythm. They'll create their own rhythmic patterns as unique as one's fingerprint with that C and G. They enjoy it as an end-of-lesson activity because there's no corrective action on my part -- NO WRONG ANSWERS -- just fun improvising and being themselves. Please don't gag when I sing the "choo-choos" as I've been sick. Most importantly, it is a fun music-making experience for little guys that makes them want to do more. Can't wait to see what he sounds like after a week of practice with mom.

I will post sheet music later, but here is the basic progression:

• (Intro Material:  F, F#, G7)
• ||:  4 Bars of C7
• 2 Bars of F7
• 2 Bars C7
• 1 Bar of G7
• 1 Bar of F7
• 2 Bars of C7
• (Intro Material for Round 2:  F, F#, G7)  :||

The Importance of Feeling and Finding the Beat Through Listening

At age 4 or 5, just finding the beat can be elusive.  Dance teachers and music teachers experience this first-hand.  We call it "marching to the beat of your own drum."  Students speed up, then slow down.  They're not in sync with the music they're hearing.  It's frustrating!  All music/dance teachers need for students to march to the beat of the music they hear (in dancing), or march to the pulse the group is following (in music).  As soon as possible, students need to have an internal metronome to keep themselves steady when the metronome or ensemble/ director is not present.  

To arrive at this INTERNAL STEADY BEAT, one must become a good listener.  One of the best ways to arrive at this is by letting the musician or dancer improvise within certain parameters.   My parameters here were "just play these two keys - C and G, marked with the pink Post-It flags."  Make up whatever you want, but just these two keys.  Listen, feel the music, and stay with the beat.  It is important for the teacher to be perfectly steady and have faith that eventually, the student will fall in line with the beat.  His beats won't line up with yours on the first few tries with this, unless he is super-gifted in that regard.  But have faith....it happens with more repetitions, and it's interesting to see what rhythmic patterns they come up with!

Teachers: Don't Let the Tiger Parents Kill Your Joy!

Teachers:  Don't Let the Tiger Parents Kill Your Joy!

by Jennifer Warren-Baker

(Copyright 2015, all rights reserved.  Please share and link to this article, but for permission to reprint this article on another site or publication, please e-mail info@musicbyjennifer.net.)

www.freethepiano.com

Teaching in a Hyper-Competitive Parenting Culture

In December of 2013, I closed a three-teacher piano studio.  It was a move that I hoped would allow me to focus more on my own children and  less on the headache of running a business.  Unfortunately, I was in a place of hurt when I closed the studio.  With emotional scars from a few well-meaning, but confrontational Northern Virginia parents, I simply could not abide with grace any longer.  A certain segment of Northern Virginia parents are notoriously pushy and over-involved.  Sometimes, this can extend to an attitude of self-righteous arrogance ("I know better how to teach piano to a special child like mine better than you [the expert]").  With the advent of texting and e-mail, an endless flow of communications from parents at all hours can sap a teacher's energy and enthusiasm.  Even as a private piano teacher, I found this barrage of parent communication to be exhausting.  So is parent over-involvement simply an isolated occurrence in our competitive Northern Virginia climate?  Perhaps a little background on the environment I live in will shed light on why I nearly cracked as a Northern Virginia piano teacher.

The Washington, DC metro area where I live and teach is the most highly educated region in the United States (47% have a college degree, as opposed to 29% nationally) .  In my county (Loudoun County, VA), the educational level is even higher, with more than 58% of residents possessing at least a Bachelor's degree.  My county also boasts the highest per-household income in the United States, at $117,000 per year.  Most of my clients have masters degrees or law degrees, and they expect their children to follow a similar path.  These families have the funds to put into music lessons, SAT prep classes, tutoring, full-time daycare, ballet, travel soccer, and even expensive home school co-ops.  I'm not sure if this is good or bad, because many children are then over-scheduled and over-loaded with structure, all under the well-intentioned guise of "great opportunities."  In my impression, parents seem to compete with each other to have their child in more activities and sports.  For children, the pressure to achieve becomes present in every dimension of their lives, and childhoods are often devoid of freedom and playtime.

An Unfair Burden

Many students are expected to excel in virtually everything they are signed up for.  They are often coaxed into lessons reluctantly because their parents want them to be culturally savvy, smart, self-disciplined, and classically trained.  A popularly-held notion is that piano and other activities will "keep kids busy and out of trouble." Other parents tell me "I want my kid to have this."  Wait a minute:  did you ask your kid if s/he wants this?  As a nine-year old girl, I begged for lessons because I wanted to master the piano.  I have heard similar stories from many fellow musicians.

Teachers in our region frequently get the blame for a student's failure to achieve because, of course, "John is very smart," just like his parents.  It must be your teaching, because my child IS talented.  A "B+" on a test often warrants an e-mail to the teacher for being unfair ("My Suzy will not get into UVA with a B+ in an AP class")!  These are experiences shared by my colleagues in local schools.  I bring this up because, almost always, the parents who take issue with a policy and attack me verbally are the pushy parents with the all-honors kids involved in EVERYTHING.  They not only have high aspirations for their children, but also for their teachers.  They expect -- even the piano teacher -- to usher their child to star status, despite the unfair burden they have placed on their child to excel in a ridiculous number of activities.  Here are two examples:

Case 1:  Pre-Olympic Tiger-Mom.  I once dealt with a mom who coddled and micro-managed her pre-Olympic high-school athlete.  As if 7 days of intensive athletic training and all-honors classes weren't enough, she insisted that he take piano lessons with me.  It seemed as if this student could not manage his materials or his practice time without his mother organizing and managing him.  As the athletic training increased from 5 to 7 days per week, she began to point the finger at me.  Why wasn't he progressing with his piano?  I must be the reason he wasn't progressing.  She never imagined that it might have to do with the fact that her child was in intensive sports training 7 days a week and in oppressive course-load.  The thought never occurred to her that he was overwhelmed and unable to practice.  So she asked me to intensify his repertoire and curriculum, even specifying composers and exercises to work on.  Eventually this student left my studio, and I was relieved.

Case 2: Indian Math Pressure.  My mom teaches in a public elementary school in our county, and there is a high contingent of Indian children in her classroom.  She says that ALL of all of her fourth-grade Indian students receive extra math tutoring at Kumon after school.  These students, she says, are always above grade level in math.  Of my current piano students and friends' children, many hire private tutors.  One recently shared that his son's math tutor was totally worth the $150 per hour price-tag.  (Gasp/ Choke/ Spit)  R E A L L Y????  While I'll admit that I've signed my son up for tutoring twice, I would never pay that price.  Are our children really going to die if they aren't math super-stars?  Can we possibly allow our children to stumble a bit and find their own way through failure and recovery?  And the bigger question:  can one BUY a child's success?


The Last Straw

So in 2013, a couple of these highly educated, tiger parents chose to attack me when I enforced a policy that they didn't like.  I didn't do anything other than-- nicely, in my estimation -- enforce a policy.  But what I got in return was shocking.  I received long e-mails full of insults and threats from people who had given me glowing reviews just weeks before.  It was as if these people couldn't tolerate a difference of opinion from theirs, and my reinforcement of a policy presented to them when they enrolled their children.  And even though they loved what I was doing with their children, they decided that a battle of wills with the teacher was more important than the musical joy I was bringing to their child's life.  They could do no wrong, and their children could do no wrong.  I was the wrong one, simply for standing up for what I thought to be sensible policies.

So instead of believing in the quality and goodness of the gift I had to share, I let a couple of impassioned killjoys deflate my spirit.  The bottom line -- I allowed a few unmannerly people (who were possibly just angry at where their life was at that time) to determine my fate.  Did I have some other competing stress factors, you might ask?  Yes, of course.  I was/am the mom of a teenager and two younger children.  At the time, I was also playing at a hotel three nights per week, a church once a week, and at various Washington venues for weddings and events.  I was doing the best I could with the gifts God generously gave me to share with others.  I wasn't perfect, but truth be told -- in my fifteen years in business for myself, I had never experienced such vehement hostility from a couple of embittered customers.  So I figured maybe this was a sign that I should take a break.

Remembering Why We Teach

After a six-month hiatus from teaching, a few of my creatively gifted students begged me to resume their lessons.  I hesitated, but took them back.  I didn't want to revisit the painful past of belligerent and demanding clients, so I tried to be alert for red flags when dealing with new customers.  I tried to trust in my sense of purpose and service.  I let my inner knowing be a lantern to my path.  Gradually, a few more came on board.  Thankfully, I have had no major disputes in the past year.  And I am glad to be back in teaching.

Just this week, I was reminded of why I do this.  I arrived at a brother/sister lesson.  The two had only been taking lessons for a few weeks.  And they proceeded to play a duet I had assigned them.  I watched the one count off the other, and they began in perfect synchronicity.  As I marveled at their focused minds and seamless teamwork, I couldn't hold back my beaming smile.  I was smiling because of THEIR accomplishments, not my own.  I had given them the joy of music-making, and that made me happy.  It wasn't about me and my talent.  It wasn't about accolades, applause, or praise from others for MY accomplishments. It was about me passing on my Godly gifts, which had also been infused in them.

Yes, but of course.  That's a no-brainer, right?  It is better to give than receive.  Everyone knows that, right?

Well, unfortunately, this secret formula for happiness eludes many citizens of our individual-focused culture.  Americans are, in general, less about community and more about the cult of individualism. "American Idol" promotes the idea of being placed on a pedestal and idolized by the masses.  We see super-star idolatry as a goal in professional sports and performing arts.  The idea that personal success and achievement brings happiness trickles down to children's activities, from Tae Kwon Do to music competitions.  We are pushed to seek awards, rewards, praise, and even the best-paying job.  There is very little focus in our culture on deriving happiness from giving to others, but that is the magic sweet spot, in my opinion.

Recapturing the Joy of Teaching

I left their lesson in a state of dizzy joy.  I realized that they couldn't do anything close to this a few weeks ago.  And I realized that they wouldn't be so steady, and listening to each other so well, and playing with curved fingers, if it weren't for my input and loving diligence.  Their joy and hard work was evident.  The happiness they experienced at the piano was unmistakable as they smiled and giggled at the end.

I knew then that I was still supposed to be teaching, because joy does not lie.  But what made my week complete was this note from the mom of two sisters I teach:
 
"[The girls] played together tonight…I cannot tell you the joy I felt watching these sisters interact on the piano…truly special!"

Again, the word "joy." So in the future, if I encounter what I ascertain to be hostile, venomous super-parents who wish to crush my enthusiasm for teaching, I will simply issue a refund, and a "have a nice day." Because the ones who appreciate me far, far outnumber the ones who want to go into battle. And I won't let any sourpusses steal my joy and take me away from the teaching that others need and appreciate!
__________________________

(Copyright 2015, all rights reserved.  Please share and link to this article, but for permission to reprint this article on another site or publication, please e-mail info@musicbyjennifer.net)

Canon in D for Cello and Piano | Free Wedding Sheet Music

I keep forgetting to post this, but I arranged it a while ago.  In October, I was hired to play for a wedding at Bluemont Vineyard here in Northern Virginia.  The bride wanted to incorporate her cellist friend into the wedding.  As always, I was accommodating.  I love to play with others!  I figured that the bridal processional, Canon in D (Palchelbel), would be a nice shining moment for the cello to join me.  The bride had chosen one of my pre-set wedding programs, and this was the bridal processional in this particular program.   Not knowing the cellist well, I figured that this popular wedding classic would be a good, safe option (most strings players know it well).  I searched the internet for good duo arrangements for just piano and cello, but everything I could find was for a quartet or quintet.

So I sat down and wrote this arrangement.  It went well.  The cellist really liked it, because it gave him more to do than he was used to.  (He told me the cello part with a string quartet is very monotonous and unchallenging).  There was much more movement in his part than he was used to, and even a counter-melody against the piano!  I enjoyed it too.  I think it does take some preparation on the part of both instruments, but it is well worth it.

At the end of the piece, I decided to improvise.  The pianist should do this up high, in the upper registers, to sound like a music box.  I think there is not enough improv in classical music, and the spontaneous nature of improv lends a fresh presentation, full of sentiment.  Make sure you practice your improvisation at the end, but don't plan it too much!

   PRINT THIS FREE ARRANGEMENT NOW!

Canon in D for Cello and Piano:  www.freethepiano.com/ www.musicbyjennifer.net

Important Notes:

• You may pull out early at any of the double bars I added, to adjust to the timing of the ceremony.  Just add a D major chord right after the double-bar you choose to end on.
• Rehearsal letters have been added to help with rehearsal, or break up the piece into mini-canons.  For example, play the whole piece for the entrance of the bridal party and groomsmen, pulling out at the one of the double-bars as needed.  For a triumphant entrance, we paused the music before the bride and groom entered, and started the bridal processional (just the bride and groom walking down the aisle) at rehearsal letter C.  The flower girls/boys took an unexpectedly long time, so I just vamped from letter D to the end for them (add repeats as needed).  
• Whoever's in charge (me, in this case) should be ready to call out rehearsal letters or repeats softly so that music can be vamped (repeats added) to fill time.     

Hanukkah Piano: Dreidel Boogie

I took a book of Hanukkah songs yesterday and rearranged them in my own way.  I had never played a Hanukkah party before this weekend, so I had to do my homework.  Most Hanukkah songs are sad-sounding, folk-like melodies in minor keys, with simple chord progressions.  With most of the songs, I took a pretty, classical interpretation, adding the usual bling (you know, arpeggios, scale runs, thickened chords, change of register, octaves in the melody, more bass/tremolos, beautiful intros).  But when it came to "I Have a Little Dreidel," I had to do more. This song has the child-like quality of a nursery rhyme.  It's about as sophisticated as "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," or "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  In my humble opinion, it's just kinda dull! With the need for some musical spice, I thought about spinning up a boogie around this tune. Boogie is typically characterized by a left-hand ostinato (repeating pattern) played fast and swingy.  Simple songs with only two or three chords lend themselves nicely to a boogie accompaniment in the left hand. Jingle Bells is another simple holiday song I play in boogie style.  So this two-chord folk song was just begging to boogie yesterday!  Here is what I came up with, in about ten minutes of jamming out my ideas:

How did I do it?  Here is what my left hand is doing (below).  If you don't know this left-hand pattern, you should add it to your tool box.  It's a great work-out for the left hand that uses all five fingers.  It keeps the lazy hand in shape (yes, it gets lazy because, even if you are left-handed, left hand parts in general are less physically challenging than right-hand parts).

Piano Boogie:  Left Hand Accompaniment Pattern No. 1:  www.freethepiano.com

Just memorize the pattern in scale degrees (thinking in numbers is always a good idea in music!), and apply this pattern to whatever chord you're in.  When you go to the V chord (G here) in the song, the pattern looks like this:

Piano Boogie:  Left Hand Accompaniment Pattern No. 1, transposed to G Ma:  www.freethepiano.com

Of course I also jazzed up the melodic rhythm and added some blue grace notes to the melody (more on this later), but you don't have to do that if you don't want to.  I hope you enjoy trying some boogie on your Christmas and Hanukkah tunes this year.  Have fun!

Jazz Piano "Therapy" for Adult Students

One of the student types I've attracted over the years is the adult student looking to explore jazz and improvisation.  Perhaps their childhood teacher knew nothing about it.  One time I was teaching a woman who just couldn't get the sight-reading thing mastered.  Every lesson had been a struggle in the past.  But she truly loved music.  A former dancer, she suffered from miserable back pain and life troubles in general.  Simply put, she was unhappy.  I knew these lessons were possibly self-therapy for her.  But the traditional approach wasn't working.  As I find with many students, reading two staves of music is a burdensome chore that stifles their natural musical ability.  So I switched my approach with this student.

One day I asked her to improvise with the C pentatonic scale while I played a swing beat on my keyboard and improvised a 7th chord accompaniment.  I will never forget how transformative this experience was.  The sullen face she usually wore was replaced with a radiant smile.  Her typically rigid body began to bounce freely to the music.  She clearly felt the rhythm of the music, and her improvisations were good!  At the end of the exercise, she was talking rapidly and excitedly:

"That was so much fun, Jennifer!  Oh my!  Oh my!  I've never had so much fun in my whole life!  I've never done anything like this.  Do you think we can do more of this?  I love it!"

She went on raving about the experience for the rest of the lesson.  It was as if I'd given her a magic potion.  She couldn't sit still and couldn't stop talking.  Joy had replaced despondency and I pondered over this transformation for several days.  What was it about that experience that gave her more fun that she had ever had?

I think it was the freedom she found in improvisation.  She could play the notes of her heart.  Her fingers didn't need to get it right, or be mistake-free.  She didn't feel the judgment of a teacher; she didn't feel wrongness and inadequacy, only joy in expression.  She just needed to be herself and let her heart dance to the music.

The man in this article claims that jazz piano lessons cured his mental illness:  http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-04/how-learning-play-jazz-piano-kept-me-sane.

I would encourage everyone considering adult piano lessons (especially jazz) to read this.  I have no doubt that music study was what cured his illness.

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If you're interested in exploring jazz piano as an adult beginner or a returning adult student with classical training, I specialize in making jazz easy and joyful.  And I also teach popular, classic rock, and movie themes from a jazz approach.  Call 571-439-0136, or visit www.musicbyjennifer.net for more information.  

In-Home Piano Lessons for Loudoun and Purcellville, VA

After spending a year in the field refining my performance and arranging skills, I am excited to share what I've learned with a new crop of select students.  I'm looking for serious piano students who want to expand beyond their classical skills to become proficient in  popular, jazz, improvisation, and/or composition.  My diverse experience in just about every piano capacity imaginable helps me prepare students for college music study and/or professional careers in music.  I can also help returning adults to re-gain confidence and find their own special gift.  What will you learn?  You will learn all the tricks and arranging secrets that I have learned over the past fifteen years.  You will learn to listen and trust your musical intuition more.  You will learn to make music from scratch, without relying on a piece of paper.  I am also skilled in helping students to dramatically improve sight-reading, so that they can handle anything that is thrown at them.  I do this by equipping students with a deep understanding of theory and chords, and through direct application of that knowledge in creative lead-sheet interpretation and score analysis.  I teach all styles, drawing from my experience in composition & arranging, musical theater accompanying, playing with orchestras/bands, wedding piano, hotel/restaurant/party piano, dance accompanying, and vocal accompanying.

Accepting students by audition only.  Call 571-439-0136 or e-mail info@musicbyjennifer.net for more information. SUNDAYS ONLY, IN YOUR HOME.  LOUDOUN COUNTY AREA.

Visit my website at www.musicbyjennifer.net to learn more about my experience and qualifications.