Expanding

I took formal piano lessons for about ten years.  My teacher was a gifted musician and able to teach any genre at any level.  She would close her eyes and feel the music; she expected nothing less than beautiful sounds emanating from the piano.  I am grateful for the music foundation she provided for me during those years.  Her main philosophy was for her students to look at the music, read it, play it, feel it, and share it with others.  This is the same way I have approached my students in their learning journey.

I have a younger brother, who also took piano lessons from a different teacher, with a different perspective on how to approach musical learning.  My brother, who is 19 years younger than I am, recently came over for a visit.  As we talked about music and teaching it to our own students, I began to  realize the depth of his knowledge of the relationship between music theory and playing beautiful music as a whole.  While I had learned much theory over the years, I had never been shown the direct relationship between using theory to create music, whether that means I use it to play from a fake book while adding some improvisation or whether I decide to pick a song to learn completely by ear training.

A whole new world has opened up to me in terms of what I can do to expand my own musical knowledge and repertoire; in turn, my students' musical experience will be greatly enhanced.

I have hired my little brother to mentor me in this process; he already gave me homework!

Good Age to Start Lessons

I once had a sweet mom call me on the phone inquiring about piano lessons for her 2-year-old.  "I've been told that he's musically gifted," she kindly explained.  I didn't doubt her words, but I gently explained that the youngest age I begin teaching is for 6-year-olds.

Generally speaking, 6-year-olds:

• Can focus their attention for 30 minutes
• Have mastered their alphabet and are able to understand going forward and backwards alphabetically
• Are capable of motivating themselves to learn and practice
• Can understand the value of seeing results from hard work and effort

There are many wonderful piano teachers out there who are able to teach younger students and help them be successful; my little brother started taking lessons at the wee age of 4, and is a well-rounded and experienced musician at the age of 16.

Should I Buy A Piano?

This is one of the most common questions I get from parents at the first lesson.

While I believe that listening to the pure sounds of piano strings cannot be replaced by anything electronic, I actually suggest that parents wait to make the big investment in a real piano.  Just like adults, children are [usually] very excited and motivated when starting new things; piano is no exception!

I encourage parents to start out with something very simple and cheap, a small electric keyboard; not a toy, but a small scale electric piano.  I would even go as far to say check out a few garage sales or ask a relative if you can borrow it for a couple of months.  Parents should then wait several months, to observe whether this is just a passing interest or whether the child is progressing and committed to long term music lessons.

One of the best ways to find a piano is to contact a local piano tuner, and ask if he knows of anyone selling a piano.  My favorite tuner gave me these tips to pass along to used-piano-shoppers:  Never buy a piano that is out of tune (sounds kind of "honky"), or a piano that has been stored in a room with extreme weather conditions (drafty room, garage, close to a window, etc.).

Practice Time = Pulling Teeth?!

After the excitement of starting piano lessons has faded, the parents realize that getting the child to practice is actually a problem.  It's completely normal, but children are often excited by the idea of actually being able to play music, but are not so motivated to practice.  It also becomes frustrating for the parent who doesn't know how to read music, when the child declares, "You're not my teacher.  You don't know that this is how I'm supposed to play it."  And the child is right to a point, but this can often leave the parent frustrated or helpless in the process of guiding their children through the musical journey.

In order to try and make this as smooth as possible for both parents and children, I encourage a chart for kids to put stickers on for each day that they practice their music.

Instead of saying that the child needs to practice for a set amount of time, I usually ask that they practice the song(s) we're working on together, 3 times each, for 4-5 days.  The younger the child, the less time they need to spend.  For older children, I push for 30 minutes of practicing 5 days a week.

The other tool I've found helpful is to record the song that the child is to work on, with me giving specific instructions on what they need to focus on, and then emailing that sound clip to the parents.  This helps in eliminating the potential for the child to remind their parents just how un-musical they are!

Finding Their Passion

I recently reconnected with a student who had moved out of state for a few years, but then the family relocated back to the area.  I know this student is shy, but I also wondered if the music we had begun learning was not inspiring him.  I spent part of his lesson explaining the different genres of music and asked which one he'd be excited to learn.  He expressed some interest in classical and blues, but still didn't seem that motivated.


The next week, his mom informed me that he hadn't really been motivated to practice.  But this was the day we would begin learning the blues song he'd chosen.  While I was only going to assign half the song for practice for the week, he insisted on learning the whole son.  Great, I thought, he's enjoying this one.  


Two days later, I ran into his mom at the grocery store. I can't get him off the piano - he loves the music! I was excited for him because I think we've discovered his passion.  Children love the idea of music and knowing how to play it on the piano, but it is not until they own their own tastes for the kind of music they enjoy playing that they actually become musicians.

january blues

It would be easy to start January feeling blue. After all the excitement of learning music to perform for family and friends during the Christmas season, what else is left?
Right in the middle of the Christmas season, I asked each of my students to list off several songs that they might be interested in learning right after the new year. The goal is to have the music ready when they return from vacation. It's amazing to see their faces light up when they see a piece of music that they're not only familiar with, but a song they are ready to learn to play on the piano. Some of the songs chosen include "Tomorrow" from the popular movie "Annie," Fur Elise by Beethoven, Do-Re-Mi from "The Sound of Music" and Heigh Ho from "Snow White."

Providing children with the opportunity to learn the music they love not only boosts their excitement about learning it, but also boosts their confidence by challenging them to move beyond their perceived abilities.

christmas in september

Now is the time to start picking out Christmas songs and other holiday songs that children and families love. It seems very early, however, the more the child is able to master their favorite songs, the more likely they are to share their talent with family and friends when gathered together.

making arrangements

One of the joys I have recently discovered with my students is arranging pieces that they are interested in learning, but haven't quite gotten to a level where they can play even an easy arrangement of a particular song. I made an arrangement for one of my students to play Three Blind Mice using chords. We worked on it during a couple of lessons, until she came in last week explaining that it was a little too difficult for her. First of all, I was so proud of her for even verbalizing her struggle. This is very difficult for some students, because they don't want to look stupid or disappoint their teacher. I told her I would work on a new version for her this week. What I'll do is use thirds and fifths instead of chords, which will only slightly change the way it sounds, but will basically be the same arrangement but at a level that she feels more comfortable with for her learning style and ability at this stage. It's a win-win situation.

flexibility

Summer presents some challenges, as it is a time for fun and carefree living especially for young people. Yet piano requires constant practice, a constant commitment to learn. So when one of my students arrived tired and restless yesterday, I wondered how to best use her time. I could tell her attention span was pretty limited and her emotions were a bit raw.

So we did some theory. She enjoyed the writing exercises, which allowed her to just sit, relax and review the notes on the staff. I even decided to make a game out of one of the theory exercises, which make her perk up a bit and it was a great learning tool. During the last few minutes of the lesson, she had relaxed so that we could work on her music. We only spent 5 minutes on her music playing, but that was what she needed. I wanted her to experience the grace side of music lessons, the side that says Bad days will happen...music can be approached in many different ways to help you feel better. And it did make her feel better. She left smiling.