Intro: Discusses what the overall goals should be for music lessons
Part 1: Explains the principles of how piano should be taught to achieve those overall goals
Part 2: Draws upon those principles to list the specific skills that need to be emphasized from the start
Part 3: A compilation of additional insights to make their learning effective and fun
Part 4: Shows how it's all implemented by detailing my lesson structure
This is an area of active thought and and evolution for me as I figure out better ways to do things. Ultimately, any way of approaching the teaching of piano that implements the core principles discussed in my other posts and makes sense to the student will probably work great.
GETTING STARTED: THE FIRST PIANO LESSONS
Position. They should be sitting far enough away that their elbows aren't stuck in their sides. Free elbows don't limit movement when they are playing songs that use more of the keyboard. The bench should be high enough that their forearms are approximately level with the ground, which means elbows are approximately at the level of the keys. And they should sit up straight with good posture but relaxed with shoulders not tense. Really, the key aspect of this is comfort combined with an active position so they're ready to exert some energy practicing. Teach them to get in the right position very first every time they sit down to play the piano. This means they will be in the habit of adjusting the bench at the beginning every time.
Technique. There are layers and layers of technique that become more important when they are playing higher-level music. For example, should you play with fingers curved or fingers flat? It depends on the type of playing you're doing. Students can start to learn those different non-foundational techniques when the level of music they're playing starts to require them (not until they're playing at least at a high intermediate level I'd say). And, at that time, they can read whole books about it. A good starting reference book is Fundamentals of Piano Practice by Chang. It's a free PDF if you Google it. Forewarning, not everything he says in it is true, so it shouldn't be the only reference. Having said all of that, there are a few important playing techniques students should learn from the start because these will apply to all piano playing they do. First, they need to keep all their muscles (finger muscles, hand muscles, wrist muscles, arm muscles, . . .) as relaxed as possible and in neutral/comfortable positions. Stress in muscles at any time (either from straining muscles or from unnatural positions) in their playing will worsen their playing, and it's never necessary, even when they're playing loud or fast. Second, they need to have what I call "strong fingertips." Their fingertips should not bend backwards when they press down the keys (i.e., the DIP joints should remain flexed). This is because those lazy fingertips bending backwards kill a lot of the control they have over how far and fast they're pushing the keys down. Help them learn this one by playing one finger many times in a row with a nice strong fingertip, then move on to the next finger. Third, avoid unnecessary hand movements. Economy of motion will enable them to play cleaner all the time. Fourth, use forearm and wrist movements to take some of the load off the finger muscles. For example, slightly rotating (supinating) the wrist when playing a scale from thumb to pinky, and using a forearm up-down movement when playing staccato. These are the major technique things to train them to do early on, and the rest can come as the repertoire demands (generally much later!).
Intro to the keyboard. They first need to gain a good understanding of the structure of the keyboard (organized into octaves, "twins and triplets," find notes based on where they are in relation to those black key groupings) and be able to find any note by feel (no looking!) with either hand. I purposely teach the notes to them in random order so they don't ever rely on counting up from another note they already know. They should be able to immediately find a note purely based on their memorization of where it is in relation to the black keys. They cannot move on to any other skills until they have mastered this one. I also teach them right then what a sharp and flat are (semitone up/down from the index key, which means some sharps/flats are white keys!) so they know all the notes on the entire keyboard, and I'll test them with those just as much as the naturals. From there, it's nice to give them a few reference points, so I teach them to find Middle C, the G on the lowest line of the bass clef, and the F on the highest line of the treble clef.
Flashcards. Once they are solid on their intro to the keyboard knowledge, they need to start doing note flashcards each day. I take the treble clef and the bass clef separately so they can get a good idea of the range/location on the keyboard of where the bass clef notes are and where the treble clef notes are. I have them name the note as soon as they see it, check the back of the flashcard to make sure they're right, then find the note (without looking, of course) and play it. In short: name it, check it, play it. The check it part is important to prevent them from learning them wrong. I also often ask them to describe to me in words where the note is, which requires them to know there are five lines and four spaces. And, importantly, they should be doing their flash cards in random order so that they can look at any specific line or space on either of the clefs and know exactly what note it is without having to work their way up/down to it from another note they know better. This is their foundation of fluent music reading. Kids usually don't know how to do flashcards effectively (like knowing to just learn a few each day, knowing when they should move one into the "learned" stack, and that they should put one they got wrong at the back of the day's stack so they see it again a minute later), so you'll have to teach them. They will also need to start doing key signature flashcards soon too. Notes flashcards and key signature flashcards are the only flashcards I have them do, so they don't have to do any more once they've mastered those.
Hint about notes flashcards: Usually they come with the treble and bass clefs right there beside the note, but I find that students will integrate those clefs into their memorization of where the note is, which means they can't figure out which note they're looking at in actual music when it's not at the beginning of a line. So I used our paper cutter to cut off the left side of all our flashcards so they'll only be looking at the actual location on the grand staff to remember which notes are where.
WEEKLY LESSON STRUCTURE
1. Look at their practice log: This is the very first thing I always do so I don't forget. Make your expectation clear that they should practice six times in between lessons. This is what they need to strive for. But balance that clear expectation with love and understanding when life happens and they don't get all six practice sessions in some weeks. If necessary, this is the time I'll help troubleshoot what got in the way of practicing so they can do better next week. I used to print out a schedule and post it on the wall, but that got annoying, so now I just draw six circles in their lesson book at the top of the things I will be writing for them to practice that week, and each day at the start of a practice session they fill in a circle and then read through the practice instructions I've written.
2. Ear training: I have four specific things I do each lesson. This section only takes a few minutes but it is really fun for them and super important to hone these skills!
- Absolute pitch test: Before they've heard a single note played, I will test their absolute pitch by playing a B or C and have them guess which note it is. Then I'll play that note in different octaves and have them tell me when I play a different note, which is always a semitone higher or lower for beginners, and I'll make them tell me what note it was. For example, I'll play a B to test them, then after I've told them what note it was, I'll play B's in random octaves, then eventually I'll play a C in a random octave to see if they recognized it was a different note and if they knew it was a semitone higher than the B's I was playing. I make them tell me what the new note is because I believe it's important for them to be able to recognize intervals between notes independent of the octave they're in.
- Picking out notes from a chord: I will play two or three notes at the same time and have them hum each individual note they heard. Each two- or three-note chord is in a different key. And make it interesting by playing strange chords. Once they're good at even really weird dissonant three-note chords, I move on to four-note chords.
- Intervals: I play an interval and make them identify it by its proper name. I start by only using the intervals from the major scale (major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, major 7th, and perfect octave). Each interval sounds different, so focus on helping them recognize the unique sound of each one. Every new interval I play is purposefully in a different key so they're not tempted to figure out the interval based on how far apart the notes are compared to the last interval I played. Play intervals one note at a time and don't forget to mix it up by playing the top note first half the time as well. After they've gotten good at recognizing all the intervals one note at a time, I'll play both notes at the same time. Then I add in all the other intervals that aren't part of the major scale (minor 2nd, minor 3rd, tritone, minor 6th, minor 7th).
- The Harmony Game: This is my newest addition. I want them to start to be able to hear potential harmonies and be able to sing those. It's an important skill for singing, but it's also important for playing any instrument if you want to be able to improvise or compose. This is the one major ear training skill that was lacking, and I'm so excited about the results I'm seeing with it! First, I make up a simple melody. When they're first starting out, the melody will probably only be a single measure long, and the notes are purposefully played slowly. I will start playing this single-measure melody on loop, and this is what they have to do while I'm playing it. There are four tasks, and they cannot move on to the next task until they've passed the prior one, no matter how many loops of the melody it takes them. Task 1 is to sing along to the melody. I'll usually give them the syllable they should use. They seem to enjoy funny ones like "moo." This first task usually only takes one try. When they pass a task, I give them a thumbs up to signal that they can move on to the next task. Task 2 is to find a harmony that is above the melody. It can be any harmony that works. As long as it sounds cool, I give the thumbs up. No need to restrict and make them think only certain harmonies are allowed. Initially this will take several tries, but it helps a lot if you're playing the notes one by one slowly so they have time to hear what they're singing and evaluate if it sounds good with the note I'm playing on the piano. They are sometimes tempted to stop singing and figure this out in their heads, which is why I have a rule that they have to sing along with every single loop of the melody. This forces them to take risks and sing bad notes, but I emphasize that the point is to sing notes that might sound bad so they can figure out what sounds bad and what sounds good. If they're close to a good-sounding harmony, I will give a hand signal to indicate that they should try that one again to lock it in. Once they pass task 2, I give the thumbs up and they move on to task 3, which is to sing with the melody again. This is to remind them where the melody is in their register so they're prepared for task 4, which is to find a harmony lower than the melody. This is usually the hardest task, but they get it if they keep trying. Sometimes I can tell they've lost where the melody is relative to the notes they're singing, so I'll point to myself, which means to go back to the prior task and sing with the melody again. Once they do that, I give them the thumbs up again that indicates they can go back to task 4. My kids seriously impress me so much with the harmonies they come up with, it's really fun, and I suspect I'll start hearing them singing harmonies to their favourite songs soon too.
- The Find-That-Note Game: They close their eyes and I play a random note. They are not allowed to sing the note; they are only allowed to keep it in their brain (to practice retaining a specific pitch in their brain). Then they proceed to try to find that specific note on the keyboard, but I don't let them just start mashing a bunch of different keys until they've honed in on it. I make them name every note before they play it (of course, at no point are they allowed to look at the keyboard), and the challenge is to find it on the second try by hearing the interval between the note I played and the first guess they played. (Yes, this game becomes unnecessary after they've developed absolute pitch.) If they find the correct note and recognize it's the one I played, they win. If they don't, I win. We always play best of three.
For the first three parts of their ear training, I'm at the piano and they're usually sitting in a comfortable chair anywhere in the room, or sometimes they're doing cartwheels and somersaults. It's important for them to be comfortable and free to move about because they're about to sit at the piano for a little while, and it doesn't seem to interfere with their learning as long as they're still engaged. But I do make them come stand next to me for the Harmony Game, and then of course they're sitting at the piano for the Find-that-note Game.
3. Performance: Next, I want them to get the performance aspect out of the way. This is the part they usually stress the most about, but it's an important part of accountability because they will be more motivated to work hard practicing that week if they know they'll be required to perform the songs for me at their next lesson. I will randomly choose some songs (all of them if we have time) for them to perform. And since they feel pressured with me just sitting there waiting for them to start, I remind them that it's okay and necessary to take some time to do their pre-read routine and mental play it first. The other reason I do this early on in the lesson is because, if their performance ends up being a traumatic experience for them because they didn't practice well, they'll hopefully forget those feelings and be having fun again way before the lesson ends. But I try really hard to be smiling and find something really positive to say after every single performance! This is so important, and it's a big part of being an advocate rather than an adversary (see Part 3). After each performance, I'll ask them what went well and what went wrong (if anything) and we'll talk about it and figure out how they can get better. I'll also make them play the song over again if they didn't keep the rhythm or if I think they could do way better and it will help them be more satisfied with themselves.
4. Show them what they'll practice the next week: We then look through the next week's material and I make sure it's clear to them what they need to be doing. If there are new principles or theory that they might not understand just from reading their lesson books, I'll do a little explanation. The number one goal here is for them have no ambiguity about what they're practicing and learning the next week, otherwise they're unlikely to learn anything. If, on the rare occasion, they showed that they didn't learn anything from last week's material, I will consider having them re-do that material for one more week, but I make sure I understand exactly what went wrong. Did they just not practice enough times? Did I not explain everything well enough? When considering whether to have them re-do a week, keep in mind the importance of continuing to push them forward through the material--they don't have to perfectly master each week's material before they can move on because they will continue to pick things up along the way as they see them again and again. But if it looks like it might turn into a severe deficiency that will interfere with the next skills they will be learning, it's probably wise to have them spend more time on that material before moving on.
5. Extras: Some of my favorite lessons as a kid were the ones where my teacher was so excited about some music thing that he took time out of our lesson to show me--playing me a song he just found, showing the application of a principle I'd just learned, etc. That enthusiasm often made me think, as I was walking home from my lesson, "Man, I'm just so excited again about music!" Do these things as they strike you, and they may do more to motivate your students than anything else.
These lessons often go about 60 minutes, and maybe that just because I'm slow, but it usually takes a while to show them what they'll be practicing the next week and explain the new concepts. I don't feel too bad about this because most teachers who teach theory to this degree actually give two lessons per week--a playing lesson and a theory lesson. But I do always try to keep my lessons as short as possible so they're not super fatigued by the end. I want to end the lesson before they want it to end, which will keep them coming back for more rather than dreading it every time. And once I release them, I'll take a few minutes to write down in their book any instructions I feel they'll need so they can refer to that every day when they practice. For some reason they feel like it's a special surprise when they open up their practice book the next day and see what I've written. What do I write? Usually it's just a list of the things they need to do during their practice session each day: "[Draw six practice circles] 1. Flashcards. 2. Lesson books pages 18-19." And so on. I always add reminders as well about principles they need to focus on that week, such as to make everything they play beautiful, not to look at the keyboard, remember to do their pre-read and post-read routines, keep the rhythm, etc.
As a parent teaching my children, it's very tempting to do lessons at different times each week, whenever it happens to be convenient. But that will almost certainly mean they don't get their lessons as regularly as they should. So we've found that it's important to have an assigned lesson day and approximate time each week on our calendar (e.g., every Wednesday after dinner).
DAILY PRACTICE ROUTINE
I have them do their flashcards at the beginning and the end of their practice sessions. And they work through their lesson books. Practicing piano using the principles I write about is really hard work, so they probably shouldn't be practicing more than 30 minutes when they're young (maybe only 15 or 20 minutes when they're really young), but I don't set a time limit on their practicing length or have them keep track, which I think is very important. I don't want them watching the clock when they're practicing, seeing the minutes tick slowly and painfully by. Learning music should not feel like junior high math class! I want them focused and motivated to carry out all the instructions each day and learn the things they need to learn, which makes for a much more satisfying practice session.
Sidenote: As homeschoolers, we have them integrate their piano practicing into their school day. This makes them way more likely to practice, and it also allows them to do it at the best time for them each day when they have the energy they need to dedicate to it. This is a huge perk of homeschooling, and it's one of the reasons we chose to keep at it. When my kids went to public school, they were always exhausted at the end of the school day and had zero motivation to dedicate to hard work like piano practice, so it was a daily struggle to get them to practice, which sometimes made it a negative experience for them.
YEARLY ORGANIZATION
We usually only do piano lessons during school times. Vacation times are a good excuse to give them a break from piano so they don't get too fatigued from doing it week after week ad nauseam. In general, the goal is to finish one level each year, so sometimes this means we'll do piano during some non-school weeks if it means they can finish off the level before stopping for a while.
I mention this in Part 3 as well, but it's important to regularly mix in some change-of-pace weeks. These are times to have them focus on improving the skills that are under-represented in your method books (typically this would be improv, playing by ear, composition, and sight reading). Since it's something completely different, it's refreshing! And because every skill benefits every other skill, you might find that they come back to their lesson books not only more refreshed but also more equipped to understand the things they're learning. You'll probably also find that they start playing the piano just for fun more often, doing some improv or picking out the melody and chords of a song. I'll either have them do a playing-by-ear week, an improv/composition week, or a strictly-sight-reading week.
Once or twice a year, I also take a break from the piano method books to spend one or two or three weeks memorizing a recital piece. Now is a good time to emphasize again that one of the most important things that determines how much a piano student enjoys playing is how much they like the songs they are learning. So it's essential for you to identify their favourite songs and have them learn those as their recital pieces. Find a version that will be challenging (a little above their current reading level) but that won't take forever for them to learn.
These breaks from the usual routine are refreshing and motivating for them, so I believe they end up learning better and faster because of them.
LEARNING RECITAL PIECES
Most people think memorizing a recital song is best done by playing it over and over and over until it's finally learned, and then playing it over and over some more until it's finally memorized. This is a recipe for them hating the song before they even get to perform it! And it's ineffective. Here's how I have my kids learn recital songs:
Step 1: Analyze the song and divide it up. Analyzing the song will help them recognize the overall structure of it and especially pick out the repeats. This makes it less daunting because they can see that even though, for example, it's 100 measures long, they only have to learn 40 or so. Next, they are ready to divide the song up into short sections for learning. To visually divide up the song into sections, I have them draw a vertical line extending a measure bar line up. Then, when they're learning each section, I have them include the measure before and the measure after in their practicing of that section, which prevents them from stumbling when crossing sections.
Step 2: Start memorizing first. Have them choose the most difficult section of the song and memorize it before they ever play it. Then have them practice playing it from memory. They'll have to refer to the music often to make sure they've memorized it properly. And if it's initially too hard to memorize and play hands together, they should do hands separate and then, when each hand is solid enough that they can play even faster than performance speed with ease, then they can put them together.
Step 3: Do the other sections. Then they choose the next most difficult section and do the same thing. And proceed like that until they've memorized and can play all the sections. They are purposefully done out of order like this so it will be like a prize at the end when they're finally able to start putting together the sections to make up one amazing beautiful song. Practicing the whole thing really slowly is a good way of testing whether they really have it memorized (as opposed to just relying on finger memory to know which notes come next). They also should be able to mental play the whole song from memory since they've learned it like this.
This process is so much more efficient because they're always playing the song from memory, and it's also more enjoyable for them because they aren't tired of the song before they even finish learning it.
There are also performance techniques to teach them, but one of the best things is to get them to do little performances for family and friends before the big recital. Performing in various settings also helps cement their memory of the song in a way that is separated from their usual environment where they learned it. And as long as they understand that they just need to do their best and have fun, they can relax about how many mistakes they make or how anxious they feel since they can't directly control those things. When they're more experienced, the overwhelming desire to show off/share a beautiful emotional song with the audience should silence most of their performance anxiety.
LEARNING RECITAL PIECES
Most people think memorizing a recital song is best done by playing it over and over and over until it's finally learned, and then playing it over and over some more until it's finally memorized. This is a recipe for them hating the song before they even get to perform it! And it's ineffective. Here's how I have my kids learn recital songs:
Step 1: Analyze the song and divide it up. Analyzing the song will help them recognize the overall structure of it and especially pick out the repeats. This makes it less daunting because they can see that even though, for example, it's 100 measures long, they only have to learn 40 or so. Next, they are ready to divide the song up into short sections for learning. To visually divide up the song into sections, I have them draw a vertical line extending a measure bar line up. Then, when they're learning each section, I have them include the measure before and the measure after in their practicing of that section, which prevents them from stumbling when crossing sections.
Step 2: Start memorizing first. Have them choose the most difficult section of the song and memorize it before they ever play it. Then have them practice playing it from memory. They'll have to refer to the music often to make sure they've memorized it properly. And if it's initially too hard to memorize and play hands together, they should do hands separate and then, when each hand is solid enough that they can play even faster than performance speed with ease, then they can put them together.
Step 3: Do the other sections. Then they choose the next most difficult section and do the same thing. And proceed like that until they've memorized and can play all the sections. They are purposefully done out of order like this so it will be like a prize at the end when they're finally able to start putting together the sections to make up one amazing beautiful song. Practicing the whole thing really slowly is a good way of testing whether they really have it memorized (as opposed to just relying on finger memory to know which notes come next). They also should be able to mental play the whole song from memory since they've learned it like this.
This process is so much more efficient because they're always playing the song from memory, and it's also more enjoyable for them because they aren't tired of the song before they even finish learning it.
There are also performance techniques to teach them, but one of the best things is to get them to do little performances for family and friends before the big recital. Performing in various settings also helps cement their memory of the song in a way that is separated from their usual environment where they learned it. And as long as they understand that they just need to do their best and have fun, they can relax about how many mistakes they make or how anxious they feel since they can't directly control those things. When they're more experienced, the overwhelming desire to show off/share a beautiful emotional song with the audience should silence most of their performance anxiety.
TEACHING THE 'OTHER' SKILLS
You'll probably find that you need to supplement your method books to cover all the crucial aspects of fluency in the language of music. You could accomplish this by finding a book specifically dedicated to each skill, or you could make up the activities yourself. The strategy you choose probably depends on how experienced you are as a pianist. But here are some thoughts to get you started on teaching some of the other skills:
- Teaching improv: An easy start is to have the left hand do a simple and set chord progression (using only chords they've learned already), and allow them to play around with the notes that fit that chord in the right hand. Then have their hands switch roles. Another beginner activity, which also helps them see the chords in the songs they're reading, is to have them add notes to the song they're reading. Use a song that is easy for them to play already so they should already be easily seeing the chords in the song, which makes it fairly straightforward for them to add notes here and there that fit those chords. You can also play a set chord progression for them and have them improvise above that (Heart and Soul, anyone?). A more advanced skill would be for them to improvise along with a song you're playing from Spotify. They would have to first recognize the chord progression the song uses to be able to do this (see the playing by ear section). Another foundational skill to help them improvise well is to learn "stock patterns." These are standard ways of playing the harmony chords. For example, an Alberti bass, or a tonic-dominant-tonic arpeggio. When they know a bunch of those, they can vary pretty easily what their left hand is doing without too much thought, which allows them the bandwidth to be extra creative in the right hand. These stock patterns also have room for changing up the rhythm, changing which notes are included in a solid chord, changing the order of the notes in a broken chord, etc., so there's a ton of variation available. And of course I shouldn't forget fake books, which only give the melody and chord names and you fill in the rest. I have heard there are some good books out there that teach how to use fake books. Regardless of how you do it, they should definitely get some experience playing from a fake book eventually.
- Teaching playing by ear: The first step is to understand the big-picture structure of the song (e.g., ABABCB). Next, they need to be able to pick out the melody and play it. After that, they can start adding harmonies. The biggest challenge is figuring out which chords are being used to support the melody. One thing that will help is getting them to just play the tonic of each chord they think is being used along with the melody. Later, they can add in full chords and other fun stuff, but identifying the melody and the chords used is where everything starts.
- Teaching sight reading: The majority of someone's sight reading ability comes from having amazing music reading skills in general, plus being able to do an effective pre-read routine. But there are other skills specific to sight reading. One is figuring out the art of fudging, which is dropping the less important notes. I don't know of a good way to teach this other than through experience doing it. A hint, though, is to take note of any accidentals and make sure to play those, because they are usually important notes. Another sight reading-specific skill is figuring out how to minimize mistakes by creatively making them fit with the rest of the music as if they were meant to be there. Familiarity with the repertoire in the category, or, even better, how that specific song sounds, can make it way easier too. It's important to emphasize that when you're sight reading, you have to keep the rhythm until you finish the song. No pausing to get a tricky chord or going back a few beats to fix a mistake. Keeping the rhythm until the very end is a way higher-priority goal than getting all the notes right, and if kids understand and do this from the beginning, it will push their sight-reading skills up much faster. I always tell them to keep the rhythm and make it musical. I don't tell them they have to get all the notes right because that's less important.
- Teaching composition: People often start songs but never finish them. A little planning and thought at the beginning can reduce this. So have your student first decide on what they want to convey and also on the big-picture structure (again, the ABABCB thing). Next, they need to decide on the elements of music that they want to use. These are things like key signature, time signature, the rhythms, the general style of music, the cool harmonies they might want to try, the overall dynamics, the chord progression, etc. After they've decided all those things, have them play the whole song through according to their plan. This is improvising, which always includes parts that will work well and parts that will be horrible. After that, they refine by keeping the parts they liked and change the horrible parts. Initially, they probably only need to annotate (or have you annotate) just enough for them to remember the key parts that they like. Song writing, like any skill, requires practice. They shouldn't expect to be churning out amazing songs every time. I have heard a few different famous composers say they would write a song every day, and it was only after a few months or even years that they started to like what they were coming up with. Composing is also a process of discovering what they like in other songs and figuring out why they like those things and then trying to use them. Composing with others is another way to get expand ideas. You can assign them to compose a short song themselves, or you can do it with them a few times first, depending on their ability. Also, some people are strong composers but weak lyricists, and vice versa. So more effort might be needed on one or the other to get good at it, or you can work with someone who is strong in the area where you are weaker.
- Teaching listening comprehension: I'm actually not sure how to do this one. And I haven't read or heard anything helpful on it either. What aspects of listening comprehension are the most important? Figuring out the chords used in a song is important if you want to play by ear well, but I don't necessarily have a process to get better at it other than just doing play-by-ear activities. If you are a composer, figuring out elements you like is important so you can integrate them into your own writing. Maybe the most important aspect is simply grasping how the song's lyrics and music combine to create a mood, which comes by paying attention to it, and which allows you to connect emotionally to the songs that resonate with you.
This concludes my music and piano teaching series. I hope it helps others succeed at helping their children become musicians because music can be one of the richest joys in life!
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