Take a Rest…Breathe!
Has anyone else had difficulty getting students to actually lift their hands off the keys when there is a rest written in the music? I’ve finally come upon an idea that seems to be working consistently with my students. A lot of my students use the Faber Piano Adventures series of method books. When we get to the song, “Sailing in the Sun” in Book 1, we follow these steps:
1. Say/sing the words in rhythm and deliberately breathe in on the rests.
2. Tap the corresponding hands on the piano fall board in rhythm while saying/singing the words and deliberately breathe in on the rests. Indicate the rests with hands by turning them upside down in the air.
3. Play the piece, still saying/singing the words and deliberately breathing in and lifting hands on rests.
This seems to be an effective way for students to internalize the concept of a rest. So far every student I’ve tried it with has caught on really quickly and come back the following lesson with all rests duly observed! Isn’t it exciting to have a breakthrough moment like that in teaching when you come across an approach to a concept that just works?! 
Anyone else have a great approach to a musical concept that they could share? I could especially use some ideas for developing better dynamics. I’ve realized that’s an area where a lot of my students are kind of weak - playing with less contrast dynamically than I would like. I would love to have some better ideas for helping them in this area…
Here’s an idea for dynamics. I got it while reading Sfrack’s blog - thanks for the link to her! She’s got a recent post up about a student who used paper fortunes to create a practicing game. http://sfrack.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/fortune-a-fun-practice-game-youll-love/#comment-137
For each “fortune,” write a dynamic sign. Since there are 8 places, you could use dynamics from fff to ppp, or you could use dynamics ff to pp and throw in a couple of silly possibilities like “play with your tongue sticking out.” Choose a section in their piece, or even an entire piece if it’s short, and have the student discover their “fortune” - how loudly or quietly they must play it. OR, take a piece and map out a dynamics plan for it (section by section) using the fortune teller to make the decisions. It may not be how you actually want it to sound in the end, but it would be fun practice to get them to actually respond to the signs.
Here’s a YouTube video on how to fold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccrwvGYIqyg&feature=related
Great suggestion! Thanks so much, Laura!