One of the fallouts of my computer crash several weeks ago is that I no longer have access to all of my e-mails. In particular, I had over fifty Monday Mailbag questions saved for upcoming postings. So…it looks like we’re going to have to start over from scratch. If you have a questions you’d like to see addressed in an upcoming Monday Mailbag post, please send me an e-mail with the question/topic. We should be able to get back on track with weekly postings, and if you get the question to me quickly yours should get posted soon!
Category Archives: Monday Mailbag
Monday Mailbag – How to Develop an Internal Sense of Pulse
I want my students to feel an internal beat; it seems that any kind of external beat (counting, tapping, metronome, etc.) can be ”warped” or ignored while concentrating on note location, etc. But, I’m having trouble with some students who never seem to get it (it doesn’t matter what song it is). When approaching a new song, what do you teach first – note locations or rhythm? And do you have any ideas to move a student from external to internal beat?
This question is very apropos right now because I have a young student struggling with the exact same thing, so I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas to address this issue. In my experience, students who are strong visual learners tend to struggle more in this area because they are very focused on reading the notes on the page and tend to not be as aware of the sound they are making. And I should know because I was one of those students! Thanks to the patience and creativity of my dedicated teacher, though, I think I have developed a pretty good sense of pulse and rhythmic flow. So, some of these ideas that I share will be ones that she used with me. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to do a brainstorm post and just bullet point every idea that comes to mind that could be used to help a student develop a better internal sense of pulse:
- Incorporate elements of Eurhythmics into the lesson. The basic idea is to use large motor movements to express the pulse and the rhythms, whether walking, dancing, swaying, marching in place, etc. (Don’t be afraid to make the student get off the bench and feel a little ridiculous if necessary. Even if they hate it now, it will be worth it!)
- Grab a baton and teach the student basic conducting patterns. I have a whole collection of kids batons and use them often with students to learn conducting patterns. They love it!
- Listen to recordings of upbeat music and tap, clap, or play a rhythm instrument along with it. The Let’s Have a Musical Rhythm Band book and CD set is great for this!
- Give the student a djembe and have them beat a steady pulse while you play or improvise a piece of music. I have this Toca Djembe and use it all the time in my studio – it’s a favorite for both the students and me! I especially like to have them emphasize the downbeat by hitting the drum harder or in a different spot to make it distinct.
- Improvise duets together. Anyone whose been around here long knows I can hardly go a whole week without a reference to improvising! I use the Pattern Play series every day in my teaching, and it’s a great way to free students up from having to read musical notation to just listen and express themselves musically. Very helpful for cultivating more of an awareness of musical pulse and flow.
- Record (audio or video) the student playing their piece, then listen to the playback and tap along with the beat. Have them keep a tally of how many times they hesitated or got off beat.
- Find a book of duets at their level and have them learn one part to play with either you or another student. Ensemble playing does wonders for learning to keep the beat going!
- When learning a piece (to address the other part of your question), have the student improvise whatever notes they want to, but play the rhythm as written. Sometimes to make the point that I really don’t care what notes they play, I’ll have them move onto the black keys and just play everything on random keys, but still keeping the rhythm accurate. The goal is to capture the character and flow of the piece, then later we will work on learning the written notes.
So, there are some of my ideas. I would LOVE to add to this list, though, so if you have other suggestions of how to help a student develop an internal sense of pulse, please let me know!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – Teaching Hand Position
I have a technical question – my boy wants to rest his wrist a lot while plays. I sit by him and sort of poke underneath to remind him. Now he’s getting into harder stuff and has runs with 8th notes. He tends to play with his fingers straight. What can I do to get his “finger posture” correct?
Well, I’ve heard of teachers putting nail strips at the edge of the piano, or smacking kids’ hands with rulers…but aside from the fact that these approaches are highly abusive, they do absolutely nothing to help a student understand why it’s important for them to maintain a good hand position. I am a firm believer in teaching students to understand the reasoning behind what they are being instructed to do so that they will develop a personal sense of responsibility and motivation for applying the instruction to their practicing and playing. Here are some resources toward that end:
- Three essential areas of technical understanding: Gravity, Strength, and Conduction
- Teach “slide position” for the thumb – (amazingly, one of the longest-lasting and most effective principles I’ve ever taught my students!)
- The finger O game. Probably the simplest activity you can do with students, but I use it from the very first lesson and for years afterward and the students love it. They take turns pressing each finger against the thumb to form an “O” shape, then I see if I can use my index finger to quickly break apart their “O.” If I am successful, I make a big deal of how weak their finger is and how much it needs strength conditioning. Conversely, if their “O” shape holds, I make a big deal of how strong and pianistic their fingers are becoming. I encourage them to do Finger O’s all the time – when they’re riding in the car, sitting at the table, watching a movie, etc. The stronger the fingers are, the better they will be able to support the weight of the arm as it is channeled through the fingers to the keys.
- Take videos regularly so that the student can observe their hand position and see tangible progress as they work to improve it. I use my handy little iPod Touch for this and have found it to be a very effective way of helping students understand how their hand position needs to develop. We record and watch the videos week after week with me pointing out specific areas of improvement: “Look how your thumb is staying in a much better slide position this week!” “See how your wrist is staying up and not dropping lazily onto the edge of the piano anymore!” etc.
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – Planning a Comprehensive Curriculum for Intermediate Piano Students
I have been thinking a little more about curriculum. My younger students typically work through a method book with additional repertoire and activities added. My older students choose several pieces to work on through the semester/year, discuss theory/musical concepts in their pieces, work through a theory book, and typically do scales or other technical exercises. Do you have any set “curriculum” you follow as far as what you expect students to learn/cover over the course of a year?
Last week we dealt with one aspect of this question – 5 Essential Resources for Selecting Repertoire for Intermediate Piano Students. This week we’ll look at additional resources for planning a comprehensive curriculum. It’s important, first of all, to understand that “comprehensive” does not mean “exhaustive.” You will never be able to teach any student everything there is to know or learn about being an excellent pianist. (Not that that keeps some of us from trying, but I digress… 
)
Music Progressions – I have mentioned our state piano curriculum before, but this is easily the most helpful resource to me in knowing what skills students should be working on at different levels. Music Progressions outlines a systematic approach for teaching keyboard facility (scales, arpeggios, etc.), applied theory (intervals, chords, etc.), rhythm, sight-reading, listening, and written theory.
The Brown Scale Book – I don’t use scale books with my students, but as I was referring to this wonderful reference book for some inverted arpeggio fingering for a student a couple weeks ago and trying to figure out how to help my more advanced students remember the correct fingerings, it occurred to me that I should just have them each purchase this book for their own reference. Duh. So I ordered four of them that afternoon from my local music store. This is way easier than writing down fingerings in their assignment books!
Practice Incentive Themes – Many of you are familiar with the yearly practice incentive themes that I develop for my students. These are particularly helpful for older students because they provide a framework for us throughout the year to ensure that they are receiving a comprehensive music education. It’s easy to revert to a repertoire-based approach to teaching/learning piano, so developing and using the structure built into the practice incentive themes helps make sure we include other important skills like playing by ear, improvising, composing, memorizing, etc. Plus it keeps the whole process more fun!
Theory Books – I’ve mentioned several times that I rarely use theory books with my students. For written theory work, I often have the students use their Music Manuscript book, develop a program like Kick it up a Notch!, or use the Just the Facts II theory series from Music Bag Press.
If you have resources or tips for developing a comprehensive curriculum for intermediate students, please share!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – Favorite Christmas Arrangements
I have so appreciated your ideas and was wondering, if you find any great Christmas arrangements that you just love, will you let us know?
With our Christmas Recital coming up later this week, Christmas music is definitely on my mind! Here are some of the favorites on our program this year:
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear by Melody Bober – a gorgeous intermediate level arrangement!
Christmas Traditions by Phillip Keveren – this whole book is a gem! This is a great collection of musical arrangements at an elementary level, and many of them are perfect rote teaching pieces. One of my favorites for this is the Go, Tell it On the Mountain arrangement.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Andy Fling – a fun, simple arrangement of this favorite Christmas classic.
In Christ Alone by Natalie Wickham – A couple of my students requested a duet for the recital, and after considerable searching I thought it would be fun to see if they could pull together this duet that I arranged several years ago for another student.
Several of my students have written their own arrangements this year, and they are absolutely amazing! I’m so excited to share them with you all sometime after Thursday. I won’t be able to live stream the Christmas recital this year, but I’m hoping to get it posted to YouTube like we did with last year’s.
If you have any favorite Christmas selections in your studio, please share! It’s always fun to find out about other great arrangements to add to the list of possibilities.
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – Media Release Forms for Piano Students
Love the student videos. Do you have your students sign media consent forms before filming and posting publicly online? Just curious if you’ve experienced any negative reactions. I’m sure there are plenty of very positive ones as well!
Yes, I include a Media Release Form along with the Parent Questionnaire, Studio Policy, and business card at all of my initial student interviews.
I wrote this based on what seemed necessary for my studio, so I recommend obtaining legal counsel as you develop a form that meets your studio needs. Here’s the wording from mine:
“I, _______, hereby grant permission for my child, __________, born on ____________, to have his/her photo and/or video used by Natalie’s Piano Studio in promotional materials, downloadable products, website content, and blog posts.”
Parent Signature _________________________ Date ______________
I have only had one family decide not to sign the form because they prefer not to have any public internet presence. However, it has still worked out great to record the student and post the videos on my YouTube account, but set them to “Private” and just send the parents the links to the videos. They are pleased to retain their privacy, but still get to experience the technology used in the studio.
I’d be curious to know how other teachers handle this. Do you have parents sign a Media Release Form? What do you include on the form? Have you received complaints from parents?
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – How to Incorporate Student Options Into Practice Incentives
What did you mean when you said a good practice incentive should include student options?
One of the primary purposes of a practice incentive is to motivate students to practice. And what better way to do that than to let them choose what they are going to practice? As teachers, we have to tap into what students actually want to achieve with their piano studies in order to develop assignments that will help them reach their goals. However, as teachers we also have a better idea than our students of what will contribute to their overall music education. So, if we want them to become well-rounded musicians we will give them options that are designed to help them build essential skills as well.
Think of it like this: A parent could give a child at dinner time of what they want to eat. If they gave their child the choice of ice cream or peas, I bet every time the child would choose ice cream. This might make the child happy and motivated to eat, but it would be extremely unhealthy for the child. Not to mention, bad parenting. However, a parent could similarly give their child a choice between peas and green beans. Perhaps the child dislikes both, but the fact that they are getting to choose which one they prefer to eat gives them slightly more control of the situation and instills a greater sense of responsibility for eating their vegetable since they are the one that chose it. This is an example of a good way to utilize options.
In a piano lesson environment, perhaps you realize that most of your students need vast improvement in their sight-reading skills. You could develop a practice incentive that would incorporate a variety of options related to sight-reading, and each week students could choose one challenge from a list to accomplish by the following lesson. Examples include:
- Play through 5 easy level pieces of music.
- Select a speed note drill and play each line in random order 3 times every day.
- Work on a flashcard drill – see how many notes can be named and/or played in 1 minute by your next lesson.
- Tap through one level of rhythm drills with the metronome at a certain marking.
- Search for and play a sight-reading app every day.
- And so on!
This is how I design all of my studio practice incentive themes so that students have plenty of options to help them reach their desired goals while still ensuring a well-rounded music education. This also makes every lesson new and different, but provides a wonderful framework to teach within all year long so that we stay organized and on track in our musical studies!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – When to Start Teaching Scales
When do you start teaching scales? I have been using the “Piano Adventures” method books and really like them, but they don’t teach scales or time signatures until four books in, and I am debating about teaching younger students scales before they encounter them in their music. How soon do you start introducing scales and key signatures?
Actually, I teach my students their first scale before we even begin lessons. They learn it when I do their initial interview/assessment. Really. They learn the pentatonic scale by way of participating in a black key improvisation with me. The only catch is that I don’t call it that; I just tell them that they can play any black keys on their end of the piano while I play black keys on my end. The reality is that students are learning scales and keys from the moment they learn their very first piece on the piano. They, of course, don’t understand the underlying theory yet, but we as teachers must be aware of this reality so that we can lead students to a real and relevant knowledge of what scales and keys are in the first place.
Anyone who has been reading here very long knows that I rarely use theory books. This is because I want students to understand theory concepts as being integral and irremovable from the music they are playing – whether improvised, by ear, or from a printed sheet. I would much rather have them transpose a simple rote piece to other keys on the piano, or figure out the notes of a particular scale by picking out a favorite tune by ear and then add harmony, or improvise on a given set of notes to develop an aural awareness of the way a key sounds, rather than merely play ascending and descending scales with a metronome. However, despite the fact that I would rather do this doesn’t mean that that is what I do.
I was largely inspired in this new way of thinking by the Pattern Play improvisation teaching intensive that I attended this summer. Even though I’ve moved away from teaching scales as consistently as before, I do still believe that there is a great deal of value for students in knowing what a scale is, how to construct it, and what fingering to use for maximum fluency. Now that I’ve spent three paragraphs not answering your question, I suppose it’s sufficiently clear that I am in a transitional mode in my philosophy and approach to teaching scales and keys. That said, here are 7 goals that I work toward with every student regarding scales and keys (roughly in sequential order):
- Understand whole steps and half steps.
- Understand that every type of scale is constructed of a series of half and or whole steps in a particular order.
- Know how to construct Major and minor pentascales and Major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales.
- Understand relative Major and minor keys.
- Know how to play the primary and secondary triads in every key.
- Be able to identify what key a piece is in based on the key signature and context.
- Be able to play multi-octave scales with accurate fingering and musicality.
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – What’s the Point of Teaching Pieces by Rote?
You suggest teaching by rote, and your website lists “24 Piano Pieces Perfect for Rote Teaching”. I certainly appreciate that you took the time to develop this list. But I don’t get it. Why teach by rote? How does learning a piece by rote develop skills necessary to aid in learning the next piece of music? Where is the spill-over” impact of learning by rote? Why are some music teachers so concerned with “The product” that they have to “teach” by rote? Why not focus on the process; since a good process will lead to a good product! Please enlighten me…
This is a great question, and not that many years ago I had similar feelings about teaching by rote. This was due in part to the experiences I’ve had working with numerous transfer students who can play intermediate level pieces, but lack basic music reading skills. So, to borrow the cliche, I threw the baby out with the bath water. I didn’t want to be one of those teachers who just showed a student what to play so that they could sound like an amazing pianist on the surface with no foundation supporting them.
Thankfully, I have had numerous opportunities and influences that have enlightened me in this matter, so now I will do my best to pass on that enlightenment to all who may be struggling with similar misgivings.
Define “the product” – In my studio, the final product/goal we are aiming for is clearly stated in my studio policy. It’s “that each student will become a skilled musician who will use his/her talents and abilities to serve the Lord. It is important that each student receive a balanced music education that will prepare them for whatever their future in music may be. Every aspect of music works together and contributes to the overall ability of any musician. For this reason I include performance, ear training, technique, theory, composition, improvisation, and sight-reading in the music education of each student.”
The realization that hit me this summer as I participated in the Pattern Play Improvisation Teaching Intensive is that the core of my teaching model was reading and learning repertoire, and other areas of musicianship were included if we had time. This led to a complete revamp of how I organize my teaching and what is assigned every week. (And thus Project 28 was born!) If your ultimate end product is for students to be strong sight-readers, then by all means don’t teach them anything by rote; but if in addition to sight-reading you want them to develop a strong ear, cultivate creativity, build excellent keyboard facility, and have fun playing familiar or cool-sounding tunes that are beyond their reading level, then definitely consider including rote teaching (and also playing by ear and composing and improvising!).
Define “the process” – Chances are if you have more than one student, you have more than one process for learning in your studio. Even if your ultimate goal is to develop strong sightreaders, there are probably a hundred different ways you could help them develop that skill. For example, I’m going to assume that many teachers introduce pentascales or full-octave scales by rote. You probably explain the concept to the student and then show them the keys, point out the correct fingering, encourage them to phrase the scales musically, etc. Same with primary triads, chord progressions, and other theory concepts. Then when a student is working on a piece you can point out the use of a particular chord or scale and help them tap into the experience they have already had playing it to generate a more fluent and musical rendering of it.
In the same way, teaching a piece by rote (or learning a song by ear, or improvising on a particular chord progression, etc.) can be every bit as much part of the process of becoming an excellent musician as reading printed notes off of a page. In fact, I can say without reserve from my own musical experience that I wasn’t nearly as good a musician when all I could do was read music (and I’m a strong sightreader!) as since I’ve learned to play by ear, rote, and improvise freely at the piano.
Define “the next piece” – Perhaps tomorrow a student will be asked to play a Christmas song (with no printed music on hand) at a friend’s party; or maybe they will be recruited as the keyboard player for a church service; or they’ll find out it’s the last day to sign up for the school talent show; or a friend will request a song for her wedding, but all she has is a recording of it; and so on. I think sometimes we teachers get so sequestered in our own little studio worlds that we forget the real world of possibilities our students are facing. Having a broad range of skills is essential if we want our students to succeed and impact the culture around them. They should be able to pick out a tune by ear and add a musical accompaniment to it. They should be able to play chords from a lead sheet. They should be able to listen to or watch a piece of music being played and figure out how to replicate it. And yes, they should be able to sightread a piece of printed music with good accuracy and musicality.
Obviously this is a tall order for us teachers to fill! There are so many things we can teach our students to equip them to be successful pianists. And we’re never going to be able to do it perfectly with any student. But what a privilege it is to work with each of them as individuals, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and incorporating the best teaching approaches to help them reach their potential.
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Monday Mailbag – Teaching Reading and Rhythm Skills to Students Who Already Play at an Intermediate Level
What kind of approach do you use for older transfer students who have trouble with reading and rhythm, without hurting their self-esteem or making them feel incompetent? I have one 12-year old transfer student who had been taught how to play the piano by rote, though he plays at an intermediate level. I was surprised to learn that he doesn’t have any foundation in theory or reading at all. I’d appreciate any suggestions you have!
Unfortunately, this seems to be an all-too common phenomenon in the piano teaching world. I have had numerous students start studying with me who have already learned to play up to an intermediate level of piano repertoire, but have no idea how to count rhythms or read printed music fluently. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Be glad that the student is still interested in studying piano! The truth of the matter is that we all have gaps and weaknesses in our music knowledge and playing ability. Accept and embrace each student wherever they are and consider what an incredible privilege it is to be able to share your love of music with them and help equip them for a lifetime of playing the piano.
2. Be honest with the student about their gaps. If the student has come to you as a transfer, they obviously still want to learn, and believe that you have something to teach them. Don’t try to gloss over their weak areas; if they are struggling with a rhythm, tell them you can see that they haven’t internalized how to count out rhythms, so you want to help them learn to do this fluently. If they take forever to figure out a note, make the observation that they are not up-to-speed in note reading and you are going to come up with some ways to help them develop instantaneous recognition of notes.
3. Be intentional in developing strategies to help the student succeed. Spend time thinking about the student and what you can do to help them learn the essential musical skills of rhythm and reading. It may involve having them learn entire books of early level supplementary pieces with duets so you can play along with them. Or maybe you will have them pick out familiar tunes by ear and then learn how to notate them with the correct note placement and rhythmic values. Perhaps they will learn conducting patterns and practice conducting their pieces while counting out the rhythms. Or maybe a sheet of rhythm drills could be used as an improvisation exercise where the student can make up and play melodies or chord progressions using a line of rhythm. There are so many possibilities for creatively addressing these needs in a way that keeps the process interesting for any level of student!
4. Be willing to listen. Ask lots of questions and let the student openly share where they feel like they are struggling, how they are feeling about their assignments, and ideas they have for further approaches to develop these areas. Find out how motivated the student is to even work on areas like rhythm and reading. Do they see value in it? Do they understand how these skills are relevant to their playing ability and future success as a pianist? You may have to take some time not just to teach these things, but also to convince students that they are worth learning!
5. Be open-minded about how you teach and what the student plays. The worst thing you can do is hone in so much on the details of rhythm and note reading that it saps the joy of music-making right out of the student. Always make sure that the student still has other things to play that are full of music and fun. Here are a couple of possibilities:
- The Any Song Assignment
- Teach Pieces by Rote (Here’s a list of 24 Piano Pieces Perfect for Rote Teaching)
- Improvise Together
I imagine this will continue to be an issue for teachers forever, so if anyone has other tried-and-true approaches for helping older students develop rhythm and reading skills, please share! It would be great to have as many ideas as possible!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!