Evolving Music Education

I’ve been using a note reading game on my iPhone for several months, called “Note Squish” with some impressive results. In the video, I’ll explain a little bit about the game, and then you’ll get to see a student playing it. I’ve tried many different note reading games on my iPhone, but this one really is the best (unless I missed one). There are several things I like about it. First of all, it’s actually FUN! The sound effects and graphics are engaging. Second, you can easily scale up or down the level and challenge by choosing which notes to display, or adjusting the speed of the game (slow, medium and fast).

You can visit www.guitargames.net to find these games online, and you can get the game for your iPhone here.

As for other games, I was told by the creator of the game: “There are several apps that work for piano: Note squish, Note fish, Woody Says, The Melody Game, Super Scale Trainer, Music Theory Blocks, Ear Tester, and Key Hunt. All those either have a piano mode or teach more general concepts.” Very cool! I will definitely be trying some of the other ones out myself.

Its only $19.95 a YEAR for the online version, and this gives you access to ALL the games on guiargames.net. You can try all the games for FREE for one month. The iPhone app of note squish is only 99 cents. If you do sign up for an online version through this link, I would receive a small affiliate commission for sharing it with you. But since I do no advertising on this site, and put in many hours of extra time, if you REALLY like the game and don’t mind using my link, that would be great! If you choose not to, you can just go directly to www.guitargames.net without the link.

Hello! I recently received another question:

So I am extremely new to the teaching world. This is literally my first time teaching piano and I’m just going to be teaching a few kids, but I am a little unsure of exactly what to do. I’m 16 and have a high level of piano, theory, and music skill. I’m just unsure of where to start. I want to be able to get to know their skill levels and then go from there hitting theory, sight reading, and ear training first. I was just wondering if you could offer some tips? Maybe some suggestions on what I should focus on and what books are the best for beginners?

I’m going to tackle this question in two separate posts.

First, I’ll show my basic plan for a first piano lesson with a beginner.

It’s covered mainly in this video, but below I’ve outlined the main points and added a little more information below.

Don’t forget, you can ask me a piano teaching question anytime…

First Piano Lesson: Step by Step

This is the basic run-down of what’s on the board, details in the video!

1. “Copy Cat” – black note game
2. Musical Alphabet – say/write (no piano) – More about the musical alphabet here.
3. White Notes – putting the musical alphabet onto the piano
4. Find all C’s, D’s etc. – isolating specific white notes
5. Finger Numbers
6. C Position – More about beginning hand position.

That’s the normal progression of what I usually cover in the first lesson. I do most of this without a book.

But then I DO try to get to the first 3-4 songs in the Primer Lesson Book (either in the beginning of the book, or in the middle – I start in different places depending on age and how well they do with the other stuff.)

Here’s the biggest takeaway off all though, which I didn’t mention in the video:

A lot of what I do in the first lesson is NOT about the material. It’s about my first moments with the student, laying the groundwork for a positive relationship, getting a feel for the students emotional, intellectual, and psychological demeanor.

I keep it loose, and don’t ever strictly follow this plan by rote, allowing room for creativity, fun and experimentation. But just like playing a jazz standard, Its good to have a framework to work from, and deviate from it if necessary.

So remember: I’ll be answering more of this question, in a second post, to come shortly, so stay tuned! Sign up on the email list or RSS feed if you haven’t already. Thanks!

Hi Everyone!  Here’s another quick video tip for helping your piano student find their beginning hand position. More ideas below, too!

There’s basically three pieces of information you need to know, to find your beginning hand position.

1. HAND (right or left)

2. FINGER (which number)

3. NOTE (note name and which one on the piano)

Most method books show beginning hand position with either a diagram or with “1 on __” under the first note of the song.  But sometimes this is too confusing and abstract for students.

My method below, is to show student how to take the erroneous “1 on __” and turn it into a sentence.  A sentence that makes sense, and they can say aloud to themselves, almost as a command, telling their fingers what to do.

The sentence is:

Put your ______ hand, __ finger on __.

An answer would be: “Put your right hand, 3rd finger on G”. They should say this aloud, like they are telling themselves what to do.  You’ll want to of course do this for each hand.

Seems simple, yet can be a powerful way to make beginning hand position a bit more tangible for the confused student.  And its really helpful for songs with unusual hand position, like “Let’s Play Ball” in the Primer Piano Adventures, for example.

This little tip assumes they are already comfortable with figuring out which hand to use (top or bottom staff), what finger numbers mean (1 is thumb) and how to read a note and assign it to a key on the piano.  By separating hand position into three elements in a sentence, this can serve to isolate which part may be an obstacle for them.  (If they have trouble with any one of these components, work on it separately before returning to this activity.)

As always, please comment and let me know what you think… thanks!!

Alright – hey everybody out there!! All two of you who read this!!! OK, no, I’m sure there’s more. Three maybe. That headline will look pretty ridiculous if it says “zero comments” up there forever. I want YOU to tell me what you think about this…

I’m looking for feedback on this whole CLAY note reading deal. I think its the most exciting avenue of teaching music I’ve experimented with, and it has helped so many of my students. Just the tactile aspects of it alone are beneficial. That’s how I first started using the clay, as a tactile experience.

But as time went on, I started to see huge benefits without the tactile aspects. Just the fact that its bigger than the notes on the page, and three-dimensional. It really makes note “real” for kids. Just the fact you can see the note travel from space to line to space. And the fact that it boils note reading down into its most simplistic form – lines and a circle.

So this video is reiterating one of the note games you can play with your students (here was my introductory post on note reading with clay), explaining it a little bit more, and asking YOU to try this one game with them. And let me know how it goes, by commenting on the blog.

So, check out the video, try the game with some students that may be having trouble reading notes (7-10 year-olds are best I find), and let us know how it goes! I’d love to hear your feedback.

Ummm, there’s nothing else down here, the post is over… comments anyone? …cricket

Hey there! So continuing my experiments with using CLAY to help kids read notes, here’s another way you can incorporate it in your lessons.

I’ve set up the clay grand staff to line up directly in front of the corresponding keys on the real piano. The short Middle C line is directly in from of middle C and so on.

This provides an insanely useful connection for the student between how the grand staff is laid out, and how it relates to the actual piano. I’ve been seeing light bulbs go off all week while doing this.

(Pardon my “smokers voice” – had a cold over the weekend and then lost my voice!)

Step By Step

Here’s what we’re doing

We’re using the song “Sneaking Past the Sleeping Dog” from Piano Adventures Book 1

1. The student is putting the clay note where the note is in the song
2. Since the staff is right in front of the corresponding keys on the piano, key is then playing the note directly in front of the clay note.
- (for sharps he’s just leaving the clay note on the appropriate line/space but playing it as a sharp on the piano.)

I hope you like this game and find it helpful. As always feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Alright… here it is!  This has been the most exciting game and teaching tool I think I’ve ever used.  For the past year, I’ve been using CLAY to help my students read notes.  It works unbelievably well.

I’m not going to say too much about it here, just yet, I think the initial video speaks for its self.  Maybe some of you have tried other ways of incorporating 3D objects into your piano teaching?  If so, I’d love to hear about them.  As always, please let me know what you think of this idea!

These are just a few quick ideas – there will be lots more to come!!

ClayTime Piano – Introduction

Video of a fun note reading game. Great for students whose fingers won’t slow down to let their brain catch up!

The steps for each note are;

• The student holds the ball in hand that will play the note (this is so they are not tempted to hit the note first)
• They name the note
• If correct, they toss the ball to the teacher
• Then they find and play the correct one on the piano (another hidden benefit, is for every single note, they have to re-orient themselves to middle C)
• The teacher tosses the ball back to them

The idea of this game is to get students to be sure they are consciously thinking of the note before they play it on the piano. Its perfect for students that are relative beginners to piano, maybe they’ve been taking lessons for 1-3 years. I find this game works great with a select few students, while others it would be a little pointless. Its also ideal for boys, because they’ll tend to like getting to throw a ball back and forth.

I also find it useful for kids that tend to have a lot of energy. It’s a nice break for them to get to stand up and move around a little (and a nice break for me too!)

Here’s a little game that came up spontaneously.  In this lesson, my student was having trouble orienting the grand staff to the real piano.  We used two pennies to provide strong visual references.  I’m sure there’s a lot more that can be done with this simple idea. 

Once again, using my favorite note chart, from Piano Adventures Primer Lesson Book.

Hope it helps!

This is a game to help students read music.  It breaks it into three separate parts to be sure they are doing each step correctly.  I really want to make sure they are NOT reading notes by any of these common incorrect methods – finger numbers, writing in note names, intervals(this should come after), guessing, imitating or by ear.

By the way, I am using the note chart from the middle of Piano Adventures, Primer Lesson Book.

I hope it helps!

I’d like to pose a suggestion.  Your student can play better and more confidently instantaneously with just a small change.  When you catch yourself thinking “they just don’t get it!”, think again.  They don’t need hours of practice, or yet another verbal explanation or demonstration.  You may simply need to correct a small habit that’s getting in the way of their true potential.  One often overlooked elephant in the room…

Example: Excessive looking at hands.

Pianists looking at their hands is a huge external sign that they are processing music backwards in their brain.  Note reading in terms of brain process should go:

1. Book (take in the information from the page) -> 2. Piano (play it)

LOTS of students get this backwards and go:
1. Piano (Look at hands first to guess what note is next or rely on looking to remember where their fingers are) -> 2. Book (checking the book to see if what they hit is what the book says)

Recommendations:

• COVER their hands with a piece of paper (you hold it) or cloth (just lay it over their hands) so they are forced to look at the book.  Point along with a pencil to show them how to follow the music with their eyes.
• While their hands are covered, play a note for them and ask them to name the note by feeling which finger moved.  Or, name a note and ask them to play it.  You’re trying to give them a sense of where their fingers are without looking. Good pianists “see” with their hands and sense of touch!
• Have them tap our the fingering of the song on the lid of the piano.  They can say the note names or finger numbers out loud while doing this.
• Have them play only right hand while their left hand points to each note as they play it (and vice versa).  You’re trying to keep the visual field of attention on the book.
• As always, reverse teacher-student roles and have them play any of these games on you!

Remember, the goal is to correct the note reading process back to:  1. BOOK -> 2. PIANO  If your student is looking at their hands a lot, this could be a sign they are not processing the music in the most effective way.  Anything you can do to correct this process only takes a few minutes and can make a HUGE difference!