Comments for Evolving Music Education

Comment on Another Tip To Help Your Student Find Beginning Hand Position by Dan

Dan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:55:42 +0000

Sure thing!

Comment on Another Tip To Help Your Student Find Beginning Hand Position by Flo

Flo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:27 +0000

I think that’s a great tip. I will use it when helping my two grandsons practice there piano lesions. Thank you so much.

Comment on Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano by Dan

Dan — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:20:39 +0000

Thanks! Much of that rings true for me as well. Teaching is very much a ‘learn on the job’ profession, and mistakes are going to be made, but its great you can learn and grow from them!

Comment on Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano by Lee Gellatly

Lee Gellatly — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:11:59 +0000

Thanks for this post. I remember when I first started teaching and I did it all completely wrong. Luckily, it was with a friend whom I was using for practice just to get my feet wet – I overloaded her with WAY too much information and gave her some very advanced stuff too early.

That’s when I discovered the method books and why there are methods at all: because I had spent my entire life before as a student of piano myself, I didn’t really understand why there were methods. Now, as a teacher, I totally get it, which is why I completely agree with your post.

Within a month of teaching my first student I went out and bought about 5 different piano methods and experimented with each of them to get a feel for the best one. I now realize how important it is to have a method book whose theory book matches with the piano lesson book in order to provide effective teaching and learning.

Thanks for this post.

Comment on Listen To Your Piano Student’s Verbal Cues by Dan

Dan — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:58:42 +0000

Mary

Awesome! So glad to hear your open to trying something new. One of the most challenging things I find, of being a teacher, is going outside of what’s comfortable to do what might be best for the student.

Good luck!

Comment on Listen To Your Piano Student’s Verbal Cues by Mary Kankamp

Mary Kankamp — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:34:49 +0000

I like your advice. I feel better about letting my student pursue the music he is enthusiastic about. Thanks for your help with an explanation of how to teach this way. It will be a learning experience for me, too, that I look forward to trying.

Comment on Listen To Your Piano Student’s Verbal Cues by Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano | Evolving Music Education

Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano | Evolving Music Education — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:22:50 +0000

[...] needs to feel safe, comfortable, appreciated, listened to and respected. This comes from being open to their emotions and suggestions. It comes from having a clean and warm studio environment. From keeping [...]

Comment on AWESOME Note Reading Game for iPhone / Online – “Note Squish” by Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano | Evolving Music Education

Tips on How To Start Teaching Piano | Evolving Music Education — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:09:21 +0000

[...] (Caveat: this is general advise. I’ve found ages 7 and under to be a grey area where the status quo might be being able to follow along in the book by pointing, while slowly learning note reading. They may learn more by a combination of ear, memory and rote at this age, but you always want to help shift them towards real note reading as they mature and become ready. You may place emphasis on singing along and imitation. if you start a young student, and they can’t read notes at all, get them in the My First Piano Adventure books and follow the activities provided. This age group has done very well with the Note Squish note-reading game.) [...]

Comment on Incredibly Effective Note Reading Activity by Aleta

Aleta — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:37:54 +0000

Oh, I forgot to add that I made the keyboard two full octaves plus a couple of notes on either side.

We’ll begin to use these at piano lessons this week. But, I don’t have lots of space at home, so they’ll be used more effectively at music camps.

Comment on Incredibly Effective Note Reading Activity by Aleta

Aleta — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:36:01 +0000

My hubby does upholstery, so had a 57″ wide roll of white embossed vinyl which he’d gotten for very little (there were yards on the roll, so I used lots!). I made the lines about eight inches apart (20 cm) and about an inch thick (2.5 cm). I left a margin at top and bottom with no clef marking. Actually, I made two of these about 100 inches long! I printed a treble and bass clef on 8-1/2 x 14 inch paper and laminated them. Then, for music camp I had a large floor staff the kids could “step” on – and imagine themselves as a line or space note.

As an afterthought I also made a piano keyboard proportional to the piano, but not the staff I’d made. Afterwards, I wished I’d made them compatible.

I got those ideas from several blogs and saved myself $80 for one – which is what a banner would have cost to order from US to Canada. Camp was getting closer, and I could have mailed it to family in the States to bring up, but found this was quicker. It actually only took about three hours to draw both staffs and another three to do the keyboard. I used permanent marker – and happened to use one which was shiny, so they look very classy and professional!