Hey All!

Its been a little while, but I think we’re all settling into Fall. I made this video a little while back as the second part to answer a question on how to begin teaching piano lessons. As a reminder, the question she asked was:

I know it can be a little daunting to say the least when you begin! After 10+ years of teaching, I think some of my best tips can be found in this video. Kind of “I wish I had known then” list. Check it out, and more info below.

Don’t forget to sign up on the email list over there

To expand on the video a little:

Stick by the Method Books

Although not perfect, the Method Books do provide you with a good systematic framework for taking a student from point A to point B. I wish I had used Faber in my early years of teaching, but I stick by Piano Adventures now as my Method Book series of choice. I still use the normal Primer Level books expect for really young beginners (like 5-1/2 and under) just because I’m not as crazy about My First Piano Adventure (maybe I’m just getting used to them), although I find it does work better with the real young kids. So kids about 5-1/2 to maybe 10/11 I’d start them in the Primer Level if they’re beginners, and any older than that you can start in the Accelerated Piano Adventures Books. If they’re not beginners, use your judgement of how well they read notes and rhythm to decide what level to start them in.

Always Remember the Basics: Notes and Rhythm

Especially with younger students and beginners, much of our job is to ensure they have a solid foundation of music literacy. I ALWAYS check in with the basic stuff, note reading and rhythm. This is a great approach for students you’ve had for a while or when assessing a new student. Simply, can they identify notes from a book? Do they know notes quickly on the piano? Can they read rhythm at sight (level appropriate)? And can they taps rhythms while counting a beat?

(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.)

Much of Your Effectiveness has Nothing to Do with Music

You’ll find after working with students for a while, the quality of your relationship can have a huge impact on their ability to learn from you. A student 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 promises.

The first few moments I spend with a new student, I find are the most important at helping to create this atmosphere. I always introduce the piano as something fun, experimental and exciting – not something to afraid of if a “bad” sound comes out of it. When I first started teaching piano, I was still in college and was so wrapped up in the music part of it, its easy to forget the human side of teaching, and how effectively teaching music is also achieved through universal people skills as well.

- Still unsure of what to do? Ask me a piano teaching question here…

I hope this helps some people, and the NEXT question to look forward to is also about beginning to teach piano, but more about determining if you are qualified. Look for it soon!

Psssst…. don’t forget the email list…

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.

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!

Wow, well I think we’ve all run into this trap before! In this video, I attempt to answer it with some useful tips. Also, below is a summary of what I wrote on the board, along with some additional information. Hope it helps!

Note: Also below are links to the three repertoire books I mention in the video.

• Attention and Interest = Progress. This means, at this age group, I move my thinking to “keep their interest peaked and attention there” instead of younger students, who do tend to just advance linearly through method books.
• Try ANYTHING. Be willing to go very out of your comfort zone to try anything and everything. Singing, drumming, jazz, hip-hop, reggae, country… try it all!
• Review the basics – If you can keep their attention and interest, check in on the basics of note and rhythm reading.
• SURPRISE them – I LOVE this one.  Grab some 2 Part Bach Inventions, easy Mozart.  Tell them its their next song and they’re going to learn it.  Watch the reaction. Some kids that age love a challenge, and love feeling like you’re telling them they are good enough to try it.
• Deadlines – Work in some kind of deadline where they have to learn something, either for a recital or recording.  Many kids that age will rise to the occasion.
• Technology – Grab their attention with note reading games on an iPhone (more on that to come later) or notation software or electronic keyboards.
• Social Encouragement – I love this one too. Hold a duets session where they have to play music with another peer. Or have them accountable to playing music for another peer. Maybe they could write a song with another piano student.
• Creative – Jazz, theory, chords, improvisation – some students start to gravitate more towards this type of music.
• PREVENTION – With all younger piano students, be thinking about the day when they arrive at age 11, 12 etc.  And prepare them for that time, with a strong foundation in note reading and rhythm reading.

Books Mentioned

- Piano Bench of Classical Music
- Piano Bench of EASY Classical Piano
- The Joy of First Piano Classics

Finally, to the person who asked the question, I do not think you’re alone here at all.  And to answer you question specifically, I think its OK to a degree to put a song aside for a while if its not going anywhere: but always go back and review it at a later time.  And tell the student you will be doing so, so its expected.  If I’m “passing” kids on songs they really shouldn’t be passing on, I am doing something else to go back and cover that material: whether it be an additional method book, or performance book, or a review later.

And one last thing of note, with piano students this age, especially early teens.  I find they might not practice for WEEKS, literally.  But somehow if they get 30 minutes of practice in sometime, their progress from that one practice session is enormous.  (I think I got into college for piano from only 6 months of practice, seriously.)

So yes, certainly don’t beat yourself up about it – its common for that age, keep doing what you’re doing and try some of the ideas above!

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!!

Onto the question!  (Other teachers, I’m curious to hear your thoughts, please comment below!)

Problem Area – Musical Stuttering

Recently someone asked for ideas on how to help her daughter correct a musical stuttering habit that has gone on for years, and has never been addressed. The student is now 13 and has been playing since she was 5.

By stutter, I take it to mean that perhaps at the beginning of a measure or phrase she may strike the first note a few times before continuing. Or perhaps she leaves pauses between the measures and phrases.

Isolate the Cause

As with any issue like this, the best way to find a fix, is to look for a cause. WHY does this stutter happen?

You can usually do this by breaking it down into some simple steps, that take a bit of keen observation.  This is where I usually begin.

1. Observe your daughter play normally. See if you can notice anything that correlates to the stuttering. This could correlate to the content of the music, ie: certain notes or rhythmic patterns. Does she also look at her hands (and not the book)? Does it happen whether a piece is memorized or not? Does it happen with scales and exercises? You’re looking to isolate specific situations where the stuttering happens vs. doesn’t happen.

2. If you’re having trouble finding any of these correlations, that’s when you step in and ask her to play things differently – as a way to diagnose the problem – like a test. It’s hard to say exactly what to do without seeing her play, but my top suggestions would be:

Think of a car. It has all different parts that work together. To figure out where something is going wrong, you isolate individual elements as much as possible to try and narrow in on the problem. Music is tricky, because many of the elements are so abstract. I always think of the separate elements in playing piano, and how to pull certain ones in and out – notes, rhythm, tempo, hands, where you look, how you sit, etc.  You’re trying to isolate situations where she does stutter, and doesn’t stutter.

I guarantee, if you look hard enough, and work in a fun and clever way with the student, you can find what’s causing the stutter, or any challenge area. Once you find the cause, the hard work has been done. Then you actually know what to work on to correct the issue.

Without seeing the student play, my guess is that the stuttering is a challenge with rhythm (either feeling the beat, or counting) – and something technical (not feeling comfortable at the instrument).

But the takeaway is, you won’t know what to do to fix the issue if it hasn’t been properly diagnosed.

So begin helping her isolate all the elements of music to find which is specifically contributing to the stutter. You’ll find it!

If Rhythm Is the Issue – How To Fix It

Let’s go over how to start the correction process with one of the possible causes: rhythm.  Remember, this is assuming we’ve established with some confidence that discomfort with rhythm is causing her to stutter.

To be more specific, let’s say that when checked with a metronome, she has a tendency to rush.  And she may even have trouble keeping a steady beat at all.  How do you fix this (which would fix the stutter at the same time)?  You have to work backwards, to find something she can do, anything, correctly.

The goal in this possible scenario, is to find music where she can count a steady beat out loud, and not rush the tempo.  It doesn’t matter if its level one method book material.  What matters, is to find a place where she can play something steady and without a stutter.

There are two ways to approach this.  You can either decrease tempo, or decrease the level, or both.  Painfully slow is fine.  Then over time, you can work to increase these two things gradually, making sure the stutter does not come back.  If it does, slow it down or bring it down a level.

What Are Your Thoughts? Please Comment!

Other teachers out there reading, have you had any students with this type of challenge and what have you done that has helped?

But the first thing I promised was that I would share the NEW location of Evolving Music in Holden, MA. Last month (the same month as our recital, I must be insane), we moved lessons OUT of our house and into a commercial location at 800 Main St in Holden.

Check out the video. And as I mentioned, I’ve got some questions of yours to answer and some cool piano teaching tips to share with you in the next few weeks, so sign up on the email list or RSS feed to be notified of more great teaching tips coming soon.

This website is also home to lots of great resources for piano teachers – from how to teach piano to tips on running your music lesson business. Feel free to look around the blog categories or sign up on the email list… its over there on the right —->

The Old Evolving Music Location - Small!!

For about the last 8 months I’ve been casually searching for a commercial location for the lessons at Evolving Music. And a few weeks ago my wife and I found a spot that’s perfect for piano lessons and I can’t wait to show it to you. But first, I’ve learned a lot along the way, so I’d like to share this knowledge, so you can benefit from my research if you ever decide to open a music lesson studio.

Just some quick history, I have been teaching piano lessons from our small house for almost 3 years. I went from just a few students to now about 40! Yes, its time to have our house back.

Benefits

Aside from reclaiming your living space, there are other benefits to starting a private lesson studio at a location away from home. I’ll list a few;

- Higher Quality of Lessons. This is the foremost reason. Generally, if you can get a bigger space and use it to its full potential, you can offer more services (group lessons or computer stations) and a higher quality of education. Plus the convenience for students, if you can be in a downtown, easily accessible area of town is a bonus.

– Visibility. If you can get into a location in a downtown or high traffic area, your studio will basically advertise its self. Especially if there are other businesses with a similar clientele.

- Separation of work and play. I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed having people come into our home for the past few years. Its quite personal and everyone loves seeing our cats and the smells of my wife’s great cooking. Although once we passed 30 students it hit that boiling point! Less than 30 students is like a side business. Forty is more like a legitimate, bordering on full-time business.

- Hiring Potential. Depending on the space you find, this gives you the potential to hire another teacher on your off days, or if there are multiple rooms, you can have a few lessons going on at once.

What to Look For

I’m pretty OCD and list-crazy when it comes to a big decision like this. Here are all the bits of information I wanted to know when looking for a place to rent;

- Location. Like anything in real estate and business, location location location!! Is it in an easily accessible part of town? Would a parent be comfortable bringing their child there?

- Square Feet. I was looking for something in the 400-500 range. Big enough for an upright piano, small drum set, a few amps and a desk. Anything bigger would have been too expensive.

- Cost. What can your budget afford? What kinds of things could you do to supplement the extra expense? Raise prices? Hire another teacher? Offer a few group lessons?

- Utilities. Are you responsible for heat and electricity? Internet?

- Lease. Are you guaranteed at least a year in the space, and what are the renewal terms?

- 24/7 Access. Are you allowed access to your space anytime you want?

- Parking. I was looking for something with at least 5-6 spaces. Enough for me, two students at a time or a small group lesson.

Our neighborhood on a snowy morning... not fun shoveling right before lessons!

- Plowing. Yes, unfortunately us New Englanders have that stuff called snow. Will the landlord provide plowing and what will it cost? This is one HUGE reason I am excited to move lessons away from home – the snow was so bad this winter, there was nowhere to park!

- Noise. BIG factor. Unfortunately we’re not accountants. We teach music and we make noise. You have to find a location where you will not be imposing on other business! How to test this? Bring a drum or loud radio with you when you look at places and have someone make a bunch of noise, and walk around everywhere to see how loud it is.

- Lesson Rooms. If you want a few lessons going on at once, is there the space for this?

- Bathroom. Goes without saying.

- Waiting Area. Is there a comfortable place for parents and siblings to wait?

- Storage. Do you have access to any storage, even just a closet?

What’s The Place I Chose?

That's the actual building.... I'll reveal it once the lease is signed!

Well…. I’m not going to announce it just yet. I am literally going over there right now to make the final arrangements. But I plan on taking some initial pictures, and sharing the process of our move.

I hope the list was helpful, and stay tuned!

One of (my students) chomps down on her teeth in rhythm to the music and I hear a loud click when she is playing. The other gal sucks in her breath at the beginning of every measure and then holds it. They are oblivious to this… I realize that they are not relaxed and it can become an entrenched habit. They are both beginner- Level 1 students and I want to figure out something to help them. Any ideas?

GREAT question! This is very much an issue of self-awareness, habits and motivation to make behavioral changes.

Replace the Bad Habit With a New Habit

Think about smokers. If you try to just stop smoking with no replacement, it almost always fails. However, if you replace smoking with chewing gum or anything really, you get a much higher success rate.

Think of your students as having a bad habit, that is just covering up a good habit. In other words; what should the student be doing instead of clicking teeth or inhaling?

The tooth clicking is just beat keeping, but with the wrong part of the body! Get her to tap her foot, count out loud or perhaps even feel the beat with her wrists – the whole idea is to put the feeling of rhythm somewhere more natural.

Your inhaling student is breathing (good) but in the wrong way (bad). Spend a few minutes with her at the beginning of each lesson doing “symmetrical breathing”; 5 seconds out, 5 seconds in (a Yogi will tell you breathing starts with an exhale). Better yet, have her sing along while she plays her songs. You can’t hold your breath and sing at the same time. Sounds like this student would benefit from the idea that playing the piano is singing with your fingers. If she doesn’t want to sing, she could say the words. If there are no words she could sing/say the notes.

Your clicking tooth student is actually doing a GOOD thing, in a BAD way. She’s attempting to keep the beat and feel the rhythm but just needs to be shown the best way to feel rhythm, and that is with the body – not teeth! Try teaching her how to conduct also.

Think about music in its purest, most natural state – melody and rhythm. The human voice, movement and dance. Speaking or walking. Both these girls are trying to use their bodies in an unnatural way to make music. We just actually have to show them that music is just like breathing or walking, and turn their unnatural habits into natural ones. Making music is just like things they already know how to do – talking, walking, dancing or singing.

I almost want to stop there, but there’s two other tag team tactics that could come in handy (wow, I just used 4 “t” words in a row).

Reverse Psychology & Self Awareness

Ask your student to do the offensive behavior on purpose. Yes, that’s right. ASK them to do the very thing you want them not to do. Why? To bring that unconscious behavior to a conscious level. To give them the acute awareness of what it is they are doing, and a feeling of control. You don’t have to make a big deal of it, and tell them “you’re doing this really weird tooth clicking thing, so I want to you do it more”. You want to be subtle in a way where it doesn’t make things worse, like “let’s see what it feels like to click our teeth in rhythm”.

Then, ask them to play a line of music BOTH ways – and have you guess which way was correct and which way was incorrect. What we’re doing here is engaging their creativity and sense of play. Now we’re further highlighting the differences between the good habit and bad habit.

If all that doesn’t work, try recording them – video is best but audio works too. This is another attempt to bring in the self awareness piece. Don’t directly identify the bad habit for them, but ask them to watch or listen to see if they can identify it on their own. And usually when people, or kids, see themselves doing something they may find even slightly embarrassing or odd, this will motivate them to stop!

I appreciate the question, and I really hope that gives you some ideas. Definitely chime back in and let us know how it goes! This is so great that some questions are coming in, I’m very happy to help out.