I have been thinking about how I go about teaching someone to play the piano – this is my own personal analysis of what happens in the lesson and what the dynamics are of the student becoming motivated to willingly practice and concentrate.
Prior to Miss Jill leaving on her extended vacation, I received my lesson at Kameryn’s home on their piano, so I arrived a while before Jill and warmed up with some scales and the pieces that I was working on at the time. After I did that, I would ask Kameryn if she wanted to warm up for her lesson and she was always willing. When Jill left, I just came and asked if she had warmed up, and if she said no, I would just say “well you better do that” and then her dad and I would talk for a bit. Then, we would start the lesson.
After a few weeks, I noticed that she did not seem nearly as interested in practicing as when I had been taking my lesson prior to hers. So I started to give her a break in the middle of her lesson, and I would then show her what I was working on at that time, perhaps play a piece or some scales. Then we would finish up her lesson.
I also try to look for something to start with from her warm up to get her interested in making some improvements.
I also strive to do a very steady reminder prior to beginning a piece to keep hands and arms in the correct place and posture, a few tips and a slow pace.
I don’t think that this is for the average teacher because, I am not interested in teaching for income, I do it just because it interests me and helps me analyze things that help with my own improvement. This takes more than a half hour to give a half hour lesson – but it seems to work fairly well and would be a good way to help a child in the family get a start in music, and thinking about teaching will help the teacher improve.
There are four short videos with links belowJust close them and you will return here.
1. Intro – Kameryn has warmed up with a piece, and I try to move from her sucesses into the lesson.
2. Start of the lesson – we work on her pieces for a while.
4. She completes her lesson with work on a slightly more difficult piece.
