And why should students need more than one book? Student families often hesitate to invest in piano books. Some question the need to purchase anything other than the lesson book or the examination book. And some even think that the examination book is the lesson book!
This post answers common questions new piano students have about the need for many books when learning the language of music. Continue reading The importance of books in piano class
Families new to piano lessons can find the search for a new piano teacher quite confusing. I write this post to help these parents and students who have difficulty assessing which piano teacher or lesson format is the best for them.
Your child’s first piano teacher will set the foundations of his/her musical growth. The quality of learning at beginner level is important, as it determines whether the student will stay motivated enough to continue learning more. Continue reading 5 Thoughts to help you find the Piano Teacher that’s best for YOU
This is exactly what a couple of my students did, and the parents were upset. Really upset! That their child was so irresponsible and did not take the trouble to check what was scheduled before revising.
Something similar happens frequently with piano practise at home and piano parents often don’t understand the subject. So they think things are going well, when they might not be.
Students sometimes spend quite a bit of time at the piano experimenting with new stuff, or playing through pieces they enjoy. This is wonderful as it means the student it exploring and enjoying the instrument and this is necessary. Continue reading Respect and Effective Learning in Piano Class
I recently switched from 100% Make-Ups for missed lessons, to No-Make-Ups with ‘Flex Slots’. Each student who practises regularly qualifies for un-charged extra class time each month during my ‘Flex Slots’.
In this post, I discuss my decision to make this change and tell piano students and their families a little more about what piano teaching means. I hope this post helps other piano teachers who are starting out teaching in this locality, where the role of the piano teacher, and the role of the teaching community in general, is vastly underrated. Continue reading Piano teaching : Why I moved to No-Make-Ups
Playing the piano needs different parts of the brain to work together simultaneously.
Young piano students in their first year learn to :
legato (joining the notes) or staccato (with notes detached).“You teach the piano? That’s wonderful! What do you do with the rest of your time?”
Many piano teachers hear variations of this. From friends, relatives and even parents of new students, who think piano teaching happens just at class time. They see the joy that a teacher feels when students do well, and don’t seem to see what goes into helping a student get there.
