LESSONS - motivation and encouragement
- Give honest praise followed by positive ideas for improvement
- Emphasise pupil’s strong points - build self-esteem
- Teach one thing at a time - thoroughly
- Achievement of small manageable targets motivates pupils
- Pleasure/satisfaction of knowing a piece is played well in lesson or concert
- Boredom sets in when too much playing straight through pieces and not enough working on details
- Football teams game - favourite and least favourite - favourite team scores if assignment played correctly, and vice versa
- Group lessons
- Ensemble work
- Observing lessons
PRACTISING - making repetition interesting
- Set short sections, making it clear in what way the music/technique is to be improved, and doing it together several times in lesson
- Let child choose number of repetitions, or roll dice, or age number - if mistake, start again
- Count down towards zero - heightens concentration
- Tally/chart
- Smartie for every 10 correct repetitions
- Make jigsaw, colour square, colour in picture, do dot-to-dot for every (10) repetitions
- Lucky dip with practice points or complete pieces
- Practise last bar of phrase 4x, last 2 bars 4x, last 3 bars, etc
- Vary repetitions, eg staccato/legato, different rhythms, different 8ves, increase difficulty eg practise leaping 2 8ves instead of 1 8ve
- Explain what is to be practised, and why, and how
PERFORMING - opportunities and rewards
Regular performance opportunities at different levels
Regular performance opportunities at different levels
- Individual lessons - observers
- Group lessons - perform pieces prepared/unprepared/sight-read/ensemble
- Informal concerts in teacher’s music studio
- Formal concerts in hired halls
- Combined concerts with other teachers, other instuments
- National performing opportunities
- Home concerts - 2 or 3 families get together, all bringing something for tea afterwards
- Children perform weekly to family; or teddy bear concert - issue tickets
- Follow concerts with tea parties and social events
- Reward with an outing, especially musical
GROUP WORK - fun with games
- Finger games
- Rhythm games - clapping/tapping
- Singing games
- Flash cards - note naming games, rhythm games
- Dynamics game - all crouch down and whisper “pianissimo”, start to stand up and say “piano”, etc, until standing up straight with arms stretched up and shout “fortissimo”
- Spot the mistake - teacher plays pieces with mistakes for pupils to hear and/or see, eg playing too near edge of keyboard, heavy thumb, wrong key, wrong LH, inaccurate rhythm
- Wrong note game - children sit in pairs with hands outstretched, one child’s hands over partner’s hands; teacher plays a piece; if child hears a mistake, tries to slap hands of partner, who tries to pull hands away
- Major/minor - pupils play a major piece in a minor key or a minor piece in a major key
- Sock improvisations - 2 pupils at 2 keyboards - put socks on hands and play glissandi and clusters, etc, varying speed, dynamics, register, etc
- Pentatonic improvisations - 2 pupils improvise question and answer on black notes
- Lucky dip - each pupil has box with pieces of paper with names of pieces s/he can play - draws one out and performs it
- Matching pieces - several pupils play same piece one after another, encouraged to make positive comments about each others’ performances
- Football - at 2 keyboards - one child starts playing piece; when teacher indicates, other child takes over - ‘passes the ball’; or one child plays RH while other plays LH
- Playing questions - one child plays familiar piece, meanwhile answering questions posed by other children, eg what is your name, telephone number, etc
- Cross hands - play piece with hands crossed
- Continuous scales - take turns to play a scale round circle of 5ths at 2 keyboards
- Dynamic scales - pupil takes card indicating dynamic and/or speed and plays scale accordingly; others guess dynamic/speed
- Sight-read double duets/trios - 4 or 6 pupils at 2 keyboards
- Follow the score - give each pupil a copy of some music; discuss all the signs, notes, rhythms, as appropriate to the stage of the children; then teacher plays some of the piece and pupils point to place in score where teacher stops
ENSEMBLE WORK - doubling up in duets and trios
- Duets for pupils of similar age, or older with younger pupils
- Family duets/trios with siblings or parents
- Sight-read/prepared ensembles
- One pupil accompany another
- Pentatonic improvisations - 2 pupils improvise question and answer on black notes
- Sock improvisations - 2 pupils at 2 keyboards - put socks on hands and play glissandi and clusters, etc, varying speed, dynamics, register, etc
LISTENING - to recordings and live performances
- To fine performances
- To pieces being learnt - about to be learnt - current repertoire
- To other pieces by same composers
- To other music for own instrument
- To classical music, especially choral (singing sounds) and orchestral (sounds of different instruments)
- To CDs, radio, and especially to live performances - excitement of an outing
OBSERVING - other pupils’ lessons
- Observe another pupil ideally a little older and more advanced after pupils’ own lesson
- Can be more receptive if something explained to another pupil - when not in hot-seat
- Motivating for pupil and parent
- Social benefit - helps prevent feeling of isolation (especially for pianists)
- Pupils become accustomed to having an audience while playing; also to sitting quietly, colouring and listening, while observing other pupils
YOUNG PUPILS - singing and rhythm games
Change activity frequently - pool of ideas
Change activity frequently - pool of ideas
- Right and left - play Simon Says, eg “Simon says put RH on nose” - pupils must do it; but “Put RH on nose” - don’t do it! When teaching any pair concept, teach only one of a pair for a long time, then there is no confusion.
- Finger games - name and wiggle Mr Men fingers (Mr 1, Mr 2, etc); speed games - “Put your hands behind your back and take out Mr 1” or “Put Mr 2 on your nose”; cummulative fingers - say and move fingers, eg 1, 1-2, 1-2-5 - add a finger each time
- Hold bubble and 10 finger dome - drop hands by side, then lift them up and pretend to hold bubble in each hand; gently place together thumbs, Mr 2s, Mr 3s, etc; tap fingers as requested by teacher; hold finger dome over head so cannot see
- Strong finger Os - make O-shape between Mr 1 and Mr 2, or Mr 1 and Mr 3, etc, squeezing tightly - no collapsing joints
- Finger wrestling - link finger Os with another pupil and pull - who has the strongest fingers?
- Pick up pencil - using thumb and specified finger - plenty of thumb and fingertip movement
- Copy me game - pupils copy teacher’s actions, keeping steady beat, eg clapping hands, tapping knees, etc, adding an extra action on each repetition
- Pass the ball - one child or teacher plays a piece while others pass squashy ball round circle, passing to the next person on the beat, using specified fingers, eg RH Mr 1 and Mr 2, or Mr 1 and Mr 5
- Action songs
- Copycat rhythms
- What piece is this - clap rhythm or play melody
- Miming game - teacher mimes piece at piano for pupils to identify
- Spot the mistake - teacher plays pieces with mistakes for pupils to hear and/or see, eg playing too near edge of keyboard, heavy thumb, wrong key, wrong LH, inaccurate rhythm
- Wrong note game - children sit in pairs with hands outstretched, one child’s hands over partner’s hands; teacher plays a piece; if child hears a mistake, tries to slap hands of partner, who tries to pull hands away
- Sing nursery rhymes - loud then soft, or fast then slow
INVOLVING PARENTS - in lessons and practising
- Parents attend lessons and take notes (perhaps have lessons themselves)
- Parents supervise practice - discuss with pupil what is to be done and how, and guide practice accordingly
- Make practice chart for child to follow
- Make lucky dip for practice points
- Offer plenty of encouragement and moral support in gentle enthusiastic manner
- Stimulate child’s natural desire to learn - make practice interesting rather than fun
THEORY AND AURAL - the early stages
Studied in group lessons
Theory
Studied in group lessons
Theory
- Flash cards - note naming and rhythm games
- Telephone game - place in front of each child a card with a rhythm on it; teacher claps one of the rhythms; child whose rhythm it is answers the call by clapping the rhythm back and turning the card face down
- Right or wrong rhythm - lay out row of rhythm flash cards; teacher clap rhythm; pupils say whether or not clapped correctly
- Rhythmic counterpoint - lay out rhythm flash cards in two rows; teacher or pupil clap one row and others say which was clapped; half group clap one row, other half clap other row; clap one row with RH, other with LH; add dynamics
- Follow the score - give each pupil a copy of some music; discuss all the signs, notes, rhythms, as appropriate to the stage of the children; then teacher plays some of the piece and pupils point to place in score where teacher stops
- Dynamics game - all crouch down and whisper “pianissimo”, start to stand up and say “piano”, etc, until standing up straight with arms stretched up and shout “fortissimo”
- Tempo game - all walk very slowly round room saying “adagio” four times, a little faster saying “andante”, faster saying “moderato”, much faster saying “allegro” and very fast saying “presto”
- Listening game - all sit very quietly; teacher plays one note at piano; pupils listen carefully and raise hands when sound has completely gone; use different ranges of piano; identify high/low, short/long, soft/strong sounds
- Listen in silence - all sit comfortably with eyes closed and listen to the silence for two minutes; then pupils say what they heard; after 30 seconds teacher can add own noise, eg tapping; CF Kim’s Game - remembering objects on tray
- Wrong note game - children sit in pairs with hands outstretched, one child’s hands over partner’s hands; teacher plays a piece; if child hears a mistake, tries to slap hands of partner, who tries to pull hands away
- Copycat rhythms; question and answer rhythms; question and answer melodies
SIGHT-READING - duets with teacher
- Or 2 pupils sight-read duets in adjacent or overlapping lessons
- Double duets or trios in group lessons - 4 or 6 pupils at 2 keyboards
- Pupil study piece for a few moments, then from memory answer questions on piece
- Name notes and clap rhythm
- Mime notes
- Play correct rhythm but improvise notes (for perfectionists who will insist on going back to correct mistakes)
- Teacher/pupil alternate playing a bar each; or one play naturals (white notes) and other play sharps and flats (black notes)
- Regular ‘prepared’ reading as well as reading ‘at sight’
SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS - introducing variety
- 1-2-3-4 scale for speed and dynamic variety - set MM eg crotchet 60 and play 1 8ve slowly in crotchets forte, 2 8ves in quavers mf, 3 8ves in triplets mp, 4 8ves in semiquavers p
- Different rhythms
- Down then up
- One hand forte, the other piano
- One hand staccato, the other legato
- Double staccato - each note 2x
- 2 8ves apart
- Crossed hands
- Russian style - play 2 8ves ascending in similar motion, 2 8ves contrary motion, 2 8ves up and down in similar motion, 2 8ves in contrary motion, 2 8ves down in similar motion
- Top 8ve 4x
- Very fast, but stopping on each tonic
- 1 8ve up and down until perfect 2x, then 2 8ves until perfect 2x, etc
- MM - increasing speed when perfect 2x consecutively
- Eyes closed
