With beginners to piano a good teacher should be able to adapt the piano lesson to each pupil. People will learn and pick up things differently. For example - Some may find note reading really easy, but others may find this quite challenging, some may have a good ear and some may be tone deaf, so it's finding a method that will suit each individual that is the key.
Children and adults also need to be treated completely differently. A child has a much shorter attention span to an adult and so if the lesson isn't kept interesting then you will loose their concentration very quickly. When teaching kids I have several tricks that I use to keep them focused one of which is to ask them their age and then get them to play a scale or part the same number of times and asking them to call out the numbers at the same time. I also have a large furry dice that they roll and again this is fun and they have no problem then play a part the same number of times as the number on the dice. Children respond to simple games like this and learn much quicker. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve that I call on to use with kids.
It is important to have lessons running to a structure so I try and break up an hour lesson into 3 parts, but switch the order every week.
For example for an hours lesson: 20 Minutes on Scales....Then 15/20 minutes on the piece we are working on, 5 minutes doing theory refresher. So maybe do "Find the note game and do a countdown with this! (Get pupils to read notes back and also find them on the keyboard - this is always fun and you are learning at the same time. Then finish with another piece of their choice or something I know they LOVE to play!
I find that practicing scales in lessons is very productive especially if you find a scale that a pupil is good at and likes. You should then encourage them to play this in all keys. Arpeggios are a really good way to help with difficult stretches and are very good for finger positioning.
Children and adults also need to be treated completely differently. A child has a much shorter attention span to an adult and so if the lesson isn't kept interesting then you will loose their concentration very quickly. When teaching kids I have several tricks that I use to keep them focused one of which is to ask them their age and then get them to play a scale or part the same number of times and asking them to call out the numbers at the same time. I also have a large furry dice that they roll and again this is fun and they have no problem then play a part the same number of times as the number on the dice. Children respond to simple games like this and learn much quicker. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve that I call on to use with kids.
It is important to have lessons running to a structure so I try and break up an hour lesson into 3 parts, but switch the order every week.
For example for an hours lesson: 20 Minutes on Scales....Then 15/20 minutes on the piece we are working on, 5 minutes doing theory refresher. So maybe do "Find the note game and do a countdown with this! (Get pupils to read notes back and also find them on the keyboard - this is always fun and you are learning at the same time. Then finish with another piece of their choice or something I know they LOVE to play!
I find that practicing scales in lessons is very productive especially if you find a scale that a pupil is good at and likes. You should then encourage them to play this in all keys. Arpeggios are a really good way to help with difficult stretches and are very good for finger positioning.
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Some great tips for learning how to play piano can be found at my wesite. If you are a beginner to piano lessons then visit A.S.A.Piano! and learn how to play a simple blues progression in just a few minutes. Download your FREE piano lesson ASAP!
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