Musical Hands Piano Instruction

Last night a lesson with a ten-year-old reminded me students will surprise the teacher by how they demonstrate improvement. The below student has been fun to work with, and she continues to demonstrate an ear for the tune, but she naturally relies on her memory to tell her the correct notes, instead of reading the music on the page. If you've played an instrument before, you know this is a paradox: It is wonderful to play from memory, but what if you haven't actually learned your music yet?

Mr. B
Okay, Katrina, show me how things are coming with page 23...

KATRINA (plays the correct pitches, but pauses frequently to look at her hands)

Mr. B
I can tell you're struggling, Katrina, but I think it's just because you haven' been practicing enough...

Mom
We haven't gotten much practice time in this week...

Mr. B
Okay, well, we will get in some good practice time in our lesson. I want you to try it again, Katrina. This time, show me you are listening for phrases, not just playing notes. In fact, can you point to where the first phrase begins?...

KATRINA (pointing right on-target)

Mr. B
Good. And that ends...where?

KATRINA (pointing right on-target)

Mr. B
Very good. Would you play it for me again?

KATRINA (playing with improvement, though still pausing at inappropriate moments)

Mr. B
Okay, Katrina, that's better. Do you realize you've improved a lot even during the lesson today? You see, that shows me you will improve quickly if you put in practice time next week. Mom, can we talk over any kind of difficulty you've observed in Katrina's practicing? Do you have any questions?

MOM
She just needs to practice more, and...

Musical Hands performance at the Thacker Jewelry grand opening Dec. 5th-6th 2015...video to follow soon...Stay tuned!

Throughout today I'll be providing piano entertainment at Market Street on 98th & Quaker in Lubbock. Come by and say hi!

Yesterday evening, during the weekly lesson with Student A, Mr. B was once again humbled and entertained by a remarkable piano student…

MR. B
Stop right there, Student A! I heard you do something very intelligent just now that I want you to notice…

STUDENT A
Okay…?

MR. B
I heard you begin playing here, and when you came to this phrase, you made a mistake. But instead of playing through your mistake to the end of the piece, you stopped and began again from the beginning of the phrase. This shows that you are aware of where phrases begin and where they end, which is extremely important for a musician.

STUDENT A
Okay.

Student A finishes playing the first piece without further incident. Then, coming to the end of her next piece…

MR. B
Very good, Student A! Do you know what you did right here?

STUDENT A
Huh?

MR. B
On this bar, here, you showed me the phrases by how you played. You began here, and when you came to this point, you gave just the right length of a rest, you see?

STUDENT A
There was a rest?...

Musical Hands has expanded! The instructor is now available for live performances and background music at events. Call to schedule an interview.

Okay, here is my record of this week's lesson with Student A. Much of the dialogue is paraphrased, and I've excluded the first 10 minutes or so, during which Student A rehearsed for me her D-Major scale at the piano. Let me know if the below transcription is difficult to understand. I hope you are able to imagine what's happening in the scene...

Mr. B welcomes Mom A and Student A (a 12-yr-old girl) to the studio and greets them using Pacific Northwestern AND West Texan dialects

MR. B
Hi guys! How are y’all?

MOM A
Hi! Good. We made it!

STUDENT A
Hi!
STUDENT A precedes MOM A into the studio, with piano method in hand, and sits at the piano. MR. B sits in his chair beside the piano bench…

MR. B
Did you bring your notes, STUDENT A?

STUDENT A (Handing MR. B her assignment notes from the previous lesson)
Oh yeah!

MR. B
Okay, so, next I want to hear what you’re doing with page 5 in the new book.

STUDENT A opens to page 5 and plays all the correct pitches according to meter…

MR. B
That was very good, STUDENT A. I can tell you practiced this week. The next stage for this piece is to make sure the audience hears the phrases. Do you remember what I mean by, “phrases,”?

STUDENT A
Um, it means to play smoothly?

MR. B
Good, but can you be more specific? Which notes should you play smoothly?

STUDENT A (pointing to phrase marks in the piano method)
Um, these notes between here…and here need to be connected.

MR. B
Okay, you had better show me. I want to make sure you can practice them the right way this week.

STUDENT A plays all of the phrases in the treble clef with her right hand, careful to play legato
between the beginning and end of each phrase, divided by negligible yet audible pauses.

MR. B
Very good, STUDENT A! I can hear your phrases clearly. That’s how you should practice this week.
MOM A, did you hear that?

MOM A
Yes, is that what she’s supposed to do?

MR. B
Yes, that’s the way she’s going to practice this week. You can help if you listen and let her know how it sounds…

MOM A
Okay. Sounds good.

MR. B (Rising to show MOM A and STUDENT A to the door)
Thank you so much for coming! I will see you next week!

MOM A
See you soon!

STUDENT A
See ya!
Exit STUDENT A and MOM A

Musical Hands Piano Instruction opened with its first student in January this year. Teaching piano lessons to children is remarkable because one-on-one interaction with the kids (and also with the parents) is extremely rewarding. I would write here about things I taught my first students this year, but any teacher will know something of what I mean when I say that, in reality, the teacher learns many things from the students. My first student has taught me that I can learn some patience from an 11-yr-old. My second student has taught me that teaching piano lessons in Spanish is a good way to improve my Spanish. What will my third student teach me?...