How Can I Liven Up My Students’ Recitals?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
Caution! The following announcement is not intended for any faint-of-heart readers: It’s hard to liven up an event that’s often dead on arrival. All the refreshments and decorations in the world won’t do the trick if your students, stiff and starched in their Sunday best, are...
How Do You Teach Students to Feel Tempo Before Beginning to Play?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
For the elementary piano student, the act of starting to play a piece of music is a complicated synthesis of many factors. Do I have the correct position? Does the piece start with skips or steps or some other interval? Where does my hand move next? Involved are several aspects...
How Do You Renew Your Enthusiasm for Teaching Each Year?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
The feeling engendered by teaching can span the full range of human emotion-stimulating, routine, exciting, boring, satisfying, frustrating, fulfilling, discouraging, and so on. In fact, using the language of today’s bumper stickers, these feelings can range from “I ” teaching” to “I’d rather be _____,” filling...
How Do You Circumvent or Counterbalance an Adult’s Feelings of Inadequacy?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes eloquently and persuasively about living a principle-centered life. Although all seven habits have the potential to greatly enhance the teaching/ learning process, I believe that one of them can make the most dramatic difference for...
How Important Are Editions for the Earliest Repertoire?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
Original manuscripts have evolved from Johann Sebastian Bach, whose hand-written copies (with occasional smudges) contain almost no markings, to Beethoven, who added not only precise dynamic markings and articulation but also included tempo markings from the newly-invented metronome. The highly-detailed scores of Ravel, Bartok, Kabalevsky,...
How Does Technology Enhance Themed Recitals?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3
Why did I include the word “theme” in ‘this issue’s question about using technology in recitals? Because I have noticed a very welcome trend away from the traditional, once-a-year, too long, boring recital. Nowadays, many teachers present shorter programs with smaller numbers of students, often...
Helping at Home: A Parent’s Point of View
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1995; Vol. 6, No. 3
How Do You Buy Supplemental Music For Your Child? Miami, Florida. Kristen Smith, nine, loves to visit music stores with her dad. Peter Smith, a choir member who plays piano by ear, peruses music for appropriate material and sings to Kristen as they shop. Then she decides...
What is Included in Your Weekly Written Assignment?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
A teacher can learn a lot about a new student’s previous study ~ and practice by simply looking at the former assignment notebook. That’s why I always ask a prospective student to bring it along to the pre-enrollment interview along with the music and other...
Can Playing Deficiencies in Returning Adult Students be Corrected without Demoralizing Them?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
This question implies a great deal of negativity because it includes the words deficiencies and demoralizing. Our writers for this issue have realistically addressed this question and have provided some extremely positive suggestions. We welcome your additional comments on this topic. Please write to me in care...
Do You Teach Sightplaying from the Very First Lesson?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
When children begin to learn to read word s, it is assumed that the goal is sight reading-the ability to say the word a split second after seeing it-and that this goal will be reached rather quickly. And furthermore, it is assumed that the ability to...
What are the Problems of the Thumb and How Do You Solve Them?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
Teaching students about the thumb is as important as it is difficult. If the thumb is angled too high, the wrist sticks up. If the thumb joints bend inward, reach is compromised. If the thumb is not used properly in scales and arpeggios, either speed or...
How and Why Do You Promote Your Studio?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
Have you ever thought how big your business card would have to be to display all the titles you hold in your company? Not only are you an educator and musician, but also the chief executive officer of your own business, the financial officer, and, whether...
When and How Do You Introduce the First Rubato
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
Onw of the finest musicians I know, a world-famous teacher/ performer, says, “Flexibility and nuance make music human. Without them, music becomes mechanical.” This idea is also expressed when Nelita True speaks of making like things different. I find that most of my young students are wonderful imitators. They...
How Do You Find the Musical Messages in A Piece of Music?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
The task of responding to this question is daunting, especially if one considers that musicians and philosophers have argued about the nature of music, and of musical communication, for centuries. Yet, I do not believe that the task is impossible. Certainly one way to find...
What is Your Favorite Early-Level and Intermediate-Level Ensemble Music and Why?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 1992; Vol. 3, No. 3
Since a teacher plus a student equals a minimum of two, the learning process is an ensemble from the beginning. From the very first lessons, we eagerly introduce young students to the wonders of the keyboard by providing a rhythm and harmonic background to the fledgling one- or two-note...