What Makes Piano Study a Positive Experience for You/for Your Child
by Joyce Cameron with the help of seven students and parents Imagine. You have engaged in some activity for a number of weeks- or months- or years. Now you sit back and think about what you have been doing. How do you go about evaluating your participation in...
A Fond Farewell (Für Elise)
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
Marvin Blickenstaff, Editor from the series: Putting It All Together: Repertoire One of the favorite photos I have hanging in my study is a shot of the original staff of Keyboard Companion. Pictured there is founding editor Richard Chronister and his dear wife Marjore, Elvina Pearce, Brenda...
What Do You Do When Adults Are Determined to Play Repertoire They Can’t Possibly Play Well? Part II: Shift to Transcriptions
In the Spring, 1994 issue of Keyboard Companion, Paul Sheftel and Robert Vandall answered the question, What do you do when adults are determined to play repertoire they can’t possibly play?, by suggesting alternative choices for your students. In this issue, Fred Kern and Phillip Kevern...
How Do You Transfer Students’ Understanding of Theory to Their Understanding of Repertoire?
The color-coordinated, graphic designed, companionable theory books that are packaged with current method books are startling compared to the early workbooks and notespellers. There are many computer theory programs designed to accompany current method books or to be used as a separate course. Theory tests...
What Is the New Monster Concert? Part II
Your response to the question, What is the new monster concert?, in the Summer, 1994, Keyboard Companion, convinces me that many piano teachers are looking for an alternative to what, too often, has become the annual, long, boring, piano recital. I was also reminded that, as music...
What Special Qualities Do Parents of Children Who Succeed at the Piano Share? Part 2
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
Barbara Kreader, Editor The Magic Triangle: Teacher/Student/Parent Barbara Kreader, Editor For this issue, teacher and composer, Bruce Berr continues this column’s three part overview of the qualities parents of successful piano students share. The Interview by Bruce Berr Isabella recently turned six, and she has been...
A Teacher’s Roundtable on Solutions to Common Practice Problems
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
from the series: The Other Teacher: Home Practice Elvina Pearce, Editor For our Home Practice column in this issue, we have invited five highly successful teachers to become a roundtable panel and share with us some of their solutions to the most common issues which have to...
What Do You Do With Transfer Students Whose Reading Level is Far Below Their Performance Level?
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
from the series: Independence Day: Music Reading Craig Sale, Editor Before enrolling any student, I always conduct a pre-enrollment interview. I think that this first meeting is especially important if the student is a transfer student. When this is the case, over the years I have...
How Do You Teach Weight-Transfer to Early-Level Students?
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
from the series: Let’s Get Physical: Technique Scott McBride Smith, Editor Who was it that said, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach; those who can’t teach, teach gym”? Not a piano teacher, obviously! And probably not a gym teacher, either. It’s not necessary to...
What Is “Shakespearean Counting” And How Do You Use It In Your Teaching?
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
from the series: The Heart of the Matter: Rhythm Bruce Berr, Editor Last year I had the opportunity to review videotapes of teaching that were submitted to Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). The tapes were to be considered for use at one of the Pedagogy Saturday programs...
How Do You Recharge Your Teaching Batteries?
Keyboard Companion Winter 2004; Vol. 15, No. 4
from the series: Issues and Ideas: Perspectives in Pedagogy Kathleen Murray, Editor Careful readers of Keyboard Companion will realize that this is not the question presented in the Fall for “In the next issue” of this column. Scheduling conflicts made it impossible for our guest writer to respond...
How Do You Teach Downbeats?
To teach or not to teach downbeats is really not the question. We all realize that a sense of meter is dependent on the student’s feeling of emphasis on the first beat of each measure. Just how one teaches downbeats varies from teacher to teacher,...
Can a Student Have Fun and Learn at the Same Time?
Keyboard Companion Winter 1993; Vol. 4, No. 4
Fun, a simple three letter word which is probably a part of every young child’s vocabulary, can be used to communicate two very different kinds of meaning. One meaning is pejorative in nature; the other is associated with the experience of pleasure. The resulting potential...
What are the Opportunities for the Teacher in the Retirement/Nursing Facility Center?
It has been said that inside the body of every seventy-year-old is a thirty-fiveyear- old saying, “What happened?” This brings to mind a friend who asked his mother on her 72nd birthday if she didn’t feel quite a bit younger than 72. She told him...
What Competition Pieces Do You Use With Early-Level Students and Why?
Any question that includes the word “competition” will immediately trigger hot flashes of emotional response among piano teachers. With the additional phrase “early-level students,” the heat level rises considerably. The sheer number of competitive events available across the country can be overwhelming for both teachers and...