How Can We Find Out More About Our Students’ Home Practice?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1995; Vol. 6, no. 2
Certainly one way we can find out about student practice is to assign a new piece, give the student no help with it, and then hear the the piece after a given amount of time. The results of such an exercise can tell us quite a...
How Do You Motivate Your Students to Practice Technique?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1995; Vol. 6, no. 2
I am often touched by the sincere desire of music teachers to improve themselves and the lives of their students. It’s ironic that so many large international corporations have only recently discovered the virtues of continuous improvement (one of the buzzwords of business in the ’90s), for...
How Do You Prepare a Student to Be a College Music Major?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1995; Vol. 6, no. 2
When it comes to movie sequels, I’m generally opposed. A great movie should be the final word on the subject. Who really needed Gone With the Wind: Scarlet and Rhett Together Again anyway? But when it comes to sequels for KEYBOARD COMPANION departments, that’s another story! We could endlessly...
How Do You Teach Cut Time (Alla Breve)?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1995; Vol. 6, no. 2
In the Winter 1994 issue of KEYBOARD COMPANION, several writers responded to a question on teaching downbeats. As if in unison, those teachers gave suggestions for feeling large groups of beats, the sense of moving from one down beat to the next instead of from...
How Do You Motivate the MTV Lover to Be a Serious Piano Student?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1995; Vol. 6, no. 2
The two contributors to this issue were asked to answer the same question-How do you motivate the MTV lover to be a serious piano student? However, having spent some time with their responses, it seems clear that they have answered two different questions. Thus, before you...
Do You Use Summer Lessons for Special Reading Activities?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1991; Vol. 2, No. 2
Both writers for this issue’s Music Reading Department take the view that summer is special for piano students. A good case can be made for discontinuing the regular curriculum and making sure that summer study is something that makes the coming autumn a thing to look...
When and How Do You Introduce the Damper Pedal?
All teachers of beginning students have asked this question at one time or another. Students love to use the pedal. Unfortunately, they often love it a little too much. And pedal habits, like all other habits, are difficult to change once they are learned. It...
Where Do You Go for Answers to Questions about the Piano?
Sometimes the most remarkable things are those which we tend to take for granted. When was the ‘last time you picked up the telephone and thought, ”I’m actually going to speak with someone thousands of miles away.” Now, ask your friends if they can name...
How Do You Teach Dotted Rhythms?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1991; Vol. 2, No. 2
Although the steady pulse is fundamental to the concept of rhythm, the lilt and forward movement of rhythm is created through the variety of note values. Dotted rhythms are vital to our rhythmic experience. Folk tunes, patriotic songs, hymns, and Christmas carols are replete with...
How Do You Encourage A Student’s Involvement in the Movement of Music?
Movement in music occurs on many levels. It can be felt in one’s body as a conscious – or unconscious – physical response to a vibrant march, a soothing lullaby, or some other sort of music. It can be studied through a consideration of issues...
Is it accurate to assume that all adult students study piano only for personal enrichment? If adult students want to improvise, what are some activities that will get them started?
The beauty of a publication like KEYBOARD COMPANION is that we can change our questions in mid-stream if our incoming mail provokes a change. Jane Karwoski wrote me a thought-provoking letter last summer challenging the assumption that all adult students study piano only for personal...
How Do You Plan A Student’s Repertoire for the Coming School Year?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1991; Vol. 2, No. 2
Although few teachers of my acquaintance indulge in a languid state of inactivity during the summer, it is a time when we re-evaluate the progress of our students during the previous school year and determine what changes to make in the fall. September is the teacher’s New...
How Does Technology Enhance Your Traditional Approach to Teaching?
Keyboard Companion Summer 1991; Vol. 2, No. 2
Overheard at a piano teachers’ gathering: “I’m an old-fashioned, traditional teacher and proud of it. I don’t want ANY MACHINES in my studio. Mechanical devices would interfere with my personal, creative approach to teaching.” Considering the source of this comment – a much-admired, highly successful piano...
How Do Your Students Practice a New Piece When You Don’t Give Them Any Help?
Most of our lessons involve two processes-teaching and testing. The teaching aspect of the lesson has to do primarily with preparation and presentation. In the area of concept formation, this means getting the student ready to learn something new and then introducing it. In the...
How Do You Teach Fluent Chord Reading?
Countless times, teachers hear something similar to “I don’t want Johnny to be a concert pianist, I just want him to be able to play hymns.” Usually, we take the time to explain that hymn playing-or any chord reading for both hands together-represents one of the hardest kinds of reading any student has to learn to do. Regardless, the myth continues as many parents-and many adult students-still...