So you want to perform: A game plan
If you're learning piano because you would like to perform one day, here's the game plan I would use to help get you on your way.
If you’re a visual learner, you may prefer to watch the video above. If you prefer to read, here’s a summary of my game plan.
Connecting the treble staff and bass staff
If you’ve been following along with my posts, you’ve learned a little about how the music staff works and how we can use ledger lines to extend the staff to reach notes a little higher or lower on the piano. Now let's take a minute to orient yourself to the staff that you will see when you're playing piano music.
Getting more out of the staff with ledger lines!
Recently, I’ve been published video introductions to the basics of reading music. Today I’d like to expand on a previous video where I talked about how the music staff works so you can learn how we get more notes out of these lines and spaces!
Three ways to find A on your keyboard
A is the first note of the musical alphabet, so it’s natural for beginner piano students to want to start there when learning note names at the piano.
But A can be one of the hardest notes for beginners to learn, for two reasons.
Build your student’s confidence authentically with a gradual release of responsibility
Today I’d like to share a teaching approach that is fundamental to how I lead online piano lessons. It’s an approach that I learned in teacher education and became fundamental to my method once I started teaching teacher education and I saw how powerful it truly is for both children and adults.
How can we help our piano students overcome perfectionism?
Perfectionism is a motivation killer, and it can be hard to encourage students who struggle with it.
Signs of perfectionism may include: - Unwillingness to practice - Reluctance to play in front of you - Getting very upset if they make a mistake - Starting the whole piece over again if they make a mistake - Playing more slowly than they need to - Reluctance to sign up for recitals or exams
Here are my best tips on creating a teaching environment that can help a student overcome perfectionism.
Piano lessons often get the feedback loop backwards
It’s really common for piano teachers to use rewards (like stickers, points, and earning game time) to build positive feelings after a student has achieved something on the piano. Generally the hope is that the positive feedback loop teaches that good feelings are associated with piano lessons.
But notice the direction of those good feelings. When the good feelings follow the reward, lessons start with hard work and good feelings follow. I think this is backwards. In my experience, if piano lessons start with good feelings, the hard work naturally follows without any need for external motivators.
Welcome to my new site!
Hello, and thank you for visiting my website! I’m so excited to finally share this business that means so much to me. I created a short video to tell you a little more about myself and what I hope to accomplish through Piano with Sarah. I hope it helps put a face to a name!