Need teaching advice

[jbasscase]

If any of you have some advice-
I have a fairly bright 9 year old who's note reading skills are excellent but her rhythm and phrasing isn't so good.  She will come into her lesson every week, play through a song rather poorly and ask me "did I pass?"  She's always in a hurry to turn the page and get to the next song.  She doesn't understand the need to be excellent and focus on each song we're doing at the moment.  She's always talking about getting to the end of the book and starting the next books.
I've spoken to her mother, and it seems her teachers at school are having similiar problems with her.
It seems that she doesn't understand the need to play each song well, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to explain that to her.  I demonstrate the piece for her.  I talk about how her rhythm is a little off, we count out loud, I'm always trying to use the metronome with her.  But like I said before, she just wants to move onto the next song.  I feel bad giving her the same songs 3 or 4 weeks in a row, because it will get boring for her, but at the same time I don't want to move on until she can play them well.

Since it seems like she really needs that "reward" of having completed her books, I wonder what kind of reward I could give her after she's worked hard on a song and plays it well.  Stickers don't work with her.  And what is the best way to explain to a 9 year old about playing a song well?

By the way, she's in Piano Adventures 2B.

Thanks for any help!
Jen

[maryruth]

Well, it sounds like you're doing your best.....Sometimes I do think in such situations you must try to remind yourself that you can't teach someone something they don't want to learn.

Let her cruise through the Method books and supplement with sheet music or random pieces that aren't part of a leveling process.  Since she doesn't have anywhere to "advance to" maybe she won't be so amped to zoom through it and be on to the next project. 

But, I must admit that I don't think every piece in a method book has to be perfect before moving onto the next piece.  I'm not that kind of player myself....But, if I really like a piece I'll perfect it.  I think the method books are great for developing sightreading, but do you really think every piece needs to be perfected to have been of any merit? 

I also think a lot of kids don't care if the rythmn is off--the song sounds good to them the way it is...If I sense this, I try to get them to appreciate the importance of ryhthm like this...

ME:  Sometimes it's kinda tricky to think about the rhythm and the notes at the same time, eh?  Or, are you just thinking...well, this sounds good just the way it is, I don't know why my teacher keeps harping on me about this rythm thing?
STUDENT:  Yeah...
ME:  Do you think Happy birthday would sound like happy birthday if you didn't use the right rhythm, but the notes were correct?  What if you wanted to sing happy birthday and the pianist played the wrong rhythm?  Would it still be happy birthday?
STUDENT:  Err...no, I guess it wouldn't..
ME:  Yeah, and this song here...to you, since you don't know it, however you play it sounds good to you....but old Robert (schumann or whoever) here he wrote this song and he knows it and his feelings might be a little hurt that you're just ignoring what he had in mind....(Of course, I say this rather tongue-in-cheek, they know I'm only a little serious...)  How would you feel if you spent a lot of time writing something and then everyone played it differently than you had intended?  You'd probably think, "Hey, that's not how it goes!"

Anyways...the songs might be boring to her, too....What page in 2B is she on? What is it in particular with the rhythm?  Is it the difference between 8th notes and quarter notes?  Can she not keep a string of 8th notes even?  Does she forget rests?  Does she speed up in "fun" spots and slow down in "difficult" spots?  Have you got to the dotted quarter notes?  Is that throwing her off?

[abell88]

If you can find her a duet partner, she will learn that she needs to play in rhythm! I just bought a couple of duet books my Martha Mier (sp?). Sorry, I don't know the title because i loaned them out to two students. They are very easy -- well below the level of my students -- because I want them to be able to concentrate on musicality and ensemble playing.

[lagin]

Have you heard of the Bennnet and Capp sightreading and ear test books?  They have excellent pages of rhythms just for clapping in there.  And the more "book happy" she is, the more she'll do, and the better her rhythm will get.  Duets are an excellent idea, too. 

In my experience, I was also a good note reader when I started learning, but my technique lagged.  So my teacher put me in grade 3 RCM which was harder then method books to be sure, but not too technically challenging.  Perhaps you could do the same with her.  Put her up a level or 2, which might satisfy her need to advance, but not so far up that you can't still work on her rhythm. 

You could also try not doing all the pieces of a book and not doing them in order (as much as is possible in a method book, which I realize builds from each piece).  Then you can say, "I will decide when you're ready to move on, even if not all the pieces are done.  What you have to show me, is that you are ready musically to move on."

With my kids, I generally play them one of my pieces strait without dynamics or emotion.  Then I tell them to close their eyes and I give them a senario to think about while they listen, and then I play it will tonnes of emotion and huge dynamic contrasts.  Then I ask which they liked to listen to better.  I ask them what the differences were between the 2 times.  Then I let them in on the "big secret."  I tell them, that most people think that the most important part of music is playing the notes right, but IT"S NOT  .  I tell them the most important part is telling a story (and counting when they first start, hehe).  Then I play their piece and ask them what they think of when I play it, what emotion or picture is in their head.  Some kids are better than this than others.  Then I go through the piece with them, and involve them in the making of the story because after all, it's THEIR story.  Stuff like, "This phrase repeats itself again exactly the same.  What do you think we should do to make it more interesting, because it's boring to play it twice exactly the same."  Then they'll say, have one loud and one soft.  Then I play it both ways for them and they choose which will be the loud one and which will be the soft one, ect."

I'm getting majorly sidetracked here, but to sum it up, try to get across that it's a story not just notes, and that you want to hear their story next week.  Then make them a part of that learning process, rather than just the teacher dictating.  Get her at a level where she is challenged, but you can still work with rhythm with her.  Maybe try to point out how cool the eight notes make the running puppy sound when they're played correctly, or something like that.  Lot's of clapping and duets are awesome too, as mentioned already. 

Whatever you do, try to make it as FUN as possible.  Oh, and avoid too many pieces that are familiar because then she doesn't need to learn to count.  And as a plug for the Celebration Series, by Frederick Harris, they have AWESOME pieces for working with developing musicality, and within each book, while each piece teaches something different technically, they are fairly consistant in level throughout, so you can jump around alot, and target on the ones that she needs. 

I'd say there's my 2 cents, but I think I contributed more like a dime this time.  Hope at least some of the ideas help.

lagin

[cora]

When she asks, "Do I pass?", I would say a mark, like for instance: "Yes, you got 61%." Then I mark this in her book. She may ask, but why not 100%? Then I'd begin to work on things, and give her a second chance to improve her grade.

My students always take 3-6 weeks on their pieces at that level.

I might try recording her and then myself and see if she hears a difference.

I might try a tapping exercise in which all possible combinations of certain note values are presented in a given order. For ex.: ta ya, ta te ya, ta ya te, ta te ya te. These are numbered 1 through 4. You then ask for them in a different order: 4 2 1 3.

You can also have her tap the rhythm of her piece on a drum while singing ta ta etc. 

As for stickers, I only give one per lesson at the end, and they associate it with having performed well during the lesson. So they desire the stickers because they represent my approval, not because of any inherent love for stickers.

Hope this helps.

[jbasscase]

Thanks to everyone for all the help!  I've got lots of new ideas to try, I can't wait for her next lesson!
Jen

[Bob]

I would give her a piece much easier than the level she is working at and insist she get the rhythm down.  Work with her on it -- She might not be able to tap a steady beat.

And keep letting her work at her current level too.

[m1469]

I will agree with Maryruth's suggestion that not every piece within the method books must be perfected.  What I am about to say is going to be entirely my personal opinion and you can take this or leave this (of course).

Musical training is not a linear process.  I don't think we as teachers can truly decide when each student is going to not just learn but also internalize for themselves each aspect of it all.  With that being said, each student will be more advanced in some areas than others, or some aspects will come easier than others.

Personally, I think that the ability to read (and then to play what is read) is perhaps thee most important aspect of music that teachers can help students with.  I don't think there is a limit to how well a person can learn to read and certainly not within the first several years anyway.  Of course there are other factors that are VERY important in terms of music performance, and there are other factors involved in playing that will aid in reading, like a well-trained ear, for example.  But, in terms of sheer freedom at the piano, I think that reading is the most important.  If an individual cannot read, their opportunities to explore musicality, technique, so on, are considerably more limited than if they can read anything they want.

I would say let her plow through material with a couple of main musical ideas as a focus within each one.  Give her more and more challenging pieces so her desire and ability to read continues to be nurtured.  Along with that, I would indeed make the rhythmic portions of music reading of great importance as well.  There have already been some great suggestions along those lines above.

In the meatime, I would not hesitate to be a little sneaky about musicality.  I personally think it is impossible to teach musicality in terms of "now make a hill here and a valley there" ...  "Let's make these different since we see it twice, one a question one an answer".  I mean, the affect might be close to what we want musically, but they are not really learning what is musicality this way.  So, sure, a teacher can spend time on these aspects as such, but a student is not really learning *musicality*as such. 

A student learns about musicality by listening to music and making personal connections with music, and gaining experience with it.  Music becomes something personal to the individual and no amount of teaching along the lines of artucaltions, breathing, phrasing, etc., can either implant nor replace that. 

In the case with your student, she does not seem to lack interst.  I personally would not squelch that interest by bogging her down with too many commands that may seem quite arbitrary to her as she is just starting out.  So, I think your instincts are right here.  But, you can still help her to develop a musical sense about her relationship with music.  It seems she is just not aware there is so much more to music (as many students are not).  And frankly, that's exactly OKAY.  That is why you are there. 

Is there any way you can encourage more listening to music ?  I think musicality is more along the lines of something which is awakened in each individual, not planted.  So, what can you do to help awaken that in her ?  How did it awaken in you ?  I believe it is, by its very nature, something quite private and personal for each individual.  I would suspect that for many, being awakened by musicality is something that has happened, or most often does happen when alone.  OR, at least the experiences to begin with may be very internal vs external (if a musical experience is being shared, it may not be apparent to a newer student of music).  Then, when we make music, one naturally begins to draw on their personal reservoire of what it means to experience music.  And then, we choose to share it.



Keep us posted

m1469