"kiss of death"

[Bob]

Another stolen question.... 



It happens like clockwork after the second year of lessons. It's that desire to
end piano lessons. It seem to happen with every student right about the same
time each year.

There are a number of factors that seem to relate to the problem. Historically,
piano courses were not even progressions from "grade" to grade. Thompson, for
example, takes a flying leap in going from the end of grade 1 to the beginning
of grade 2. There is about six months of missing material between the two
levels. That always contributed to the kiss of death, because most students
simply could not make the jump. Mr. Thompson fortunately issued his green piano
course, where book 1b provides more of a progression towards book 2a. There
isn't a huge gap between the two books. The infamous gap led to the popularity
of the John Schaum course, which has a much more consistent progression from
book to book.

The key factor that hits about level 2 is the presence of hand position shifts.
Certain personality types are simply comfortable leaving their hands in one
position, and those types become very uncomfortable when they first have to move
their hands in the middle of a piece. Typically, it reveals the fact that the
student has mastered intervallic reading, but not individual note naming. The
student is uncomfortable moving, because he or she doesn't know where to move
to. Flash card drill and note spellers on the names of the notes will help
alleviate some of that. But it is common for the student to be able to name the
notes in a speller, but not be able to use that knowledge when reading a piece
that uses the same notes.

Because hand position shifts begin to occur, level 2 materials do not enable the
student to learn a piece in a single week. In today's immediate gratification
mindset, this creates a conflict with the student. He or she feels that he has
failed in some way. The teacher can help by setting realistic expectations. I
tell my students that in level 2, each piece will take 2 weeks to learn. In
level 3, each one will take 3 weeks, etc. Of course, that isn't always true,
but at least the student is prepared for the fact that the pieces won't
automatically happen the first time the student plays them.

We can help motivate students at that level by using supplementary music that is
one level below the student's instructional level. If a student is working on a
longer piece that requires several weeks to learn, motivation can be kept high
by also having him learn several shorter pieces that can be learned in a single
week. Students don't really pay attention to the fact that the other pieces are
easier than the others. They are simply grateful that they can have a sense of
accomplishment each week. The added benefit is that continual playing of these
easier pieces promotes good sight reading habits. The teacher can take the time
to promote transposition and other skills with the easier pieces as well.

I believe there is considerable value in having the student work on one project
piece as well. The project piece can be slightly beyond the instructional level
of the student, so long as the teacher provides drill on any difficulties the
piece presents before having the student use those skills in the piece. When
the student finally masters the piece six weeks later, he gets a feeling of
accomplishment. It is especially great if the piece is showy, enabling the
student to shine in the eyes of his peers.

With today's modern courses, the kiss of death is a bit less prevalent. More
and more students are continuing lessons for four to six years instead of
dropping out at the usual two year point. For boys, the typical dropout comes
when the student has to choose between sports and the piano. I've never
considered it a major loss when a boy chooses football over the piano. For many
of them, that is a healthy choice. But I'm always delighted when I get one of
those star pupils whose loyalty to music wins out over the team.

[pianistimo]

you've hit some good points.  for instance, create your own method and it will ultimately serve you better.  i've learned that teaching the full range of playing the keyboard gets children accustomed right from the first lesson to learn to lean to the left and right - and not scoot.  sitting right in front of mid-C - they can usually (if 6-7 years) reach two octaves below and above no problem. 

some people don't like scales - but that's what i use.  tetrachord scales (lh 5432 rh 2345) and play the first scale in C - way down low - then the next scale up a fifth.  by the time they reach B major - they are up in the treble - having crossed six octaves of the keyboard by fifths - playing scales.

for note-reading - i would begin to put up 'cards' (full poster size) with each scale in the octave it is played and say 'this is what you are playing looks like.'  (showing the C major scale notes - then G - then A- then E - then B).    in the second year they are probably going to be playing more than tetra-chord - but the first year you can still introduce a few things just for their viewing.  the more they get used to looking - the more familiar they will be, imo.

then, you can also have little games where you have a grand staff- and randomly pick a note (maybe at the end of first year) from two ledger lines above to two ledger lines below.  if they can identify the note on the piano after only one year of lessons - i think it shows promise for sightreading pretty well.  this can be a game both ways - as you can use the notespellers to write played notes down on paper. 

i think i would approach this topic with colored circle stickers - using say RED for all the C's.  show them that two ledger lines below and two ledger lines above are C.  also, three spaces down the bass and three spaces up the treble are C.  and then mid-C.  if they know all the C's they can count backwards and forwards to figure out all the others.  you could coordinate the poster sized grand staff with similar colored circles as to what you stick on the piano.  C's are RED - notes on the staff are red.  notes on the piano are red.  then, they get used to figuring the C's by black note patterns, too. 

i'm easy with different types of students. some don't want to be coddled with stickers - others love it.  it doesn't matter to me.  (as long as the stickers come off). 

sightreading is something a student has to work at EVERY week - just like their regular exercises and repertoire.  as you say - once they are proficient (between year 2-3 or year 3) they will then enjoy piano so much more.  ithink part of it is not rushing the students to play like each other - but take each individual students pace and pick up on it.  if they are weak with the lh - give them lots of lh stuff. 

motivation for younger students can be simply playing together for recital once per month an d hearing their peers.  performance - when brought in early, too, can make for much more relaxed atmosphere about playing in front of others later.  you know, making it game-like and not competition. 

[joyfulmusic]

I've noticed that when my students need to slow down a bit, they start speaking about their beginning pieces and like to play them.  Sometimes it's good to just work on the same level for a few weeks.  I like to introduce books with songs or movie themes they know at this point.  One boy I was teaching was getting overwhelmed (his mom can't resist "helping")  So I started him on "Pink Panther".  The boy has fantastic jazz rhythm. 

[jinfiesto]

Wow. I must really be blessed. Almost all of my students can read fairly proficiently after a couple of months of lessons. When my students learn "larger" repertoire. When I say larger, I mean larger for them... Fur Elise, L'Orage, Bach preludes... Etc... I usually give them a couple of pieces at a time, and rotate. Have them learn one, and then put it away, and then I bring them a new one, and once they've had that for a while, I have them bring back the last, I usually work a cycle like this with about three pieces. That way, they have fresh insight on all of their music without feeling overloaded. I also feel like this helps them feel like they're making progress, since when you tell them they can put something away for a little while, they feel accomplished... Like they've done something.