advice on a Lesson syllabus

[allchopin]

I have created a rough list of criteria that I think would best start a beginner at the piano.  Please suggest amendments if necessary- I would like the input from tried-and-true methods.  Keep in mind that this is only a sketch:

Parts of the piano
a.      Cabinet/sound board
b.      strings/keys
c.      hammers/action/dampers
d.      pedals
Technique/posture/motion
e.      back/legs
f.      hands’/fingers’ positions
g.      hand form
h.      playing procedure
Music
i.      Low vs. high
j.      middle C
k.      staves
l.      accidentals
m.      sight-reading (flashcards)
n.      listening to professionally performed recordings
Key signatures
o.      permanent accidentals
p.      signature flashcards
q.      minor/major
Note/rest values
r.      notes
s.      rests
t.      dotted notes/rests
u.      ties
Time signatures
v.      upper value
w.      lower value
x.      examples (flashcards)
y.      common/cut time

and Beyond...

Thanks!

[bernhard]

Have a look here:

https://www.pianoatpepper.com/catalog/art_PiTechSympFink99.jsp

It is somehow related to this subject.


Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[allchopin]

That site covers tecnique, but what about everything else?  Should one start with tecnique up front, or first learn to read the music on the page?  I am concerning myself with the overall path at first. Thanks

[bernhard]

You should start with everything at the same time.  Consider making a meal. Inexperienced chefs will start with the starters, then cook the main dish, then the side dishes, then the desert. It will be a disaster.

Experienced chefs will plan the preparation of the meal according to the cooking requirements of each dish. This means:

1. Dessert will usually be the first thing to be prepared (even though it is the last to be served).
2. Next slow cooking dishes will be done (rice, beans, roasts).
3. Depending of the side dishes these will be prepared next, and may be cooked at the last moment before serving.
4. The last thing to be done will be the starters - actually the first thing to be served.

Likewise with piano teaching. Reading music is going to take a while, so it must be started at the first lesson, and "cook" for a couple of months before it can be of any use.

Meanwhile, you must teach some music by rote, otherwise even the most motivated student will despair.

Scales should also be taught (in very small doses – which will add up in the course of time) from the first lesson since it will be a while (sometimes a long while) before they start to make sense.

Technique is immediate. Anything the student does will need technical supervision and guidance straight away.

You get the idea.

By doing everything at the same time, and yet allowing each component of the whole its proper completion time, you should have a beautiful flowering of skills after two three months, when everything comes together.

Likewise in the kitchen, by taking into consideration each dish's requirement in terms of cooking time, you should be able to have a beautiful meal coming together perfectly timed at the end of a couple of hours.

But it will not happen at first. Set your sights on that goal, though, and soon you will get the hang of it.

Here are three helpful references:

James Bastien - How to teach piano successfully - Kjos

Dennis Agay  - Teaching piano (2 vols.) - Yorktown Music Press.

Uzsler, Gordon & McBride Smith - The well tempered keyboard teacher – Wadsworth.

And if you do not know this book, you will like it:

Eigedinger – Chopin, pianist and teacher – Cambridge.

Chopin had been working on a teaching method before his death, so he never completed it, but his book has the unfinished version. Enjoy!


Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[allchopin]

Is it a negative harbinger that I burnt the last batch of cookies I made?
I figured that I should start with tecnique ASAP in order to get the students to be able to practice on their own with some good basic direction.  However, I don't feel that teaching music reading on the very first lesson is... appropriate- I think that the student first must know what the heck they are playing ON and a briefing on HOW it works before they use it.  Is this what you do?
Maybe I am too paranoid, or anxious, but I just want to take the most optimal path as overseen by veterans in the field  .
Thanks for the Bernhelp

[bernhard]

Is it a negative harbinger that I burnt the last batch of cookies I made?

There are no failures, there are only learning experiences.  

I figured that I should start with technique ASAP in order to get the students to be able to practice on their own with some good basic direction.

Yes, that is what I do. Choose a piece the student likes – possibly a very easy one that he can master in one or two lessons and teach it by rote.

If he does not know even where the notes are in the piano, while he learns get him to improvise on the black keys (just play anything on the black keys. As long as it is black keys it will sound good). Meanwhile you will be working with him on identifying the keys and other stuff. But I believe the student should be playing from the very first lesson. Even if it is chopsticks.

However, I don't feel that teaching music reading on the very first lesson is... appropriate- I think that the student first must know what the heck they are playing ON and a briefing on HOW it works before they use it.  Is this what you do?

The first lesson tell him to memorise EGBDF  (lines on the G clef), FACE (spaces on the G clef), GBDFA (lines on the F clef), ACEG (spaces on the F clef) . Do not tell him what it is all about. Just tell him to memorise it. Next lesson show him the staff. Then tell him what the letters he memorised are all about. Then drill him into saying the names of the notes within the staff. Next lesson tell him about ledger lines and show him how it all follows the pattern EGBDFACE… Next lesson show him wehre the notes are in the keyboard (meanwhile you have been teaching himm all along the key location). And so on and so forth. Every lesson you give a piece of the puzzle. After a couple of weeks /months/years (depending on the student and on the frequency of lessons) he should be able to read music in a primitive and rudimentary way.

So, yes, teach reading music from the very first lesson, but break down the material in homeopathic doses. This is boring stuff, but it is up to you to be firm and consistent so that it all adds up after a couple of lessons. It is really easy to get engrossed on simply learning pieces, and neglect all this stuff.

Maybe I am too paranoid, or anxious, but I just want to take the most optimal path as overseen by veterans in the field   .

There are many paths and most of them lead to the top of the mountain. Different students like different paths (not everyone is into mountain climbing, not everyone is into leisurely walking to the top). Do not forget to enjoy the scenery!

Also have a look here: I just posted a big post on some aspects of how I taught an advanced piece to a complete beginner.

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1083060519


Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[allchopin]

The first lesson tell him to memorise EGBDF  (lines on the G clef), FACE (spaces on the G clef), GBDFA (lines on the F clef), ACEG (spaces on the F clef) . Do not tell him what it is all about.

Actually, what I meant was literally, what the student is playing on- the piano.  But yes, kids generally will not understand music theory until they grow up.  

I suppose there are many ways to construct a syllabus.  I'll just cross the bridge when I come to it.  Appreciate all the help.