Functional Skills

[amanfang]

Do you teach functional skills in piano lessons - harmonization, improvisation, and so on, or do you teach only literature in lessons?  In my pre-college lessons, I was never taught harmonization and improv, much less theory.  We only worked on the literature.  Now in college, I have a hard time in theory lab doing those things quickly.  I would like to begin teaching those things even though my background is limited so that my students have some experience in it.  How do you teach it, and how much time do you spend on it?

[monk]

Don't begin to teach it.
One should only teach things one has really understood.

I much too often got students from other teachers who had been taught some basic theory in a wrong, misleading way.

Best Wishes,
Monk

[amanfang]

What are some good ways to improve then??  I understand the theory behind it.  I can do it all on paper, but the problem is transferring it quickly to just do it on the spot on the keyboard.

[monk]

Then with you it's the other way round than it should be!

You should be able to begin with the facts - the tones on the instrument - and be able to demonstrate it, so that the student recognizes that theory is a (often inaccurate) description of real phenomenons. "The map is not the territory!" (A. Korzybski)

If you are beginning with the paper and only then "transfer" it to the keyboard, then the tail is wagging the dog!

I suspect you had no good theory instruction, otherwise your teacher would have already told you that.

A way to improve is to take simple melodies (folk songs / chorales etc.) and improvise accompaniments - be it basses, 2nd voices or 4 part accompaniments (at the beginning with bass voice in left hand and 3 voices in the right). When doing that, you should always be aware which chord / which chord function you are playing at the moment. No "intuitive" stuff you can't explain!

Best Wishes,
Monk

[amanfang]

So this will just take a lot of time and practice on my part.  I had virtually no theory training until college, but did well in what I have taken so far.  Perhaps I should try more analysis in literature I am working on to help(?).