Ingrained bad hand positions

[shera]

I'm teaching some new students who are very young but very advanced and have some problems that cannot be fixed in a short time.  They have been pushed through exams every year, and this year is no exception.  I'm finding out they have poor practise habits (practising to them means playing the entire piece a few times at top speed regardless of mistakes), and technique (some very poor hand positions and fingering).  They do have their strengths of course or they wouldn't have come so far. 

I'm not used to this -I'm used to teaching the correct hand positions and hand movements in order to get the proper sound.  But I can't correct these things since it would take a lot of time, hand exercises and devotion on their part, and right now there's only time to get them to learn their pieces as well as possible in time for the exam.  So I have to just focus on surface things and a few of the really obvious technical problems.  I am teaching them proper practise techniques. 

Has anyone else been in this position and how did you handle it?  How do you correct a bad hand position that a student has been used to using for years? 
Also I don’t want to weigh them down with too much technical correction.  I think I’m sometimes overly focussed on that anyway.  Any tips would be much appreciated!

[mingkei]

I'm teaching some new students who are very young but very advanced and have some problems that cannot be fixed in a short time.  They have been pushed through exams every year, and this year is no exception.  I'm finding out they have poor practise habits (practising to them means playing the entire piece a few times at top speed regardless of mistakes), and technique (some very poor hand positions and fingering).  They do have their strengths of course or they wouldn't have come so far. 

I'm not used to this -I'm used to teaching the correct hand positions and hand movements in order to get the proper sound.  But I can't correct these things since it would take a lot of time, hand exercises and devotion on their part, and right now there's only time to get them to learn their pieces as well as possible in time for the exam.  So I have to just focus on surface things and a few of the really obvious technical problems.  I am teaching them proper practise techniques. 

Has anyone else been in this position and how did you handle it?  How do you correct a bad hand position that a student has been used to using for years? 
Also I don’t want to weigh them down with too much technical correction.  I think I’m sometimes overly focussed on that anyway.  Any tips would be much appreciated!

[mingkei]

I'm teaching some new students who are very young but very advanced and have some problems that cannot be fixed in a short time.  They have been pushed through exams every year, and this year is no exception.  I'm finding out they have poor practise habits (practising to them means playing the entire piece a few times at top speed regardless of mistakes), and technique (some very poor hand positions and fingering).  They do have their strengths of course or they wouldn't have come so far. 

I'm not used to this -I'm used to teaching the correct hand positions and hand movements in order to get the proper sound.  But I can't correct these things since it would take a lot of time, hand exercises and devotion on their part, and right now there's only time to get them to learn their pieces as well as possible in time for the exam.  So I have to just focus on surface things and a few of the really obvious technical problems.  I am teaching them proper practise techniques. 

Has anyone else been in this position and how did you handle it?  How do you correct a bad hand position that a student has been used to using for years? 
Also I don’t want to weigh them down with too much technical correction.  I think I’m sometimes overly focussed on that anyway.  Any tips would be much appreciated!

Thanks for your post. I look forward to hearing someone who has a good way to handle this problem you mentioned.
For me, I do have students with bad hand positions, but they are never so advanced or are so deeply ingrained with bad habits that I can't go back to basics. Or, I make time--meaning that the student may be working on exam pieces, but I plan my schedule to make sure that I have enough time to work on enough basics so they can play the pieces really well (e.g. no sloppy playing).

Well, actually, I am not sure if my method is good. My method means that I have to do a lot of reminding constantly, to the point of almost nagging the students, to remind them what good habits are.

I have a feeling that many teachers won't even bother with the bad habits. They may only gently remind but would probably let those habits go, if they don't make the playing sound too too terrible. 

[hyrst]

I understand the frustration with this problem so much.  I am actually really concerned about students like this, so much so that I am considering making a policy of not taking transfer students.

A similar problem exists with reading.  I have had a number of transfer students with reading and/or technique problems.  They have no idea that they cannot read or play properly.  Their teachers have taught exam pieces to them by rote and they have successfully passed several grades, some of them.  They get to a point where they cannot pass exams this way - yet they have no idea what is happening or why exams suddenly become hard. 

I find these problems very difficult to overcome - and this is made worse not so much by the habit of it, but because the student really doesn't understand that they are doing things ineffectively or poorly/unmusically - especailly if their opinion is reinforced by passing a few exams. 

The way I deal with it - besides unending patience and biting my tongue - is to tell students that we focus on different things at different times.  I allow them to work on pieces at a level they think they can play, and teach them to analyse these pieces (theory and intepretation).  However, if possible, I discourage exams and tell them that they need to spend time getting to know how things work when they learn with me - because I am different to their previous teacher. 

I also say that we need to learn about technique and do exercises.  I use studies that are short and most kids enjoy them - most of my students work well with Dozen a Day.  These workouts last about 10 minutes in the lesson.  I tell them this is when they MUST focus on using their hands in the way I tell them to.  (They are not required to focus on hand position in pieces beyond what is necessary for actually articulating pieces - so I am talking to them more about sound production with pieces and allow them to transfer experience from the exercises.  I tell them I am not going to nag them about hand position in pieces, but they should try to listen to their music.)

Reading I take them through my beginner's programme - but I call it sight-reading exercise.  I am teaching them how to read, but they don't have to feel that they are being taken down grades.  Some of them won't practice and play these beginner pieces as they are required to - I guess they think this is unnecessary.  This delays progress that can come from this approach.

Practice is really the biggest issue in all this - these students do often have bad practice habits and low committment to work.  I asked a girl recently how long she was spending practicing - it was already obvious she wasn't following instructions about how to practice.  Trying to pass a grade 4 exam, she thought playing 10 minutes a day was enough!  UGHHH!  I give them specific instructions about what to practice and how - but taking information from lessons into practice still is a problem.

However, those who listen have made good progress with this approach.  I find that the reading and technique studies gradually make a significant impression on the pieces - but it takes time, more than teaching from scratch.

If you are talking more about 'advanced' as in grade 6 onwards, these students should be used to being corrected and finding better ways of meeting the technical requirements of their pieces.  With these students the issue is needing to sense a proper seating position and eliminate excess tension.  The best approach to this, IMO, is to stop and move right away from the piano.  Do relaxation and postural exercises and seek to find ease rather than trying to make things 'right'.  Experimentation and patience on both sides.