HELP!!

[chopingurl]

hey y'all......i'm 15 and currently have 2 students but am getting a third after new years. one of my students has been taking piano for 2 years(shes and started taking from me this school year.  she struggles with everything,literally. she can barely read music,and can't play outside of 5-finger c position. I have tried musical go fish,going over notes,using cake and fruit to show the counts of notes but she doesn't get it. I think one problem is she hates piano,but when i give her songs she likes she won't pracice anything else. how can i catch her up and show her how fun piano is???

[MusicMom]

Have you tried picking out a song with her that can be a goal?  I have a student who desperately wants to play Moonlight Sonota, so I've discussed with her some of the things she needs to know before she can tackle that piece.  We set long term goals and then short term goals to help her get to where she wants to be.

[MusicMom]

Have you tried picking out a song with her that can be a goal?  I have a student who desperately wants to play Moonlight Sonata, so I've discussed with her some of the things she needs to know before she can tackle that piece.  We set long term goals and then short term goals to help her get to where she wants to be.

[princess]

well, the most important thing would be that her parents are aware of this.  maybe make a deal with your student saying "if you want to play this song, you have to play this other stuff too." you've got to tell his/her parents that she's not practicing the important stuff and make them aware of the situation on your hands. tell the parents she needs to practice 30mins-1hour (they're gonna cut time, guaranteed). tell your student she needs to be able to name notes within 2 seconds after you point one out.  make your student aware that he/she is far behind and tell them you're gonna be more mean if they don't do what they're supposed to. another way is you can make up a song that she likes and include all sorts of notes. as for the beat values, if you can't teach her logically, the only other way is to have her memorize the values.  draw a chart and make her memorize it for the next class.  give stickers as encouragement or chocolates or something that she'll like and within reason. you can also play something that's difficult and impress her, that may inspire her to become a good pianist like yourself

[glamfolk]

Can you play by ear?  Maybe the problem is that she just doesn't want to read.  Teach her to play by ear.  Have her bring in a cd of a song she likes, and pick out the chords, and just give her a "fake" sheet.  That way she can play the song and listen and not read all those dots.  I have a student who hated piano a few years ago, and her mom would get upset with me when I gave her a song to repeat after one week, so I made a deal with her.  We only go over songs she wants to play from her cd's, or things she's made up.  We talk about how to develp the themes of her compositions, and we've ended up playing some pretty complex pop stuff.  She has a great time, plus I'm getting to use my musical ears helping to figure stuff out for her, although more often than not these days, she's figuring it all out herself.  I'd bet she's getting some skills she'll still be using years from now.  Everybody gets something out of it.

[amp]

Maybe mix it up like MusicMom said. Have her work on one piece she really loves and another that teachs her the various techniques. Also try this, keep her moving, each week assign pieces you know she will be able to conquer...so she is seeing new pieces every week. Maybe have one more difficult piece that could carry over to another week. But, don't dweal...she will continue to loose interest in that case. As Glamfolk was talking about, you can help her build herself up musically in general, even if she's not progressing technically like your other student(s). Who knows, in a year she may be your most dedicated student.