Teaching the First Lesson

[pianorama]

I've advertised my services as a beginning piano teacher this year, and tomorrow I've agreed to see a six-year old girl and her mother who would like to take piano lessons.

I've spent the last two weeks thinking over and over about the aspects of teaching, looking at piano methods, talking to teachers of my own for advice, but I've yet to answer my fundamental question: What do you hope to accomplish at the end of the first day with a brand-new student?

I plan on removing all distractions in my house (mom, dad, dog) and greeting the mother and daughter, talking to them a bit, taking her over to the piano and... I'm scared, because I'm not 100% sure what to do next. Do I teach her to recognize some of the notes on the keyboard? Teach her to play something simple by rote, such as mary had a little lamb on the black keys?

I'm prepared with a few analogies that I remember from my really early years. There's the hand shape one, where you want to pretend there's a (small soft bunny?) underneath, and naming the keys on the piano such as D being like a Dog in his doghouse (between the two black keys) off the top of my head.

My piano teacher suggested as an exercise when teaching to recognize notes on the keyboard to ask her to find all the C's, then, D's etc. and play them first piano then forte.

There is so much to consider I get bogged down a bit at times. What my main question is though as I said before, what do you hope to accomplish in the very first piano lessons with a student?

Thank you so much for any advice

[m1469]

There will be things that we may learn (some note names, etc.), but what I really hope to accomplish the very first lesson is to have them leave the studio with a tune *stuck* in their head to the point where they can't hardly help but go to the piano to play it during the week.  

[nyiregyhazi]

Teach her to play something simple by rote, such as mary had a little lamb on the black keys?

? Is that even possible?

[mcdiddy1]

I'm prepared with a few analogies that I remember from my really early years. There's the hand shape one, where you want to pretend there's a (small soft bunny?) underneath, and naming the keys on the piano such as D being like a Dog in his doghouse (between the two black keys) off the top of my head.

Wow, I have never heard that anology before. What are the other analogies for the other keys?

What I normally start with is a relaxed positions with elbows hanging down , hands soft etc and how to sit at the piano.

Ear-training: Have the student identify high and lower pitches, compare them to animals, and echo games where the teacher plays any notes that go higher and student echos. It takes young beginners time to understand right means higher and left means lower.

Steady beat/ pulse- Compare music to a heart-beat and everything we do on the piano is done with a steady pulse. Have student keep a soft steady pulse on their knees while singing a song or maybe sofege (do re me etc) . It to identify if the student has some sense of pitch and establishes the routine of I play first and then you echo.

Key identification- you may choose solfege or note-names depending on if the student has elementary class but I stick with note-names. Have student play groups of black keys and see the pattern. Learn Middle C. Have student recite, not play A B C D E F G and most importantly going backward. You will learn about the students cognative and memory skills. Then have the student do it on the piano

Technique- Name the fingers, play wiggle games to remeber their names. Have student hold their hand up in a relaxed position. Place on middle C, pick up fingers from the third joint, teach them how to allign their finger tips so they do not collapse. They probably will want to have other fingers lift while playing one finger so be patient and remind them to relax muscles and pick up their fingers for them. It will go away with persitence and if they play too hard have them play on the fallboard of the piano so they can develop light touches on the piano .

Teach song by rote- take a piece in their method book and teach it to them just by imitation of how you do it. You do not want to rush and put notation in their face because they have plenty to think about already just playing with the right technique etc.  After a lesson or two of learn how to play songs with good technique and memory, then it would be wise to introduce the notation of the songs. At this point the student will already know how to play it and can concentrate on the different aspects of notation. Delaying notation  will show you how much the student retained or if the student practiced or not.

After that initial lesson, you can warm- up for ten minutes every lesson with flash cards that introduce notation they will see in the music , notes they will learn, and rhythm patterns. As long as you have the student recite the name  and actually do something on the piano that reflects the rhythm or note they are playing they should learn something new every lesson.

Thats what I do in a nutshell and I found it works find. Feel free to use it or not.

? Is that even possible?

Sure it is. On the three black keys. A# G#F# G# A#A#A# ...etc. I suspect some methods start on black keys because it is easier for students not used to curving their finger. White keys they would have to curl more.

[nyiregyhazi]

Sure it is. On the three black keys. A# G#F# G# A#A#A# ...etc. I suspect some methods start on black keys because it is easier for students not used to curving their finger. White keys they would have to curl more.

Ah, that makes sense. I'm thinking with the fifth included as well (some versions stick to the third instead) but that works in F sharp major. I do find it a bit strange to go straight in there though. C major works fine as a starting point for me.

[keypeg]

If you think relatively, and if you don't think note names, then black notes are the easiest of all.  There are only 5 notes and you get the pentatonic scale which many simple songs contain.

[krystellle]

Well, I had my first student yesterday!  I only have one.  She's the cleaning lady's daughter.  Rumanian and very bright.  She loves music.  She's 10, I think.  Anyway, it was her first lesson.  I followed two books for beginners.  At the end of the lesson, she could find c and f everywhere on the keyboard.  We did a little ear training and she was able to recognize, bass notes and high treble notes.  And she even recognized the difference between c and f, even if she said they sounded alike.  Then she played using only three fingers.  I taught her how to sit, how to hold her hand, how to play the thumb.  She caught on pretty fast.  It's difficult to get her to hold her hand in a round position, so I support it sometimes and remind her how to hold it.  Anyway, she had a good time.  She's very outgoing and talkative and I found that after about an hour she was losing concentration.  Anyway, it was neat!

[pianowolfi]

Krystelle, that sounds really good

[mcdiddy1]

Well, I had my first student yesterday!  I only have one.  She's the cleaning lady's daughter.  Rumanian and very bright.  She loves music.  She's 10, I think.  Anyway, it was her first lesson.  I followed two books for beginners.  At the end of the lesson, she could find c and f everywhere on the keyboard.  We did a little ear training and she was able to recognize, bass notes and high treble notes.  And she even recognized the difference between c and f, even if she said they sounded alike.  Then she played using only three fingers.  I taught her how to sit, how to hold her hand, how to play the thumb.  She caught on pretty fast.  It's difficult to get her to hold her hand in a round position, so I support it sometimes and remind her how to hold it.  Anyway, she had a good time.  She's very outgoing and talkative and I found that after about an hour she was losing concentration.  Anyway, it was neat!

Sounds like you got a pretty great student there.

[nyiregyhazi]

If you think relatively, and if you don't think note names, then black notes are the easiest of all.  There are only 5 notes and you get the pentatonic scale which many simple songs contain.

Why is that easier than the many that fit C-G? Notably, you can lie a finger over all of the notes with ease. Smaller hands might struggle a little to cover all five black keys and they are easier to slip off from. Plus you go straight into regular diatonic music, rather than more specialised pentatonic writing.

[pianoplayjl]

probably she should understand posture and the hand position e.g. curved fingers, thumb placed on edge of keys, etc. that is all I remember from my first lesson. also let your student recognise all the 'C's, especially the middle C.