Feel like I should just start over with a student...

[pianolin94]

Hello all! So I have been teaching a 6 or 7 year old this past year (transfer student). His parents are forcing him to take piano and I don't see that he enjoys it unless he goofs off (which I put a stop to). He is usually in a bad mood when he comes to the lesson. He is using Alfred's basic (he is in the first few pages of level 1B) although I personally don't use it, but that is what he came to me with and he recognizes the intervals pretty well. He would much rather memorize, watch his hands, and learn by rote. He would rather have me tell him everything to do than read the music himself. I know teachers who teach a few of their students solely by rote and so maybe I should do the same? But I know that reading music is essential and when I took lessons as a child playing by rote was "bad"...I also know a lot of teachers who sing with their student. I have tried it with him and he doesn't match the piano to my voice. He can, however, mimic what I play.

The last time I drilled notes on the staff and keyboard, he got them mostly right. I'm not sure now what it would be like...the last time I drilled intervals, he got them almost all right. However when it comes to reading the music it all goes out the window. So I thought maybe he is being stubborn? But I don't want to assume because maybe he really doesn't know what he's doing.

I guess I could write in every note name and finger? I write in a few notes here or there and a finger number or two but I prefer that my students read intervallically. So I'll write in the interval and the direction it goes, like up or down, with arrows, but when he gets it wrong I encourage him to look at the music and I'll tell him what it says or ask him. He will still miss it the next time, like if the right hand goes a third up and the left hand goes a third down at the same time. I'll say "Right hand finger 3" and he will play left hand 3. I will point to the treble clef and he will play left hand. I know young children are often left-right confused so maybe we should spend a lesson drilling that? He also mixes up finger numbers.
I am having the parents record him playing the song for the week with me talking him through it because I don't know how else he will be able to practice. A lot of times he will come to the lesson saying "I forgot how to play it." Sometimes he doesn't practice at all. I don't understand why the parents are investing the money. The downside is I teach at a music studio and I am not in control of what kinds of students I get. If I let him go, that is money lost for the studio.

Today he couldn't/wouldn't recognize middle C on the staff. I asked him "what note is this?" and he would say whole note...finger 5...etc. I might drill note names next week and see if he remembers them outside of the context of a piece. I don't know if I need to talk to the parents, start all over, or what I need to do. I would like to incorporate more fun things learning activities but it takes us the entire lesson to learn a new song in the book and get where he can play it hands separate line by line, with me telling him everything to do. If I don't he will make it up or make mistakes, whichever it is.

Sorry for the novel. I am trying to be patient and kind but I don't know what else to do. Maybe I am expecting too much? Is it too much to ask that he play simple pieces independently?

[dorfmouse]

Poor, poor kid. No wonder he hates it.
At age 6/7 many children, boys particularly, are still struggling with basic concepts of reading and number. Suddenly, and you say he's been at it for a year, at the age of about five, he's introduced to a whole new system of shape symbols with circles, blobs and lines going up and down, "living" on two tracks of five parallel lines. And a weeny little line in the middle. Suddenly letter names mean something completely different to his previous understanding of letters in reading and are used in a completly different context. Now numbers can mean finger numbers, note lengths or both at the same time; he hears fraction names for both notes and intervals when most kids find basic concepts of fractions difficult even at age eight. Oh, not to mention right and left, up and down all going on at the same time! Spend some time watching a grade one class doing action songs with these movements and you get the gist! (Let's do the Hokey Pokey everyone!)
He may have a dyslexia problem but even without, he is dealing with a huge information overload and trying to translate all this muddled intelllectual information into finely co-ordinated physical movements.

I'm a school teacher of this age group not a piano teacher but it seems sensible to me to make a fresh start with a gradual introduction of music literacy based on his preferred use of aural skills. I hope an instrumental teacher can advise, for the sake of the child.

(As an aside; I started learning the harp last year after donkeys years of piano and flute experience. It was highly frustrating for a while as you are operating in a different plane at right angles to your body, moving fingers towards and away from you instead of horizontally, learning to  associate finger numbers with the opposite direction of movement to piano, just to mention a few of the things which I found would literally cause my coordination to freeze. After a few months of high frustration trying to play what I thought were simple tunes because I could read them instantly and nearly giving up, I searched out even simpler melodies, gradually adding in a note or two in the left hand and then one day I realised "I can do this!")
I do hope your little struggler can start to enjoy piano. It's no fun feeling like a failure. And maybe piano is just not for him, he might enjoy a single line melodic instrument more. Why do parents think piano is the first choice instrument? It is very hard for most.

[pianolin94]

Poor, poor kid. No wonder he hates it.

I know. I do feel badly for him. I think I will try simple pieces where the hands don't play at the same time and do some review and aural skills...try to strengthen what is he is good at....A different method my help as well, and try to find time to incorporate more fun activities. Often it's helpful to remember what children are capable of and not overestimate...

[lostinidlewonder]

He would much rather memorize, watch his hands, and learn by rote. He would rather have me tell him everything to do than read the music himself. I know teachers who teach a few of their students solely by rote and so maybe I should do the same?

I think it is fine especially if it is something that he is keen to use. The challenge that you face however is how he is going to practice that while at home. You may need to record videos of playing small passages for him to use to work with while working on his own. This may also create a new source of inspiration to practice confidently. 

But I know that reading music is essential and when I took lessons as a child playing by rote was "bad"

It is not bad because you can learn how to coordinate your hands at the piano quickly and train using your hearing to play. I learned this way solely when I first started at the piano but my father played piano well and could give me daily assistance. When learning by rote with a teacher there is very limited contact time but your absence can be supplemented with audio/video recordings.

The last time I drilled notes on the staff and keyboard, he got them mostly right. I'm not sure now what it would be like...the last time I drilled intervals, he got them almost all right. However when it comes to reading the music it all goes out the window. So I thought maybe he is being stubborn?

There is also a stamina issue when it comes to sight reading, it can be exhausting! As teachers we can easily forget how much strain a beginner student is going through especially when working with such "simple" material. A piece can look very long, full of variation and different fingering positions and movements, it can help sectioning up his piece into smaller parts. You can also use a lot of colours to highlight pattern in fingerings and notes and the sections of the piece. You could also photocopy the piece then get some scissors out and cut it up then paste each piece on a separate page or however appropriate.

I guess I could write in every note name and finger?

I find nothing wrong with writing them all in so long the student does it themselves. Of course it is an extremely inefficient way to go about learning your music but the more they do it the more they are training their reading and fingering. Later go back and ask which information can be removed or when working with future pieces perhaps ask what doesn't need to be included.

I write in a few notes here or there and a finger number or two but I prefer that my students read intervallically.

That cropping and selection of what to include is a subject in itself. Ensure if you put selected numbers in that the student investigates with you how to to fill in the blanks. This investigation should be quick and correct, if it is slow or inaccurate then this may be an indicator to include more information on the sheet.

I'll say "Right hand finger 3" and he will play left hand 3. I will point to the treble clef and he will play left hand. I know young children are often left-right confused so maybe we should spend a lesson drilling that? He also mixes up finger numbers.

It could be beneficial to investigate with him playing single position pieces with numbers only. This will train him to consider the top row as right hand and bottom as left. It helps train their hand and eye coordination quickly without the drudgery of reading notes to slow it down. There is a huge amount of repertoire in these single positions and even more if you include small position movements, they are very quick to learn and quite secure in terms of what note and fingerings to use when the student practices alone.

I am having the parents record him playing the song for the week with me talking him through it because I don't know how else he will be able to practice.

You can also record yourself playing the piece and also segmenting the practice into parts for him in a separate video so he can learn by rote if required. 

A lot of times he will come to the lesson saying "I forgot how to play it." Sometimes he doesn't practice at all. I don't understand why the parents are investing the money. The downside is I teach at a music studio and I am not in control of what kinds of students I get. If I let him go, that is money lost for the studio.

This of course is not a good situation. If a student of mine does not complete the work we set for the week then I will go over that work with them in the lesson. If the student consistently does not complete the weekly work you have to reduce the work load you set for them each week even if it becomes a ridiculously small amount, they must come to the lessons completing their work. Sometimes you have trapped yourself as teacher, setting too much work for the student then wondering why the task is not being solved.