What teaching/learning resources do you wish existed?

[klavieronin]

Just curious, as teachers (students feel free to answer also) are there materials for teaching or learning that you wish were available but aren't? Could be certain types of repertoire, exercises, method books etc.

Personally, I would like to see more contemporary repertoire aimed at absolute beginners.

Also (and perhaps this already exists but I just haven't found it), I wish there was a theory book with integrated, structured and progressive piano exercises, a sort of "practical" music theory book.

[thorn]

A series of books ranging from beginner to (early) intermediate level that integrated all of the key skills of playing, sight reading, theory and musicianship would be fantastic. It's so difficult to get younger learners and non-musician parents to understand that all of these things are important for making music and that working on theory/sight reading exercises still constitutes "learning the piano".

The ABRSM Spectrum series is a good platform for graded contemporary music. They go backwards though so Book 4 is beginner/early intermediate and Book 1 is upper intermediate/advanced.

[themeandvariation]

"Also (and perhaps this already exists but I just haven't found it), I wish there was a theory book with integrated, structured and progressive piano exercises, a sort of "practical" music theory book."

Actually Im going thru the final edits of a book which does exactly this. With references to all styles along the way. It goes from total beginner to advanced-intermediate.
It is geared for teachers but also the autodidact.
Shameless self promotion yes, but I wrote it because I couldn't find a book that does this.
 

[klavieronin]

Actually Im going thru the final edits of a book which does exactly this. With references to all styles along the way. It goes from total beginner to advanced-intermediate.
It is geared for teachers but also the autodidact.
Shameless self promotion yes, but I wrote it because I couldn't find a book that does this.

Great! Be sure to let us know when it's done.

[themeandvariation]

Thank you!

[Bob]

Something similar to the beginner series that goes beyond that.

Something curriculum-wise for everything.

Ditto for beginning jazz.  Not just the resources/pieces but the glue/instruction that holds things together.  Info, concepts, and a path for learning.

[klavieronin]

Something similar to the beginner series that goes beyond that.

Something curriculum-wise for everything.

Ditto for beginning jazz.  Not just the resources/pieces but the glue/instruction that holds things together.  Info, concepts, and a path for learning.

Agreed. But I feel like putting that together would be a mammoth task. I wonder if something like that could be open sourced. Maybe have many people contributing to it with one or a few knowledgeable and experience teachers/pianists editing it. Then put it up on Github or something.

One potential road block, I guess, would be that there seems to be so little agreement among teachers and pianists about what the best path is for a student.

[Bob]

And then some teacher focus more on style, others on technique, etc. 

[anacrusis]

Agreed. But I feel like putting that together would be a mammoth task. I wonder if something like that could be open sourced. Maybe have many people contributing to it with one or a few knowledgeable and experience teachers/pianists editing it. Then put it up on Github or something.

One potential road block, I guess, would be that there seems to be so little agreement among teachers and pianists about what the best path is for a student.

I doubt there is one "best" path. Because that assumes everyone agrees on what the goal is, which they clearly don't, judging from how differently pianists out there play compared to each other. And knowing what to do at each moment in time and how to work with each individual student's strengths and weaknesses always varies. I think there are some good common denominators - good fundamentals for technique etc without which the student eventually will hit a major road block or even be forced to quit. But there's individual variation between students and you might need to be creative and have different strategies for different students.

[klavieronin]

I doubt there is one "best" path. Because that assumes everyone agrees on what the goal is, which they clearly don't, judging from how differently pianists out there play compared to each other. And knowing what to do at each moment in time and how to work with each individual student's strengths and weaknesses always varies. I think there are some good common denominators - good fundamentals for technique etc without which the student eventually will hit a major road block or even be forced to quit. But there's individual variation between students and you might need to be creative and have different strategies for different students.

That's true. Whatever one was to come up with it would have to focus on those essential fundamentals and then have a fair amount of flexibility built in. I think it could probably be done for the early stages but eventually, and inevitably, students would want to veer off in different directions and would require different resources.

[anacrusis]

That's true. Whatever one was to come up with it would have to focus on those essential fundamentals and then have a fair amount of flexibility built in. I think it could probably be done for the early stages but eventually, and inevitably, students would want to veer off in different directions and would require different resources.

Yes. Had I been forced to follow a path that didn't suit me when I was little, I would probably have quit piano. The downside of doing what I wanted, unfortunately, was that I ended up being extremely behind on developing technique.

[ranjit]

A beginner series which assumed that the beginners were highly literate, and taught the basics while explaining everything you'd need to know. Not just "keep your arm parallel to the keys and play relaxed".

Which keys to hit is obvious. In my view, the purpose of a book should be to teach what you can't just teach yourself. And in that regard, method books currently in the market can only serve as an addition to a really good teacher. They are almost worthless on their own. I would like a book which could remedy that. It could work well for educated adults who want to pick up the piano. You don't really need a teacher in a lot of cases if your goal is just to play easy stuff and pick it up as a hobby, and a book which taught good, efficient technique and movement along with easy excerpts could be very useful.

[lelle]

A beginner series which assumed that the beginners were highly literate, and taught the basics while explaining everything you'd need to know. Not just "keep your arm parallel to the keys and play relaxed".

Which keys to hit is obvious. In my view, the purpose of a book should be to teach what you can't just teach yourself. And in that regard, method books currently in the market can only serve as an addition to a really good teacher. They are almost worthless on their own. I would like a book which could remedy that. It could work well for educated adults who want to pick up the piano. You don't really need a teacher in a lot of cases if your goal is just to play easy stuff and pick it up as a hobby, and a book which taught good, efficient technique and movement along with easy excerpts could be very useful.

I think the problem is that a book just cannot replace a knowledgeable teacher. It's so hard to write down the sensations of playing piano, and how to find those sensations, with words. I don't know if anyone has succeeded. My impression is that piano technique is best taught through hands on lessons and even physical touch from the teacher to guide you.

[ranjit]

I think the problem is that a book just cannot replace a knowledgeable teacher. It's so hard to write down the sensations of playing piano, and how to find those sensations, with words. I don't know if anyone has succeeded. My impression is that piano technique is best taught through hands on lessons and even physical touch from the teacher to guide you.

Well, you may be right. But still, most method books just assume the students are dumb and can't understand anatomy or complicated concepts intellectually. Sure, it will take time to implement, but the quantity of information conveyed is like 1:1000 if you look at what the book is doing vs the teacher. We can probably bring that closer to 1:50, or even 1:10. And even if a book is 10% as effective as a really good teacher, that can allow a lot of adult hobbyists to learn to play easier pieces on the piano with some degree of competence.

For example, you had a wave of self-taught students who benefited from C Chang's book which he published online for free. I personally knew a few others who used it to successfully teach themselves pieces like Turkish March and Comptine d'un Autre Ete (which are about grade 5-6). They were able to play fairly competently without a lot of awkward movement, which is an achievement in itself for a self-taught student. And it doesn't require a very serious fiscal commitment. Not every beginning student may be able to understand the value of visualization and audiation, but the fact that he put it out there in a book meant for 'beginners' meant that a lot of people were able to apply those concepts to varying degrees of success.

[anacrusis]

Well, you may be right. But still, most method books just assume the students are dumb and can't understand anatomy or complicated concepts intellectually. Sure, it will take time to implement, but the quantity of information conveyed is like 1:1000 if you look at what the book is doing vs the teacher. We can probably bring that closer to 1:50, or even 1:10. And even if a book is 10% as effective as a really good teacher, that can allow a lot of adult hobbyists to learn to play easier pieces on the piano with some degree of competence.

For example, you had a wave of self-taught students who benefited from C Chang's book which he published online for free. I personally knew a few others who used it to successfully teach themselves pieces like Turkish March and Comptine d'un Autre Ete (which are about grade 5-6). They were able to play fairly competently without a lot of awkward movement, which is an achievement in itself for a self-taught student. And it doesn't require a very serious fiscal commitment. Not every beginning student may be able to understand the value of visualization and audiation, but the fact that he put it out there in a book meant for 'beginners' meant that a lot of people were able to apply those concepts to varying degrees of success.

I sometimes feel there is missing a simple adult beginners' book that covers the most relevant concepts that you need to have an improved chance of playing fairly well without a teacher. Like not empty platitudes like "relax" and not endlessly deep analyses of force vectors and individual muscles, but just simple, sound, practical advice that gives you a clear path forward regarding what to actually do and effectively warns against the most common mistakes.

But if it was that easy somebody would already have done it.

[klavieronin]

I sometimes feel there is missing a simple adult beginners' book that covers the most relevant concepts that you need to have an improved chance of playing fairly well without a teacher. Like not empty platitudes like "relax" and not endlessly deep analyses of force vectors and individual muscles, but just simple, sound, practical advice that gives you a clear path forward regarding what to actually do and effectively warns against the most common mistakes.

But if it was that easy somebody would already have done it.

Would this book include things like exercises and recommended repertoire, or just be a book about learning and playing piano?

[arda152]

I would like to have a standardized practice diary with some pages for dividing pieces into practice sections and some other pages where you can plan your work in years/months and finally daily pages to follow your progress.

I try to sketch something like that in my notebook (and in the notebooks of my students) but I wish some pedagogue or the like made some research and published a professional practice journal. We live in a time where Moleskine publishes journals to document your wedding, so why not something like that for piano?

[klavieronin]

I would like to have a standardized practice diary with some pages for dividing pieces into practice sections and some other pages where you can plan your work in years/months and finally daily pages to follow your progress.

I try to sketch something like that in my notebook (and in the notebooks of my students) but I wish some pedagogue or the like made some research and published a professional practice journal. We live in a time where Moleskine publishes journals to document your wedding, so why not something like that for piano?

Interesting idea. What sorts of things do you write in your diary? Or is it just to keep track of your practise hours?

[arda152]

Practice hours? Sometimes, yes, but it is usually self-explanatory because I can't work on a single session for more than 25 minutes, my brain just stops responding, so I can eyeball how many hours I worked.

I divide my pieces in small sections (nothing groundbreaking here) and then I write down each day the number of practice sessions for each piece and shortly how I practiced them. So for example I say

Bach BWV 808 First movement

• session no 2 Hands separate, learned
  
• session no 1 hands together, it works in tempo

Second movement

• session no 4 it was a mistake to try so many bars at once, I divide it into two separate sessions and take a look tomorrow
  
• session no 5 figure out the fingering

[ranjit]

I created something similar on a markdown (md) file. It would be easy to create some kind of software for that purpose, if you're okay with having your journal on a computer.

[metaverse691]

I would like to have a standardized practice diary with some pages for dividing pieces into practice sections and some other pages where you can plan your work in years/months and finally daily pages to follow your progress.
mobdro

[ranjit]

I would like to have a standardized practice diary with some pages for dividing pieces into practice sections and some other pages where you can plan your work in years/months and finally daily pages to follow your progress.

I tried this out but ultimately decided it was not worth it. They can work for a short period of time, but ultimately, I found myself getting very annoyed and frustrated tracking time and documenting what I was doing. Progress is nonlinear and hard to analyze precisely. Often the best thing you can do is try to convince yourself that something must be completed in X amount of time, and then let your brain figure out the details in some weird intuitive fashion.

[keypeg]

I tried this out but ultimately decided it was not worth it. They can work for a short period of time, but ultimately, I found myself getting very annoyed and frustrated tracking time and documenting what I was doing. Progress is nonlinear and hard to analyze precisely. Often the best thing you can do is try to convince yourself that something must be completed in X amount of time, and then let your brain figure out the details in some weird intuitive fashion.

Interesting to read this, because I was discussing this idea with someone the other day.  I did try diaries, logs, and similar, on and off during various periods.  In a sense I found them reactive rather than proactive.  By that I mean that if I set out goals (proactive) and work toward them, then the minute I go to the piano I know what I'm doing, and start reaching things.  The goal setting must also contain how I'm going to get there.  What do I need to do to achieve these goals?  From there I'll be observing and adjusting as I go along.  Sometimes there will be record keeping in the sense of a little note being scribbled, something circled on the page - a lot just stays in my head.

[Bob]

Progress is nonlinear and hard to analyze precisely.

Yep.  Any charts someone will make to show how to plan out something like increasing speed never seems to work.  +10 this week, +10 next week.... It never seems to actually work that way.

[lelle]

My progress has always been hugely non-linear, 1 step back, 2 steps forward, 2 steps back, 3 steps forward...