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Teaching Beginning Piano

Name: Teaching Beginning Piano
Rating: 4.6 (15 reviews)

Methods, Practicing, and Advice from a Music Teacher

Created byAdam Cole

Last updated 7/2022

English

What you'll learn

What do I as a piano teacher need to know when working with beginners?
How can I get my students to practice?
How do I work with different kinds of students?
Can I teach my students more than just how to play from a book?

Course content

8 sections • 59 lectures • 2h 2m total length

Introduction1:37
This introduction will tell you all you need to know about the Teaching Beginning Piano course!

The Big Picture0:46
What are the three goals you as a teacher should keep in mind for your students?
Method One: Fear of God1:36
What are the advantages and disadvantages of insisting on complete obedience?
Loosey Goosey2:00
What are the advantages and disadvantages of letting your students do whatever they want?
Focus on Goals2:15
What are the advantages and disadvantages of prioritizing practice goals rather than time spent practicing?
Logging Practice1:18
What does a good practice log look like?
The Benefits of Logging2:05
What unexpected benefits does logging provide?

Job Number One2:29
What is a teacher's first job in piano instruction?
What Does Job Number One Look Like?2:01
How exactly should a piano teacher focus on enjoyment while still pushing the student to improve?
Three Ways to Jump-Start Enjoyment3:21
There are three possible scenarios in which the student may find themselves regarding practicing. What should you do in each one?
Goal Number Two, and Two Kinds of Students6:16
What is the second goal towards which a teacher should be working with a student (Job #2?). What do you do with a "normal" student versus a "troubled" student?
The Brilliant Student3:53
What do you do with a "brilliant" student, and why is brilliant not always better?

Sink or Swim2:38
To what extent is it the student's responsibility to keep up with your expectations? Should you let them fail and weed out the ones who aren't going to make it?
Don't Worry Be Happy1:59
Isn't having fun the most important thing of all? Shouldn't a teacher make this the very top priority? Is any stress at all really good for a student?
One Skill at a Time2:40
What would the rationale be for learning only one piano skill at a time? Would that make for good piano instruction?
Three Fundamental Skills3:13
What are the three fundamental skills every piano student should have after having studied for one year?
Job Number Three5:27
What is the third job a teacher must do for the student in piano instruction?

Intro to Reading1:28
What are the challenges and benefits of teaching reading to beginners?
Introducing Meter2:06
How do we teach the fundamental concept of meter to a beginner?
Four Boxes3:18
Here is an effective method for introducing meter and basic rhythmic notation to beginners.
Reading Eighth Notes0:49
How do we add eighth-notes to the boxes in the Four Box Method?
Quarter Rests1:05
How do we add quarter rests to the boxes in the Four Box Method?
Counting While Playing1:29
What are the surprising benefits of counting out loud while playing?
Another Look at Counting1:12
Here's an example of how a student would count to a rhythm with quarter-notes, eighth-notes and a quarter rest.
Start-Stop Counting1:45
What is "start-stop," and what are the benefits to beginners?
Steady Tempo Counting1:08
When should steady tempo be expected or introduced?
First-Time Correct1:19
When is it time to insist on the highest level of accuracy?

Where Does the Thumb Go?4:37
Once students understand the boxes, we can use them to begin to identify note-names.
Transition to Music on a Staff3:58
How do we get from boxes to reading music on the staff?
Working title0:47
How do we begin the process of reading music from a book?
The Benefits of Counting1:11
A review of the benefits of counting while playing.
Note Names on the Staff3:10
Should we teach note-names on the staff from the beginning, or is there a better time to do it?
Stem Direction1:25
What do we tell our students about the directions of the stems? Why is this important?
Seeing Past the Boxes2:03
Can discrete boxes really be used to teach fluid music reading?
Half-Notes and Whole-Notes1:27
Because the box method only covers quarter-notes and eighth-notes, how do we teach half-notes and whole-notes?

Why Scales?1:48
Why teach scales to beginners?
Scales In Music0:47
How do scales help students learn actual music?
The First Scale1:10
Which scale should we start with and why?
C-Major Fingering1:31
A description of the C-major fingering in detail.
Scale Types1:45
A discussion of the relationship between the 1 major and 3 minor scales.
Two Octaves0:45
How do we transition to playing scales over two octaves?
Counting With Scales2:30
We're counting again, and this time it's even more important!
Steps to Scales, Part 17:37
How can we break up the task of learning scales into different parts?
Steps to Scales, Review2:18
A review of the five steps to scale mastery.
After C-Major1:30
What comes next?
Other Scales0:37
What about scales that are neither major nor minor?

Intro to Blues Improvisation0:54
A brief overview of the subject of musical improvisation.
Why the Blues?1:01
Why teach improvisation to beginners through the blues?
Will They Sound Good?0:54
Students will only keep improvising if they like what they hear. How can we guarantee that?
Benefits of Improvisation0:39
What are some of the immediate benefits of learning to improvise the blues?
Why E-flat?1:21
Why do we start our study of blues in the key of E-flat?
The Power of the Pentatonic2:07
What characteristics does the pentatonic scale have that make it ideal for the study of improvisation?
The Left Hand Blues Pattern2:22
What does the student do with their left hand in their first improvisation assignment?
Blues Color Notes1:18
How can we make the students' blues sound even more authentic?
Five Bass Lines3:50
How can we expand the repertoire of the left hand in blues improvisation?
Improvising a Bass Line1:28
How do we teach a beginner to improvise a bass line?
Blues in Three Keys2:12
How do we teach the blues in multiple keys?
Blues in Any Key1:40
How do we introduce the idea of playing the blues in any key?
For More Information0:31
Where can you go to learn the TruerMU Method of Blues Instruction?

Requirements

This course is best for piano teachers with a little experience or education in pedagogy, as well as teachers on other instruments. It can be taken by anyone who knows how to play the piano.

Description

What if I told you...

1) Students can make progress whether they practice or not.

2) The best time to teach the letter names of the notes (EGBDF/FACE) is more than a year into their studies.

3) A six-year old child can improvise a bass line and a blues solo at the same time.

Would you think I'm crazy?

If you've ever tried to teach a beginner the piano, you know it's hard just keeping them going long enough to make progress. How do you bridge the gap between them not knowing anything, and them knowing enough to have fun? Teaching Beginning Piano covers everything you need to know to teach reading, scales and even improvisation to students from 4 to 94 so that they'll feel good about themselves, make progress, and keep coming back!

How do you get students to practice? How do you keep them honest about how much they've practiced? How do you get the parents on your side so that they'll support your efforts and encourage their child to practice?

This course covers the goals of piano education, and the means to reach those goals. Most importantly, the solutions it outlines work for children AND adult students. It focuses on the following:

- Enjoyment of playing and practicing

- Observing improvement

- Knowing what to teach and when

In addition, this course covers strategies on how to teach students to read music from the very beginning. Learning to read music can be done in a way that minimizes stress and maximizes effectiveness. Students can read, instead of pretending to read, and they can get good at it early while still learning to be musical, happy and healthy musicians.

Do you teach scales? Teaching Beginning Piano explains why teaching scales is important, and it offers a number of strategies for introducing and supporting students as they learn this invaluable skill.

Would you like to teach your students to improvise? Teaching Beginning Piano uses a blues-based methodology to introduce simple and effective improvisation to students. They'll sound good, and be able to perform what they know, almost from the beginning!

If you're a piano teacher, you're going to want to take Teaching Beginning Piano. It make your life easier and your students' learning more fun and effective. It will also enable you to keep more of your students so your turnover rate is smaller.

Ready? Let's go!

Who this course is for:

Piano teachers seeking to expand their skills

Teaching Beginning Piano

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 2min

How To Get Them To Practice6 lectures • 10min

Two Goals, Three Scenarios, and Three Kinds of Students5 lectures • 18min

Three Teaching Approaches, Three Fundamental Skills, and Job Number Three5 lectures • 16min

Introduction to Reading10 lectures • 16min

Reading - Part Two8 lectures • 19min

How to Teach Scales11 lectures • 22min

Teaching the Blues to Beginners13 lectures • 20min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: