Walk in to any preschool piano lesson and you’re almost guaranteed to hear two beautiful voices, one young and one… not so young… belting out everything from Baby Beluga to Down by the Bay.
Walk in to any teenage piano lesson, and you’re almost guaranteed to hear… the piano… just the piano.
And that’s too bad…
Because, while the piano is a beautiful instrument in and of itself, it is also a great instrument to sing along to. And when piano students and their teachers let go of their inhibitions and start singing along, music lessons come to life.
By teaching kids to sing along, piano teachers can provide their students with yet another way to make music meaningful. After all, many of today’s musical heroes (Lady Gaga, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright… Weird Al) are all tremendously talented piano players. So why not let your piano students live the rock star dream 🙂
Every now and again, break out into song with your piano players. Let them know that it is OK to let their voices be heard. Tomorrow’s rock star just might be sitting at your piano bench today!
Richard Hurley says
This is a great idea. I use it with very young students and it works wonders, introducing an element of great fun to the class. It seems to help the kids feel more in control of the piano. They end up singing at parties and church festivals, a dimension their parents never imagined when they first started taking piano classes.