We’re very excited today to debut a brand new feature on Teach Piano Today: The Monday Morning Master Class.
We believe there is so much to be learned through collaboration with other piano teachers. We all teach differently, play differently, and learn differently… and that’s a beautiful thing. When we watch a student play a piano piece we may have a hundred different suggestions and a hundred different compliments. And, each suggestion and each compliment will contribute something meaningful to the development of our students and our teaching styles.
What do you think? Are you in for a Monday Morning Master Class?
Below is a video clip of a child who has clearly worked very hard. While she’s not a student at our studio, she’s playing a piece that is common to students in studios everywhere.
Watch the video clip and leave a comment that contains, as we like to say, “a star and a wish”. What is this student doing really well? What would you, as her teacher, work on next? Be sure to check back and keep the conversation going… there’s always so much to learn!
Jeannie says
I only wish I had one of her. She worked hard on that piece and even though there were a couple ‘tempo’ spots, I would comment on that AFTER I praised her and applauded. My students love it when I applaud. I would then on the next piece that she was to learn, go though the song and then place a piece of paper over her hands and not allow her to look at her hands.
Gretchen Perkins says
Bravo, and congratulations on your creative ending . . . especially the smile! My wish is that she would continue to do her careful spacing with the quarter notes that she did in the beginning . . . throughout the entire piece. Lovely performance 🙂
Xu-Duong Khuc says
Star: Bravo!!! Such diligent and hard work your performance displayed. Lovely attitude and the ending melts my heart.
Wish: Even though the music is clearly written in 3, feel one big pulse per measure (and 3 smaller pulses for the quarter notes). This will help your music move along smoothly. What helps me the most is dancing to the music. Your teacher can play for you while you dance or you can dance on your own with the melody in mind.
Keep up the good work. Your attitude and creative imagination is the best! 🙂
Mark Johnson says
I give a ‘star’ for her the finger numbers she used. I suspect that she knows her scales and arpeggios!
My ‘wish’ is for her to start working on the dynamic balance between her hands.
Overall a nice and steady performance.
Angie Tse says
She has clearly enjoyed the piece and has prepared well for the ‘elegant’ performance. Bravo and well done!
Star: Great finger work and learning to improvise the ending just like what the ‘masters’ would have done back in the days…
Wish: Shaping the phrases to give a ‘minuet’ feel (watching a baroque dance on Youtube could help, as well ‘dancing to the music’ as suggested above by Xu-Duong) and maybe exploring/ listening to decide what part of the music is the melody versus the accompaniment – therefore will help with the dynamic balance.
Heidi Lueck says
Why is there no longer a link to the video?
Andrea says
Hi Heidi – this post is from 2010 so I’m guessing the original owner of the video took it down. It’s just really old 🙂