If adults weren’t afraid to “run like kids”, I am certain the world would be a healthier place. I came to this conclusion after Lexi decided to join me on a run this afternoon.
As we trotted down the trail chatting about long recess, lunch, library, and other school activities, Lexi would occasionally burst from the path to leap over a log, hurdle a small fence, or catch invisible butterflies. A little later on down the path she started to do a little karate kick with every third or fourth step.
And I started to think… wow…her running style seems a lot more fun! So off the two of us went karate chopping trees, cutting corners, and catching invisible butterflies.
Before you know it, our run was over and Lexi, without even knowing it, had just polished off a cool 3K and my eyes were opened to a brand new running style :).
Running is a lot more fun when you “run like a kid”! And so is playing the piano… retention rates among teenage piano students are always much lower than pre-teen players. And I often wonder if it is because piano lessons stopped being “silly”… stopped being “fun”?
Teenagers Aren’t Always “Too Cool!”
Despite the cool and laid-back demeanor of most teenage students, deep, deep down, there is still a little piano kid begging to have a blast. And in our quest to keep piano lessons relevant to teens we often err on the side of treating them like adults… and the “fun factor” diminishes.
But this week, join us in changing that! We’re about to bring the fun back teen-style. You may get a few eyebrows raised in suspicion but they will quickly disappear if they see you enjoying it too. So dive in and try the following 3 activities with your teens this week:
Game Day With Teen Piano Students
Why do we stop playing music theory games with teens? I love board games and I am (much) older than 13! There’s no reason that teenage piano students can’t learn theory using games. Take the ones you use with your younger students, change the leveling to be appropriate for your more advanced students and play!
Collaborative Composing With Teens
Have you ever played that game where you create a story with someone else… one person says one sentence and then the next person in line continues the story with their own sentence and so on? One of my favorite activities to do with my teen students is collaborative composing. They create one phrase – I create the next (and so on). The learning really comes into play when we also each need to notate (on staff paper) what the other created. It’s fun because the crazier your phrase, the more difficult it is for the other person to notate. You can create rules to reign in the creativity… or you can let anything fly. It’s a ton of fun.
Mary Had A Little… Punk
Surprise your teen with a lead sheet to a simple “baby” song like Twinkle Twinkle, Mary Had a Little Lamb, London Bridge, etc. Have them play through it… and then encourage them to “mess it up”. What they will be doing is creating a theme and variation of sorts… but you don’t need to tell them that!
See if they can come up with seven different ways to “funk up” their song. This is a great opportunity for your teen’s personality to shine through. The more of a sense of humor you have with this activity the better! Can Mary Had a Little Lamb be played like a funeral march? Like a Coldplay song? Like a Mozart Sonatina? In the style of Nirvana? Like a Video Game soundtrack? If you have a student who is reluctant to come up with their own ideas, write variation ideas on slips of paper and put the in a hat for them to pull out.
Add some good old-fashioned kid-like fun to your teens piano lessons and you’ll find their enjoyment level – and their skill level – will blossom. We all need to take life less seriously… so let’s start with piano lessons!
Rebekah says
This is great! I’ve tried a few of these and you’re so right… they want to have fun too! Can’t wait to try the rest of your ideas!
Amber says
Wow! I am going to do this “collaborative composition” with my teen students! Having fun…..is more FUN!
Debbie says
I think I’ve lost my fun…..Thanks for giving me MY “fun” back!!
Melene says
Love this! Sometimes I get too caught up in teaching them to play exactly what is on the page and the lessons get monotonous. These ideas remind me my Theory Class in college when we used Billy Joel songs and changed some of the chords. So fun! And that was over 20 years ago and I still remember it!
Becky says
I use videos on my iPad for my teens. Yesterday, a student and I watched a clip of Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel singing together using an iPad app. Opened up a lot of conversation about improvisation, harmony, technology, and how much fun music can be!
Hope says
My teenagers stay because I am a fun loving, crazy, funky teacher. I give them up to date songs, and I keep on top of all the new things that are going on. In other words, I have not grown out of the teen years myself. I think young, dress young, and act young. This is just who I am, and the kids love it! And…..it works!
Leigh says
I’ve started saving your ideas to Pinterest. Can you add a cute cartoon pic to this one too so it will save to Pinterest?
Tonia says
Thanks for this post. Thank God for archives! I currently have one teenaged student and I was looking for games/activities for teens. Once again, Trevor and Andrea have saved the day!
Andrea says
So great to hear Tonia 🙂 Happy to have helped!