Repetition is an inevitable part of piano lessons, but we can all get sick of saying “One more time from the top!”. And, if we’re sick of saying it, you can bet that our piano kids are sick of hearing it!
Here’s a quick and easy “how-to” that will change up this part of your piano lesson routine. The next time you are wanting your piano students to “Play it again”, try this activity instead.
All you need is a hat or some sort of grab bag. Write each of the 22 statements below on slips of paper and place them in the bag.
The “Whatcha Gonna Get?” Grab Bag
The next time you are looking for your piano student to repeat what you’ve been working on one more time, have them reach into your bag, pull out a slip, and follow one of the following instructions as they play:
1. RH one octave higher, LH one octave lower
2. Like a funeral march
3. Standing up like Jerry Lee Lewis
4. While bopping your head to the beat
5. With your right hand behind your back
6. With your tongue out
7. While humming the RH melody
8. With your left eye closed
9. Start from the middle, play to the end, then start from the beginning and play to the middle.
10. While twitching your nose like a rabbit
11. With your RH held in the air in the Start Trek salute
12. While blinking along with the beat
13. With a teacher/student chuckle after every phrase
14. While chewing imaginary gum
15. As proper as the Queen of England
16. With the worst posture you can imagine
17. With your left ear touching your left shoulder
18. Giving a quick “double-thumbs up” every time you play a G
19. With a clap after every 8 beats
20. While stomping your right foot with the first beat of every measure
21. While fidgeting on the bench like you have ants in your pants
22. With the largest most ridiculous smile you can hold on your face
It’s a simple exercise that will not only have your piano kids begging to “play it again”, but will also have them learning to experiment with expression, playing with distractions, focusing more intensely… and enjoying themselves a whole lot more!
Beth says
Yes, repetition is important, but I’d be a little afraid that their focus might be on the task they pulled out of the bag rather than the details of what they’re supposed to be repeating.
Andrea says
Hi Beth! This exercise is more for after you’ve already solidified what it is you’re wanting them to work on… and you want to hear it one…more….time. They’re likely sick of playing it and they “almost have it” but you need their fingers to repeat it again. It’s a great test – if they can do the task at hand while doing one of these 22 challenges then you can bet they can do it normally at home 🙂 Most of the repetition and solidification happens at home anyway, this is just a way of finishing off an intense learning portion of your lesson in an enjoyable way.
Jeannie says
Love it! This is an idea that will be used in my studio. For those of you who wonder if the focus will lean toward the activity they pulled out of the bag — so what? You are getting them to repeat and have fun with it. Besides, every time they play it at home, they will remember (and smile) about playing this song with you. I have only had one student in six years that wanted to become a professional pianist — but all of my students want to have fun. By making lessons fun, I very seldom have a student that quits because he/she doesn’t like piano. One major reason (my personal opinion) that people in general do not want to take piano, is that we have made it hard and boring. Piano can be fun and educational and a lifetime love if we will become creative in the classroom and quit trying to make people who play the piano an elite group. I live in a small community — 3500 people. There are four other piano teachers in town. I continually get their discards — students who became bored and felt that piano was just too hard. Parents love it when their kid leaves a lesson with me and are wanting to know if they can come back tomorrow. People here know that if they want to be entertained, they need to come to my recitals. I have more students than the other four teacher put together. I started out boring but with the help of people like Andrea and other half — I have become successful. I have not ‘lowered’ my standards, just improved my teaching. My students still learn ALL the basic of music and theory but they have fun with piano.
Andrea says
Love every single word Jeannie!
Tanya Rodriguez Brooks says
I am just like you, Jeannie. I agree with every word! Most students will never be music majors ( however several of mine have and some have minored in it ), but the ones that don’t, at the very least, should enjoy becoming a functional musician. I still have students that I taught long ago come by and visit me as adults. I’m also now teaching some of their own children. I just love what I do!
Karen G says
Love it! I’ll have to start adding this idea to my lessons this week. Thanks for another great idea.
Laura B. says
Half an hour before teaching this morning, I printed out the suggestions on brightly colored paper and put them in a wizard hat. My eight-year-old student couldn’t get enough of the “Wacky Wizard Hat Game!” I love how many of the activities add a coordination challenge on top of everything that’s already happening in the music — what a great workout for our students’ neuromuscular systems! Thank you, Andrea, for a great start to my teaching week!
Andrea says
Wow Laura – you are organized! So glad that your student enjoyed it! How many repetitions did you get out of him?! 🙂 Yes, it’s a total brain work-out and even the most scattered of students really really focus when you are doing something like this – and they often remember what it is you were working on much much better too. Have a great rest of your teaching day!
Laura B. says
Organized is just part of it — feeling inspired and enthusiastic about great teaching ideas is what really gets me moving! That student did three of the activities with a basically polished piece, then wanted to do another one with a piece he had just sightread! I told him we could use the Wacky Wizard Hat again next week if that piece is ready (you know it will be:) Then when his mom arrived, he played the first piece while repeating his favorite activity so far: fidgeting with ants in his pants! I have three more students left today who will also love this — thank you again!
Sarah Maybee says
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” -Pablo Picasso ….I’ve not only observed children to be artists across many mediums but they also are playful – something I think adults have difficulty with being and connecting to. The best and most engaging times in teaching my lessons have been when adventure and discovery was happening for not only the student but also for me. Thank you for sharing how you engage your students to experience music.
Alicia says
What a great idea! Will immediately implement this in my studio- especially for students who are doing their exams. 🙂
Thanks once again for the wonderful idea! 🙂
Lisa says
Awesome! I can’t wait to try it!
Angela says
Love this! I will definitely be using these with my students, thanks:-)
Heather says
I tried this with a 3rd grader a few days ago. You should have seen the glee on her face. This is a perfect suggestion for teachers combatting lackluster summertime commitment levels. Why not let them cut loose a little bit? I’m planning to seal these ideas in envelopes to send home with the students who think one single unengaged pass through their repertoire qualifies as practicing. They’ll be delighted to discover the silliness inside and you’ll know in an instant whether or not they did their homework. The unbroken seal will tell the story. Great ideas! Keep them coming!
Laura says
Great ideas! I have used some of these in an old practice board game by M. Yurko (don’t recall the title). I love the idea of putting them in the hat so they don’t know what they are picking.
For little ones who would get distracted with these physical motions, we visit different “countries” [octaves] on the piano to do repetitions. They can also visit “friends’/relatives’ houses”: one octave lower= cousin ___, then down to Grandma’s house; lower octaves include grandpa, great great grandad, etc. You could also use different animals for each octave.
Love Family Piano says
We like to play a game called “NERF” or “Never-Ending Repetitive Fun. The kids get six chances to play a section perfectly, and every time the do it, they earn a NERF gun dart. Then, they get to load their dart into the NERF gun and shoot a target we have. They can earn “Bach Bucks” for the part of the target they hit. They love it! And they are excited about doing the same section over and over again, and getting it just right.
Rebekah says
This idea made my student and me get into a HUGE argument… 🙁 Although I probably will be using it again today. You see, the argument was that it was time for her piano lesson to end and she did NOT want to go because she didn’t get a chance to do ALL of the things on the list. 😉 Thanks for making my day so much more enjoyable. I don’t mind THOSE arguments. So much better than ‘I played it once, I’m not playing it again.’ that I get into daily. You are awesome!
Emily says
I tried this is my beginner group piano class. A huge hit!!! My students loved it, and were eager to pick another card. I had them work in pairs, and share their card with their partner. Great idea. Thanks!!!!!!
Bethany says
Duh. Why did I not think of this before?! When I taught music to the kids at church I had a ‘Jar of Awesomeness’ with the same idea. We sang songs with cowboy and British accents, stuck out our tongues, and jumped out of our seats. It was quite a workout. Great idea to do one on one in piano!
Charity says
My students LOVE these!!! A few of them weren’t big hits so i took them out, but have been taking suggestions from students on ones to add.
I like to print them on a seasonal thing, like when I first did them I put each one on a tiny pumpkin face, and the cut all of them up. (Word or Publisher works perfectly for this) My students really like being able to draw them out of a box with their eyes closed, so it’s a surprise which one they get.
This is genius for tricking my students into repeating their songs 🙂
Leah Coutts says
Fabulous! You could also expand on this by asking kids to add a slip of their own to inspire some creativity… I can’t wait to try it in my studio this week!
Lisa says
I have one student (a middle school boy, no less) in particular who just loves this game! He is always asking to pick a card. He even likes to do two cards at once! This activity has definitely been a success! Our cards are in a big, fun sombrero hanging next to the piano.
Mallory says
I use things like this when kids are getting bogged down with a detail that I know they understand, and THEY know they understand, but they just keep getting tripped up. If they have to concentrate on keeping one eye closed or their tongue out, they usually breeze right through the “hard” part.
Karen says
Andrea, I love your ideas! These grab bag motivators are great! I will be incorporating them in this year’s studio! I really appreciate your creativity, as well as keeping keeping it fun without compromising the quality of musicality!
Vicki Marston says
Perfect solution for the student who whines when asked to play a piece again. Thanks for the suggestions.
Jean says
So creative!!!
Jenny Williams says
I’m starting back this week after our 6 week break. This has put a smile on my face as I try to change things up for my students and myself
Krista Woelk says
My last year of teaching piano integrated lots of things from TPT and other places, but with working 2 other jobs and teaching piano in the evenings it was hard to get all the great ideas organized. I happen to unfortunately/fortunately have a slow summer which is allowing me to really set up a solid program for the fall as I venture into teaching full time. One of the ideas for the fall was to have a “Silly Practice of the Week” for my students. Many items on the list will be included as well as some from the “Sshhh your teacher thinks this is practice” as well.
Andrea says
Sounds like so much fun Krista! 🙂 Great idea!
Chloe Gioia says
THE BEST IDEA EVER: while singing along
Chloe Gioia says
My favourite is #1 RH 8VA LH 8VB