Time management in a piano lesson can be a tricky thing. Do you sometimes find yourself wondering how in the world you’re going to cram all your piano teaching brilliance into a single lesson?
Review old pieces, learn a new piece, theory games, lead sheets, composing, recital prep, ear training, sight reading… it seems completely impossible to fit it all in in a quality way.
And it is.
Which brings me to my question… “Who made the piano method book rule?”; Who said that you have to use a piano method book every single lesson; that you have to fit all of these activities into those precious 30 minutes? Who said that an entire piano lesson shouldn’t be devoted to just composing, or just sight reading or just theory?
The fact is, I don’t know if anyone has ever said it! But I was keenly aware of this perceived rule when I was teaching a piano theory with play dough lesson last week. My student was SO into the activities. He was totally motivated and even began devising his own (ingenious!) new theory games with play dough as a prop. We were learning about rhythm and note values, about intervals, about major and minor chords… He was on task, he was laughing, he was learning; he was LOVING his piano lesson. And then I glanced at the clock and realized I hadn’t yet touched his method book, and I panicked for a moment. And then quickly realized how silly that worry was.
Rules Are Made To Be Broken…
The next time you’re wondering how you’re ever going to cram it all into one lesson ask yourself this question – “What will happen if we don’t touch the method book?”. It’s likely that any negative implications are far outweighed by the positives of having a student engaged and fully “in the moment” doing whatever piano lesson activity has their attention. A week of review at home in ones method book never hurt anyone. In fact it makes us better pianists.
Once I allowed myself the luxury of not always having to haul out the method book every single lesson I found that I was better able to “read” my student. Once I had this new insight I could truly hone in on what would improve their skills… with or without using their method book. Obviously method books have their place, and obviously you want to use them during lesson time. But the next time you notice your student is completely engrossed in an activity, consider allowing yourself the luxury to be flexible in your piano lesson structure.
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Bec says
Great post!! I feel guilty if I haven’t ticked all the boxes (method book boxes) in a lesson – as if not meeting this criteria somehow invalidates the lesson.
I LOVE seeing my students engaged and enthralled with other activities yet almost find myself apologising to parents if the traditional format is not adhered to. I always explain to the parents what the benefit of each activity and how it contributes towards a holistic approach to music education and fostering a passion for music. I’m working on releasing my anxiety about that and educating the parents about the many marvelous ways that we can teach and engage our students providing quality education, creativity and balance.
Andrea says
It’s a funny thing isn’t it? I know what you mean about feeling as though you haven’t accomplished enough if the method book wasn’t front and centre in a piano lesson. I think maybe it’s because that’s the way we were taught… and that’s because that’s the way our piano teachers were taught? Who knows… but I’m finding it very freeing to just let my piano teaching drive the lesson and not a book. Parents will get used to it! 🙂
Laura says
I agree with everything here but would like to add the following: Who made the 30-minute lesson rule???
Many of our piano teaching stresses would be eliminated if we just taught longer lessons. Think about it: if you give half hour lessons, in a 15-week semester you teach your students for a grand total of 7.5 hours. That’s ONE BUSINESS DAY. Whenever I present it like that to prospective parents, they always get it…
Love your posts!
Jan says
Yes, Laura! I totally agree. And we are the ones responsible to set up our lessons and our students for success! That’s why I require 45 to hour long lessons for ages 13 and up, and I let parents know that when they enroll. 30 minutes may be long enough for a 5 year old, but not for an older student, in my opinion.
Janice says
This is exactly what happened to me yesterday! When one of my precious students came yet again to their 4th straight lesson without practicing, I used one of your ideas from an earlier post regarding discussion of goals. I flat out asked this 11 year old girl why she was taking piano lessons and she told me it was because she wants to be a musician when she grows up! (Taylor Swift is her idol) She has written a few songs in the past–just melody lines and words, so I helped her add some easy chords and a simple rhythm for them to make her piece complete. She was ecstatic and enthusiastic and didn’t want her lesson to end! If that doesn’t get her to the piano this week, I don’t know what will! Time went way too fast and that’s all we had a chance to work on. As she was choosing her stickers at the end of her lesson I explained how learning to read music such as in her method book and other supplemental music was going to help her be a well-rounded musician, enabling her to properly write out her future compositions. I really feel silly for not having done something like this with her sooner!
Thank you for your daily dose of ideas and inspiration! It is so freeing to add new things to my students’ lessons and so gratifying to watch their reactions when we do them!
Laura says
This is just what I needed. Thank you! I have a great time with my students, but most of the time I feel so rushed and unable to fit everything in. I’ve learned that being a flexible piano teacher is extremely important. I’ve started to really pay attention to what my students need that week instead of going on with the lesson I had planned previously. My students have been loving all the fun activities, espcially the play dough we used last week. Thanks again for the post and great ideas!
Julie says
Funny – I just ran into this type of experience yesterday! I had a very young student come in with a song he had made up, which was fantastic because, urged by great advice, I had decided to implement composition time this year, but hadn’t yet talked about or implemented it yet. I was excited because I had just purchased a bunch of little circle stickers to use for quick notation (especially for my pre/new note readers) and we very quickly were able to get up and running with notating his song! We were both excited about it and really into it – and then I looked at the clock and realized we only had 5 minutes left and hadn’t “done anything” yet! He had wanted to add more to his song, but I cut him off (gently but abruptly saying we could do more another time) and very quickly went through the songs in his lesson book, but afterwards, I was feeling really badly that I so abruptly put an end to a wonderfully creative and enjoyable activity! I think from now on, as long as we are involved in a musical task, lesson book be damned!
Another thing I have decided to implement this year is to have 1 lesson week a month to be theory/composition day, in which the entire lesson is dedicated only to theory/games/composition. As you had discussed, it is terribly difficult to get in everything in a 1/2 hour lesson. I don’t really want to go to 45 minute lessons at this point) but I want to be able to have significant and regular time to dedicate to these other activities – (I just started up my year so we haven’t reached a theory week yet!) – but sometimes inspiration hits when it’s not scheduled and there really is no reason to be a slave to the method/lesson book!
Mary Gray says
Valid point, Andrea. However, the “what do I practice at home” question arises, and we must be prepared. Certainly, review and YOYO pieces are one answer, but I am interested in developing a Super Supplementary Set of pieces that will go with any method, any level. Perhaps just a binder of single pages to pull out for Piano Adventures-2A, Lesson 4 or Piano Town Level 3 EMajor pieces. That way, just pull a few sheets for the student to practice as sight reading or just a sideways reinforcement. What do you think? A big project, but one that would pay off. Suggestions?
Alice says
Mary Gray, I agree, when a lesson unexpectedly goes in a different direction than I anticipated, I usually follow the passion, but am stressed by the question I “what do I assign them at home this week? . Too many lessons without new music or assignments that are clearly moving ahead, and it raises questions in some parents’ minds. (Usually the parent’s whose kids most need the alternate route.) I really respond to your super supplementary set of pieces idea, and guess I’ve already pretty much developed that for the first year students, based on public domain material and writing simple tunes to add more practice material for students–that and composition prompts that I bought from one of the Jennifers. (I get them mixed up 🙂
Heather Kolankowski says
Since adding Shh Your Piano Teacher Thinks This is Practice & Theory to our lesson time, I have had comments like: Our son is LOVING his lessons! He can’t wait for Wednesday and even signed up the school talent show!
These are great resources! Thank you!
Miriam Higginson says
I’ve struggled with this as well….my current idea is to always hit the main method book – first – then any thing after that I go with the flow. That keeps them moving along in the level (something that the parents do seem to notice), and if time runs out because we spent the rest of the lesson on other things, then it’s not a big deal to let them review in other books and figure out on their own the companion pieces in Performance/Solo books that go with what they’re learning in the Piano Lesson book. This has been my answer to this issue and it’s working for me.
Beverly Cashin says
I enjoyed this article. The longer I teach, the more I realize that the most important thing is that the student loves the lesson and gets inspired every time they come. That can happen in a lot of ways. I also think that if the lesson follows the same rigid format every time they might get bored. If we do something unusual in our lesson and don’t get to go over that new piece, I tell the student, ‘try it on your own and if you can’t get it, pick an old song to improve on.’ We have a list of old songs they can choose from. They love a chance to choose for themselves!
I don’t like to rush through things if possible. This concept was made clear to me when I took a guitar lesson once. (I play a tiny bit of guitar.) The teacher was so intent on covering several concepts that he rushed through everything. I didn’t get a chance to learn any of it well enough to remember it once I got home, and I left the lesson feeling rushed and stressed. Well, that told me everything I needed to know about rushing through things in the lesson!
Kelly Koch says
After reading your Piano Hands book, I’ve moved my “method book” teaching to a very small percentage of my lesson planning. The resources available for students today are overwhelming…and I believe (just me) that method books can become boring and predictable. We use lots of different resources…many from you, like composing and Fearless Fortissimo. My own teacher believes that EVERYTHING you need to teach is within a piece of music…so I look for cool pieces of music (classical as well as current) and we learn from the piece. We are also implementing THEME weeks so I know that all aspects of teaching are covered in a month. Thanks for this awesome validation that we are not alone!
Leia says
I definitely agree with you. We need to go by what our students need! For very young kids, if all we’ve done is review old pieces and play some games, I used to feel guilty that we hadn’t done anything new from their book. But why force them to move on if they’re not ready?
Marilyn Cunningham says
I just want to thank you for the plethora of ideas and inspirations you supply. After having badly broken my wrist at the beginning of last year, and “limping” 🙂 through some long months, I feel like you’ve breathed some oxygen back into my teaching again. Bless you!
Michelle says
Just curious, what method books do you use? I just started teaching a year ago (and LOVE your site!!!!) but I’m still searching for a method book that I’m happy with using.
Thank you for helping me grow to be a better piano teacher! My kids love it when I use your stuff (material and ideas). What would I do with out you? 🙂
Rebecca says
Great post! I’m always a little worried that the parents will think that I’m clowning around too much (especially the ones that learned piano back in the day of rulers to the back of the hand). Once I explain how the activities relate and accelerate the learning process (and the love of music) we can get down to some serious fun with variety and enthusiasm.
Leigh says
Love your articles! Would love to read more about how you used the play dough in the lesson.
Andrea says
Hi Leigh! Thanks for commenting 🙂 You can read about the play dough theory at this link below https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/09/15/5-days-of-piano-teaching-fun-using-play-dough/