Don’t! That’s just silly… they actually belong in the recycling bin.
It’s amazing how quickly a piano lesson can fly by. You have just a few brief moments of your students’ week and often it feels impossible to fit it all in. How can you effectively review their home practice, teach new repertoire, impart your wisdom on technique, introduce theory concepts and train their ear all within 30 minutes?
The answer is simple… you can’t!
But rather than throwing your hands up in the air and declaring that it’s impossible… or trying your best to shuffle your students through their lessons like a tour guide on steroids, read on, because there is a solution!
Integrate… Don’t Seperate
Your first step towards freeing yourself from rushing through piano lessons is to completely commit to teaching piano in a way that is integrated… not separated. What do I mean by this? Well, get out your recycling bin and fill it with your theory books, ear training books and flash cards. It’s hard to do if you’re used to relying on these books to teach these concepts… but you’re going to be doing yourself (not to mention your students) a huge favour in the long run.
Piano concepts need to be taught in context. This means that theory is not drilled on separate worksheets or thick workbooks, but rather right on your students’ current piece. Ear training is not a quick little activity to do before they head out the door, but rather part of dissecting and memorizing their newest (or oldest!) repertoire selection. Technique is not only done through 5-10 minutes of mind-numbing scales and triads, but rather discussed and practiced within the structure of their current piece.
Why?
Your students need you to show them the connection between what they see on their page vs. what you are teaching them about theory. You can write out all of the dominant 7th chords you want to on a piece of staff paper… but you can bet your piano students will still have a heck of a time identifying them once you switch over to their piano piece. How many students have you drilled note-reading flash cards with only to have them turn around and ask “What’s my starting note”? Teaching in context is not only good teaching… it’s the only way to make your piano lessons efficient in terms of time management.
So get out your highlighters and pens and pencils. Discuss the pertinent theoretical concepts that each of their pieces hold. Have your students discover the theory behind what they see on their pages. Have your students listen to and identify what it is they will be playing. Have your students play the scales and triads that make up the backbone of their repertoire selections.
Do this, and not only will you create piano students who make connections easily between theory and their music… but you also be able to slow down time 🙂
Love this post! I have so many theory books, flash cards, etc. that never get used because I simply don’t have time. I’ve been trying to teach theory while teaching pieces, but I always thought I was doing something wrong because other teachers use theory books! Glad I’m not on the wrong path. I’ll definitely integrate this even more in the future – it works great for voice students, too!
Still think theory books are good as reinforcement of concepts. Writing things down consolidates knowledge for some students.
I MOSTLY agree…. however, I have found that without the help of ‘practice’ often in the form of a theory book, student’s will forever be asking me ‘what’s my starting note?’. However, most of my kids’ theory books go home and NEVER come back…. The unending battle, I guess! I do however, help them figure out the question to ‘what’s my starting note?’ I do NOT ever give it to them for ‘free’ anymore! Thanks Andrea for inspiring us to think outside the box! 🙂
Oh, this makes me feel better about my approach to the theory book. I tend to skip a lot of pages! I look at the pages corresponding to the lesson book, and say “Meh, we just drilled on this in a more interesting way”, or “I have a better idea how to reinforce this”. I’m seriously thinking of ditching the theory books. However, I do have on hand (or available to print out)a ton of theory worksheets, for those students I think would benefit from them. Some to take home, some laminated to do in the lesson with a dry-erase marker.
Thanks, Andrea, for the great post!
Theory book assignments can be homework for those students who will actually do it. Some do!
I do agree with some of this. While I have found that over the years I don’t necessarily use the theory books that go with a lesson book, I think theory papers/books have their place. Some of my students LOVE worksheets, so what’s the harm if they do worksheets? It’s extra practice and it always gets done. Then there’s the opposite where some kids won’t do them if their life depended upon it. Those I use more of a practical approach. Either way, theory lessons should always be taking place especially when introducing new songs or reviewing/correcting others. Again, it’s up to the teacher to be adaptable to each individual student’s needs.