My teenage piano students are coming to their lessons more enthused than they have ever been. Actually, I had two ask if they could have an extra lesson next week… not because they have a competition coming up and need extra help, but because they just want more time in piano lessons! It’s simply excellent. And I owe it all to Rhianna and P!nk.
If your forehead just wrinkled as you thought “Who’s that” and “Was that just a type-o?” then you need to do a bit of research into the Top 40. Because a fabulous trend is emerging in pop music where the piano is heavily featured in some of the hottest music on the radio right now, and we piano teachers can seriously cash in on the motivation this can provide to our teen piano students.
Why Teaching P!nk deserves that “!”
In the last 6 months to a year, Rhianna and P!nk have both had huge hits that heavily featured the piano. In addition, Bruno Mars came out with “When I was Your Man” (a song that is simply Mars playing the piano) and both Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber have shown their own piano skills by hopping on the bench during their tours. These are just a few of the pop stars who are choosing the piano lately when producing their newest singles.
Something wonderful is happening. It’s no longer just the guitar that is cool. The piano just started dating the Prom Queen.
And while these artists may not be your cup of tea, you can bet that your teenage piano students hear every one of these artists every single day. In the age of iPods music follows teens everywhere. This is our opportunity to steal some of the magic that guitar teachers have had for years; what we teach in piano lessons can be relevant, motivating and… very cool.
Making Pop Music Valuable
If you’re concerned about filling your teen’s piano lessons with Rhianna and The Biebs then consider this, teaching pop piano music will:
1) Give your teen piano students a great grounding in understanding chord progressions. Let’s face it, pop music is really repetitive. If you use it as an opportunity to delve into the theory behind the chord progressions they’ll have enough repetition within the song for it to really “stick”.
2) Pop piano music can be like Hanon exercises with a mohawk Your teen piano students can gain some serious coordination and muscle control by playing pieces like Adele’s “Someone Like You” or Coldplay’s “Clocks” and you can bet they’ll play it way more often than the Hanon you assign.
3) Pop piano music is motivating to teens. Teenage piano students love to have something they can “wow” their friends with. A Prelude and Fugue may or may not fit this bill… but you can bet that that Bruno Mars song will be a crowd pleaser. If your teens get positive feedback from their buddies about their involvement in piano, you will have a much more committed piano student. Friends are king at this age, and encouragement from peers is stronger than any motivation you can provide.
Wondering What I’m Teaching?
Here’s just a few of the pieces that feature the piano that my teens are going gaga for. There truly is a ton out there right now. The important thing to remember is these are not just simply pop songs arranged for piano, these are pop songs meant for the piano! You can find all of the below on Musicnotes.com:
“Just Give Me a Reason” by P!nk and Nate Ruess
“Stay” by Rhianna and Mikky Ekk0
“When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars
“Someone Like You” by Adele
“Say Something” by A Great Big World
“Waiting Outside the Lines” by Greyson Chance
Did I sneak some Heller and Bach into my teens’ piano lessons last week? Yes I did. Did they still ask for extra piano lesson time next week? Yes they did. Did the Heller and Bach get practiced? Yes it did. Getting my teen’s butts on the bench at home is key… and I’m relying on the power of pop to do the job for me.
If you’re looking to get your younger students glued to their piano bench, then spring is the perfect time to introduce your students to composing! Don’t let composing instruction seem confusing… let a hilarious dog and cat do the job for you! Check out “The Curious Case of Muttzart and Ratmaninoff” and watch your piano students beg for their next lesson.
Leia says
I totally agree that popular music is the way forward! (For a balanced musical diet) However a lot of my students are beginners and these songs are a bit too advanced for them. I sometimes search for “easy piano” along with the title in hopes of easier arrangements for kids.
Dana says
Leia, I find that my beginners are happy with learning just the melody. I come up with an easy arrangement spread across the two hands that they can learn. Maybe you could give that a try!
Andrea says
This is so true – for beginners I use a lead sheet format and give them the “best” parts of the song in an arrangement that fits with what skills they have. It’s usually really simple to arrange.
Grace Miles says
Most beginners would be really happy with just the melody! 🙂
Kim says
Do you find that parents are willing to pay over $5/song for these arrangements? I’m always on the lookout for collections that will be a better value, but by the time they come out, they aren’t really current anymore.
Andrea says
Hi Kim – yes. If their teens are practicing and loving the piano then they’re completely willing to pay $5 🙂 I think they’d probably pay $20! LOL You are right in that books of arranged pop music are not current enough to be relevant anymore. Musicnotes.com does a fabulous job of making music available that is on the radio right now. Or, as Dana mentioned you can create your own arrangements quite easily.
Edna says
Not only are the parents usually willing to pay, but the kids shell out the $$ themselves. $5 for a piece that lasts forever is not that much more than a syrupy coffee that’s gone in a few minutes…or so.
Marsha says
My middle schoolers are working on the Frozen book, one section at the time, melody line. Another is working on all of me, for their mom. And, I have a lead sheet from clocks to one of my middle school boys.
Erica says
My students LOVE learning to play popular music. Many of them also play for their church worship bands, and let’s face it, many of them will use their skills long term with popular music much more so than classical. A favorite in my studio right now is “Young and Beautiful” from “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack!
Joyce says
Can you share where you found that music – it seems so hard to find popular music without paying a lot of money??
Tammy Strickand says
http://www.musicnotes.com
They don’t have EVERYTHING, but it is rare I can’t find the songs I’m looking for there. You can also usually find several versions and skill levels in the songs AND you usually have the option to change keys if necessary before printing.
HK says
Today’s kids – especially girls in the middle school years – are not the same as 10 or 20 years ago. They need constant stimulation and their worlds revolve around screens and constant change in stiumulation. I am tired of fighting piano students to practice and losing talented ones because they are ‘bored’ with the music. I am letting them play whatever they want if it keeps them in lessons and practicing. These kids today change their favorite songs like the wind!! I can’t keep up with what they like and forget trying to buy books for what they want (however Dan Coates arrangements/books are what I look for first).
Pass the cost of the downloaded music on to the student. That is what I do. I may purchase $20 – $30 a day from musicnotes.com in my studio but all of those fees are passed on to the students acccounts. When parents see “musicnotes.com” download fee on their invoice they get the clue that 1) their child is hard to find music for, 2) their child is requesting music that is not in my current library, 3) downloading music is expensive and I am not a “music downloading service”. If it costs me, it costs them. If they don’t want to pay for it, they can download their own or get their own pop piano books. thanks!
Grace Miles says
Rihanna’s always been a favourite of mine; her piano pieces go way back! Most teachers I know don’t teach a lot of pop music, but you make great points. It can be a fun side project or technique builder. There was also a band that came up with the 4 chord song, where they went through tons of pop songs with just 4 chords. That’s always a great theory lesson!
My older students are slightly more advanced, so when they ask for a pop song, I just give them the music and we work it out for a few lessons. Lead sheets are also fun to work with. (Classical pianists don’t get enough lead sheet practice, in my opinion.)
Thanks for sharing those are great ideas for pop songs to work on!
Beth Yantz says
I agree with Grace Miles about not having enough lead sheet practice. In college (yes, piano major), it was a GUITAR player in a group I was attempting to play with (aka a band) who introduced me to and explained chord charts and what they mean. I would have enjoyed my chords, scales and arpeggios so much more, at an earlier, age if my piano teacher had just applied them to the music I liked, not just for Guild Audition purposes! theory…practical performance…butt on the bench…all a win for student and teacher, alike.
Love the creative title of the blog, Andrea!
Hope Noar says
I have been giving my kids pop music for years, which is why they run, not walk to their lessons. I introduce it as a part of their repertoire, even before they ask for it. I love it too, and I feel it is important for the kids to play the music they are growing up with. One of my students and I are doing Radioactive together. I am playing the song, and he is improvising on top of it. The piece is too difficult for him to play, so I thought of this idea, and he loves it! My recital will feature all kinds of music, from pop to Broadway, to classical music. And Let it Go from Frozen is the biggest song of the year, so I am teaching that one too. I am so contemporary, that I search for a song as soon as it comes out, so I can give it to my students. I want them to be well rounded and play all types of music! And this is what keeps them coming to piano lessons at my studio!
Deborah says
Does someone have a simple version of Let it Go from Frozen. I have have the full version from musicnotes but it is too hard for the students who want to play it…most of them are beginners. Thank you.
Edna says
Yes, there are several simple versions. The simplest is in EZ Play kind of format from musicnotes.com. It’s the “movie version” in beginner piano, so it’s just the melody line (with the note names inside the note heads) and chord symbols. It’s worth the $$ – very motivating and accessible for a wide range of abilities. Just check the previews to make sure it’s the single line version.
Marsha says
Use the easy big note version.
anna says
I’m glad this post came up when it did. This past year one of my students asked to learn Radioactive. Never heard of it even though I have a teen….although he’s not into pop music, but he recognizes all the pop songs since, as you said, all teens hear the songs pretty much daily. Anyway, I did my homework, learned the song so I could teach it to her the following week. I just found the guitar chords for it and taught her how to play the chords and sing a long. She already was pretty good at note reading/playing, but this really made her day. Since then, I’ve asked students what popular songs they’d like to learn, and now I’m using the same “play the chords” with many students (along with regular lessons) but I’ve found playing the chords has really strengthened their sight-reading skills. Yay! Oh, right now “Let It Go” from Frozen is the end all be all song for all the girls. Me included.