If only we could somehow find a way to perch a miniature version of ourselves on our piano kids’ shoulders during their home practice time? We could offer the same encouragement, reminders, tips, tricks and “don’t forgets” that we do during their piano lesson time. This “Piano Teacher On Your Shoulder” would ensure that the progress made during home practice time was ten times more productive – piano students would always remember all of the wisdom we share each week.
Speech Bubble Piano Practice
While being there in person would be the ultimate – this idea is a great second. Your piano teaching genius can be easily transported home with your piano students and they’ll remember each and every thing you said to them during their lesson time.
The Next Best Thing To Piano Teacher Teleportation
This fun activity and free printable solves the “how to be in two places at one time” dilemma. Check it out!
1. Download and print this sheet – one per student. Cut out each of the speech bubbles and get a roll of double-sided tape.
2. During the piano lesson, each time you make a suggestion, give your piano kids a reminder, encounter an area of difficulty, or show them a tip or trick, come up with a short and humorous way to condense it into a speech bubble.
For example, a forgotten F# could be “Ouch! That’s sharp!”, a rhythm that needed correcting could be “It is I, COUNT Dracula”, a change in fingering could be “3-1 Lots of Fun!” etc. etc.
3. Write your reminder in the speech bubble and stick it to your piano kids’ sheet music directly above the measure it involves as though the measure is the one talking. You can use as many or as few speech bubbles as you like per piece, and (with double-sided tape) the speech bubbles can be moved, re-arranged or taken away as needed as your student perfects the piece.
Notes in piano binders are one thing, but having clever reminders directly on your piano students’ page that don’t get lost among the music and other markings are almost as good as taking a piano teacher home with you!
And if you really want to ramp up the “remembrance factor” have your piano student come up with their own reminders that are relevant and meaningful to them. My piano student last week needed to remember to banish a “thumpy thumb” in a particular section. He chose to write “Don’t squish the Dino eggs” (he’s a big Dinosaur fan). Probably not what I would have ever written to remind him… but I never heard the thud of a thumb again!
By adding some humor and imagination to your piano kids’ practice you’re not only making their sheet music more engaging and visually appealing, but you’ve also found a way to really make the important things “stick”.
If you love this idea you’ll love where it came from! This exercise is taken from one of the 88 activities you can find in “Shhh…Your Piano Teacher Thinks This is Practice”. We’ve taken piano practice and crossed it with imagination and fun! With that combo piano teachers around the world are seeing results!
Dianne C. says
June 17, 2013 at 5:15 amI love these – ESP “Count Dracula” as I have a child who just does not want to count! I have tried making it fun and now need some other tricks. Thanks so much. I love ALL of your fun tips, advice and creative ideas.
Andrea says
June 17, 2013 at 6:43 pmThanks Dianne! Yes, I have a few COUNT Draculas too 🙂 Although this reminder does help 🙂
Melissa Slawsky says
June 17, 2013 at 6:07 amI love these!!!!!!! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to use them with my students this week. 🙂
Andrea says
June 17, 2013 at 6:43 pmThey’ll love it Melissa! Thanks for commenting.
Melissa says
June 17, 2013 at 6:23 amWhy didn’t I think of this? 🙂 Great idea!
Leela says
June 17, 2013 at 7:09 amI don’t always leave a written comment, but in my head I am always thanking you profusely for the posts and teaching advice and wisdom that you share. I have learned SO much from you, as a burgeoning piano teacher, and my students are LOVING IT!
They make learning difficult concepts so much fun! (and teaching them!)
I also got a load of value out of the letter to parents of ‘quitting’ students. It helped me come up with fabulous concepts to encourage students to move through difficulty.
Thank you so so much, for past, present and future posts and books.
Andrea says
June 17, 2013 at 6:45 pmThis was such a kind comment Leela! You made our day 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment – and we’re so glad that the “Save your Piano Student With This Email” post was helpful to you. For those wondering what we’re talking about, the link is below.
https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/06/02/do-you-have-a-student-about-to-quit-piano-save-them-with-this-email/
Juliet says
June 17, 2013 at 8:56 amGreat idea, I always write in their notebooks but some weeks I don’t think they get opened!
You can get speech bubble shaped post-it notes which might be a bit easier to remove than tape.
Patricia says
June 17, 2013 at 9:07 amgreat idea! I tried to print it but it doesn’t seem to be formatted for regular size printer paper? perhaps that is something I need to learn how to adjust on my computer…
Andrea says
June 17, 2013 at 6:46 pmHi Patricia – it must be your printer as it has been printing correctly for others. Check your printer settings – there might be a setting that you can control the percentage of zoom – it’s just a pdf file so it should be exactly the same each time it is downloaded. Let me know how you make out and I can help if you need it.
Jolene says
June 17, 2013 at 11:19 amSometimes I use brightly colored very small sticky notes. Could be shaped into speech bubbles as well. Thanks for the great tips!
Leia says
June 18, 2013 at 12:49 amLove, love, love this idea!
Natalia says
July 6, 2013 at 7:59 pmYou guys continuously have amazing ideas!
Meg says
September 27, 2013 at 7:07 amYou could also do this with “restickable” glue stick (instead of double-sided tape). There are a couple of brands, including Scotch… It is just like a regular glue stick, but you let it dry for a minute or so after applying it. (Do it ahead of time, of course, so that your student isn’t waiting for the glue to dry!) After that, it acts just like a post-it note: movable, reusable, not permanent. Could be especially helpful for repeat offenders. 🙂
Amber Staffa says
January 12, 2014 at 7:37 pmGreat suggestion!
I do a similar version of this when students have their pieces half memorized, but still need to look up in order to remember a few picky details- I have sheets of googly eye stickies in all different sizes. The kids love them and they’re small, but over-the-top so they’re very attention grabbing. I have the student decide how big of an eye they need to stick on based on how big of a mistake it is, or how much attention they think it needs. This is great because then they’re self-evaluating too and deciding for themselves how important it is to practice that spot.