In a perfect world your piano students would present a brilliant recital, you’d wish your studio families a happy holiday and then promptly head home, put your feet up and enjoy a nice eggnog… possibly mixed with rum 🙂
But, that’s not usually the way things roll. The perfect day for a Christmas piano recital does not always fall on the last day of lessons, so more than likely, you have a week or two left before the holidays really begin. There is a tendency to fill these final lessons with fluff after what has no doubt been weeks of build-up to the all-important recital. But just as every second counts, so does every piano lesson!
Does that mean the final lesson before the holidays has to be “nose to the grindstone”? Of course not! But that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to make our final lessons before the break both educational and exciting. It is also important that in some way or another, your final lesson sets a plan for the coming year and also inspires your piano students to keep practicing during the break (a lot can be lost in two weeks!).
And this is where we’re turning today’s post over to you, the Teach Piano Today readers. We’d love to know what exciting things happen in your final piano lessons before your break for the holidays. We look forward to reading your comments below!
I’m planning to hand out those fun “practice over Christmas” incentives that you gave us last week- you two are AMAZING!!
Our students have been composing their own music in the last few weeks of lessons. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this. The students have enjoyed choosing a writing prompt and applying the techniques we have studied over the semester to their songs! It has brought a much needed excitement to the studio (my living room), since our recital.
Thanks for all that you do to help us!!
Usually lots of Christmas music duets. Thinking up ways to make very easy arrangements more interesting (a clever way of reinforcing basic harmony and why knowing chords in all inversions is useful). Playing something like the melody to “First Noel” or “Joy to the World” (scale patterns) in even crotchets and let student guess the tune, then play it correctly and they work out beats in a bar (aural practice). Then work on harmonising it and creating their own arrangement. Such activities keep students fully immersed in their piano music until the very last lesson.
Christmas music is meant to be played and enjoyed. Why does any student begin taking piano lessons? To play the piano of course! Each student should have a pile of carols in their repertoire…..so play away!
My students are composing (we’re using Susan Paradis’ “Christmas is Coming”), playing Christmas music (some are doing Jungle Bells – thank you!), and I gave them Advent Calendars (thanks to your blog idea)(see pictures of it at http://www.facebook.com/barwellfluteandpianostudio). It’s been a fun December so far!
One of the things I’ve done is printed out a Christmas tree on colored paper, and then for every song they play (well) we will decorate the tree with a sticker. I also have several elementary Christmas duet books we can sightread. I also have a repertoire jar for myself (I write each student’s completed pieces on a popsicle stick for their repertoire jar at home.) That way each student can pick a stick from my jar to hear me play a short Christmas song that I have practiced. That gives them practice turning pages (listening and following music), listening to something played musically well, and is hopefully inspiring.
My students have been earning piano bucks for two weeks now and at our last lesson in December we will have the piano bucks store. This keeps them practicing! Thank you for everything. I appreciate your advice and your positive energy.
Christmas lead sheets to practice chords. Talk about goals and fun music for next year. Encourage playing and performing for family during the holidays – not necessarily “practicing” but playing and reviewing songs and getting to the piano often. Ask them to learn a song on their own and surprise me after the break.
Show “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” to all of your students in the family room. Then after the video is shown, let them come up to the piano and play “Ode to Joy”. The parents will get in an hour and a half of Christmas shopping, the kids will get a break from recital jitters and you will have an effortless evening (or afternoon), especially after you tell them that they played so well that is is their “reward”. You might also tell your students to invite a friend — someone who might want piano lessons! Serve colored marshmallows in paper cups. No crumbs. Bottled water. No stains on the rug.
We had our concert early so there’s 3 weeks of lessons and a group lesson after the concert. These 3 weeks are called “Tunes, Trees and Terrific Times!”, making it fun & exciting even after the concert. (Since they worked so hard for the concert as I tried the ‘Recital Prep Bootcamp’ from Teach Piano Today with them and some of the older kids have lots of tests at school these weeks…) We have lots of games related to trees, for example, ‘Trim the Tree’ (note recognition, played with a timer) from Pianimation by Jennifer Fink. Then some Christmas tune rhythm fun hung on a string across the room that they need to match lyrics to. These are called ‘Christmas Carol Rhythm Match-ups”, also an idea from Pianimation. With newer or younger students, I give them one or two, then we play it on the pentacles they know. With more experienced students, they need to match 6 tunes and play them in different keys! Also, they get to record their Christmas pieces they’ve worked so hard on and use it as a present to share with family/friends who live far away. Last week was wear red/green week and this week will be wear a hat to lesson week — Then for our last group lesson of the year, I can’t wait to use the game ‘Stinky Sox’ by Wendy Stevens from ComposeCreate! Thanks to all you creative teachers who share their resources~
I have a matching contest we do the 2 weeks before Christmas – I have a large poster with theory concepts – 3 different posters for 3 levels – each poster has about 12 smaller cards – they need to match to the concepts on the posters. They are timed if they want and if they beat their time the 2nd week, they get a piano dollar.
I have many beginning students and I always challenge them to play through their entire Christmas book (with special incentives if they can do it.) I invite parents, if they don’t already come in, to attend that lesson as we present at “concert”. I also encourage parents to video tape our performance. We perform at a local Memory Care facility and each student plays one song, but this way parents can get the duets of ALL their songs (and I know grandparents LOVE to get this as a Christmas gift, too.) For more advanced students who may have only learned 2 or 3 Christmas pieces, we sight-read duets of the levels 1 or 2 Christmas books.
I will be hearing their pieces for ‘the last time’ and then we will play the Snow Day game you so kindly sent – can’t wait!
I ask students to “play the songs you will be playing for your family over the Christmas break.” A subliminal message that they will be continuing to play during the break. After they play their favorite songs I make sure they all get to “beat the teacher” at one of the Susan Paradis Christmas/Winter bingo-type games.
This year I, too, had my recital early, so will be handing out their Christmas gifts at the last lesson. I think I like it better this way so there’s no comparing of who got what color or design of pencil/pen/notepad (or whatever the gift happens to be that year.) In any case, they are more likely to come to that last lesson with the expectation of a little gift waiting for them. On the way out the door, I’ll thank them for being a good student this year and tell them I hope their families enjoy all the great music they’ll be playing for them. More subliminal…don’t know if it works, but can’t hurt, right?
Some great suggestions have been shared here. Thanks to everyone for their generosity and Happy Holidays to you all.
I plan to use the last lesson to sight read through duets and introducing sight reading options of books such as the Fearless Fortissimo or Susan Paradis books which I will give them as a gift Hopefully this will excite them enough to sight read over the 2-week break.
Yes, the Christmas songs are good for a couple of reasons. They are familiar and fun. I find the easier ones to read, and run several by as a ‘sight reading’ exercise. It’s amazing how the students ear corrects the mistakes on a familiar piece read for the first time.
Other than that, I like to use a bit of the last lesson for review and questions. There’s usually SOMETHING that’s been forgotten, and it’s good to catch them up on it.
I will go over the christmas practice games you sent, and also fill in the gaps! Do some much needed ear training, sight reading perhaps (christmas themed), talk over and highlight the positive things about recital, play some games that will help them to want to come back in January full of enthusiasm, and make some goals!
I have one week of lessons after the recital. I have been recording videos of my students using my ipad, because the recital just went too quick with me watching to make sure it went smooth and everyone got to the stage and I couldn’t sit and enjoy them as much as I wanted. So they are playing their songs again for me with a video for my keepsake. I have three pianos in my room (“Big Red” grand, “Little Red” Nord stage piano, and a Korg keyboard) so we are playing on all three and with different sounds, bells, EPs etc. and just having fun playing!
I’ll also give them new Christmas songs to play over the break, and write a list in their practice books of the songs they know that they can play for friends and family. I give a few of them a Christmas worksheet or advent calendar from the back page of their Piano Adventures Christmas books.