I hate car seats. If it weren’t for the inevitable massive clouds of black smoke, I would seriously consider hosting a seat-burning party when our girls finally graduate to car seat freedom. Yesterday I just about lost my mind over a car seat incident which, in the end, had more to do with my stupidity than it did the stupid car seat.
In a rush to pick up Lexi from school I chucked (not really) Halle into the car seat, buckled her in and prepared to hit the road. Except Halle started to holler. So I loosened the straps. And still Halle hollered. I attempted a fishy-cracker bribe. The hollering continued!
At my wits end, I took her out of the seat and discovered she had been sitting on an oversized piece of lego! Sometimes the silliest little things can create the biggest problems.
And So It Is With Piano Practice
Now if you think that was a silly story, imagine a piano student who goes an entire week without practicing simply because she can’t remember where to put her hands to begin her piece. Sounds ridiculous… but I’ve heard many teachers recount a similar story. And with the vast majority of parents unable to play piano, help at home isn’t readily available.
A week of wasted practice is too risky, and while piano teachers have many little tricks and tips for teaching students “where their hands go”, from time to time, piano students simply forget. So what are piano teachers to do?
There’s An App For That
Okay, I stretched the truth for the sake of a catchy title. There isn’t a “Where do my hands go?” app, but there is a camera built in to every smartphone these days. So, if you happen to have a forgetful piano student, take a picture of her hands in starting position while she’s at her lesson with you, and then send that picture to her mom or dad with a little message that includes the title of the corresponding piano piece.
Your non-musical parents will thank you for it! And once your student knows where her hands go, chances are she’ll be off to the races and she’ll return to next week’s lesson all practiced up!
Another Silly Little Piano Problem
Sometimes the difference between a child turning into a lifelong pianist or a child quitting piano lessons is simply choice of repertoire. Finding that “perfect piece” can be the spark that ignites a lifelong passion. It is for this reason that we have launched our newest project, PianoBookClub.com. If you spend hours searching for “just the right” supplementary music, pop on over to PianoBookClub.com and see how it can help!
Angie Tse says
*LOL* at the Lego brick in carseat situation! I’m not quite out of the carseat stage yet with my two girls…
I totally agree with your solution – in fact, I do exactly just that. A little video clip or a snapshot work wonders when parents don’t play or don’t attend lesson with the young ones that I teach.
Andrea says
🙂 It’s funny now Angie but man was she making a lot of noise in that backseat! Poor kid. It’s not as a bad as the time that my mom put my sister into her car set (basically kneeled on her to get her in there as she arched her back and screamed) and then discovered she was sitting on top of a June Bug (if you don’t know what that is, google it… horrifying and huge). My sister had spotted it as she was being lowered into the seat and was absolutely flipping out. Nothing like parent guilt.
Kathy G says
Well’s here’s a brilliant no-brainer (as in, duh — why didn’t I think of this?!) idea. I have one student in particular who leaves most lessons feeling excited about a new piece but then gets home and seems to have a completely blank mind. Her parents are tech-savvy, so I’m going to try this idea with her latest new pieces, today.
I keep being reminded of new tools like this I can use. I just gave a FaceTime lesson to two of students currently living in Europe. As I was chatting with the younger one (age 10) about how I was going to email them their assignment page, and whether they needed to buy a little printer…. she piped up, “Do you have Google Chrome?” (no, I don’t). “Well, you could use Google Docs….” Um, Google Docs? I’ve heard of it but haven’t learned what it is. She also reminded me, as I was talking about how to make little videos to send (or set up a YouTube channel, something else I’ve heard about), that my new iPhone has Voice Messaging and I could just make a short audio recording and text it to her mom. Hello, old-timer.
Andrea and Trevor, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your enthusiasm, your tech savvy, but most of all your knack for making connections between the little daily life events and teaching solutions. Pure genius!
Andrea says
It’s amazing how connected these kids are to technology isn’t it? It’s just second nature to them… and it’s hard to keep up (so you’re not an old-timer at all 🙂 ) I even use this “take a picture” with my own daughter when she’s practicing and I can’t be with her. When she has a mental block about starting position she checks out the iPad and looks at the picture and can copy what she sees. No more yelling “MOOOOOOM!!! Can you HELP ME?!” from the other room. Much nicer and she’s learning to take ownership over her own learning and to solve her own problems using the resources available to her. Love it!
Jeannie says
I do not take advantage of the tech advances but I found a solution years ago for a hand position reminder. I use Print Master, which I bought back in 2001 so, yes, it is old, but I do wonders on creating with it. I made a label (which I can print off on an address form) of the piano keys — 2 octaves and I write down finger numbers of the keys. I then put the label next to the song and they always have their hand position right in front of them. I print off a page of 10 labels and keep it next to the piano so I can grab it and use it whenever I need to.
Andrea says
Great tip Jeannie thanks so much for sharing your idea! And for anyone who doesn’t have print master or who doesn’t have the time to create these – we have a similar printable you can find here https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2012/11/25/a-fun-solution-to-the-where-do-my-hands-go-problem/
Joy says
It’s hard to keep up with the new technology that our students have down cold! It really is amazing! I’m trying but it’s a slow process. Thank you for the tip. I appreciated Jeannie’s tip as well. Joy
Sandra says
This problem is easier to address now that most of my students have iPods or iPads. There are many ways of using the technology to support at home practice. But I also spend a lot of time reinforcing piano keyboard awareness in beginning and early elementary students.
Marilyn Brennan says
Wow, I cannot tell you how much time has been wasted over this. Again, duh, this is GREAT! At the top of the list of things to remember!
Andrea says
Hi Marilyn – I know… it’s silly isn’t it! This is an easy fix – everyone has their phone glued to them these days so parents can now feel as though they can help 🙂
anna says
I’m not super technology-savvy yet, but when I sense students struggling w/ where to place their hands for a song, I have them close their eyes and put their hands in the air and wiggle their fingers, then open their eyes and I say, “see if you can find your position BEFORE I count to 5.” Sometimes I’ll count really slowly if needed. If they can’t do it, I’ll show them how to find it again, and then I’ll do the wiggle-fingers and counting thing again. They usually earn little stickers or I draw a row of happy faces each time they get it before the count of 5. My BIGGER problem is…..just plain ol’ having them practice at all before they come back the following week. SOOOO many come back w/o ever opening their books. Sighhhh.
Barbara says
What a great idea, Anna. I especially like the row of happy faces…no need to spend money on stickers when drawing works just as well in this case. Thanks for sharing.
Leah Coutts says
Anna I do something similar – I have my students to find their hand position, take their hands off the keys, close their eyes, and shake their hands around, and then find their position again. We repeat it several times, speeding up and the kids get such a laugh about the hurry that is created. They can then find their position for their piece. It seems to stick for home too, because it eliminates that problem for me.
I also ask them to tell me something about the position – what hand position is it, or where are your thumbs, or something. I firmly stick by what I was told by my first teacher – if you can say it, you can play it. It has stayed true for me in every aspect of piano playing.
anna says
Ahhh, I like the explaining it part. I sometimes have actually had them explain where their hand positions were as they held their hands in position…..but now I’m going to try use that concept more often….and with more situations. Thanks! It’s a great tip.