I’m guessing you know what I mean by “The Piano Student Scooch”… It’s that moment when your piano student needs to reach up or down an octave (or two) from where they are positioned and instead of reaching, they pause, take a moment to slide along the bench, and then resume playing.
It’s cute when they’re 5 and at their first recital, but as your piano student matures, it’s important for them to gain the confidence they need to remain centered on the piano… without any “scooching”.
4 Games To Stop The “Piano Student Scooch”
I like to make most discussions about technique, posture, hand position, etc. into some sort of game. My students retain it better and then I can use fun language to remind them of what needs to be adjusted in the future rather than using boring old nagging-type words.
So… here are 4 games you can play to help your piano student stay centered on the piano and learn to reach, rather than scooch.
1. Post-it-Note Reach – Use two small post-it notes. Ask your student to begin with her thumbs sharing Middle C. Her job is to move her hands from Middle C and reach out to grab the post-it notes without “scooching” or collapsing her posture to do so. Start simple (one post-it on Bass C and one post-it on Treble C) and then gradually move further and further away to where you can tell it’s no longer reachable for your student.
Once she has mastered spreading her arms in opposite directions, then change and put both post-its on the right-hand side, requiring both hands to reach up and then switch to the left-hand side requiring both hands to reach down.
2. Landmark Landing – Give your student two small toys, buttons, characters… anything. With one in each hand, ask your student to place the characters on keys that are a “reach” away from where they are sitting, but use groups of black keys as landmarks instead of just naming keys. I call this “Landmark Landing” with my piano students as I say things like “Micky Mouse is coming in for a landing on the note that is in the middle of the group of 2 and Donald Duck is soaring down to the key that is directly above the group of 3.” Then have her name the note once she has “landed”.
Why not just say “D” and “B”? These landmark black key groups will come in handy as your student is required to reach quickly to new hand positions. Thinking of the keyboard in terms of this easy visual of black key groups will make her reaction time much faster when she is required to reach within the context of a piece where timing counts.
3. Splat! – The next step is having your student be comfortable finding hand positions away from the center of the piano instead of just finding a single key. But it’s super boring to ask her to just place her hands in a position on the piano. So… allow her to Splat! This means that all 5 keys in a given hand position are depressed at once… in a very loud and obnoxious “splat!”. While it may seem like this is a gimmick to keep your student’s interest… it’s actually a really effective way of ensuring she is able to find all 5 keys within the correct hand position quickly and accurately.
Start off in a hand position in the middle of the keyboard (such as C) and then request a “Splat” in on of the 3 variations: RH “splats” up LH “splats” down, both hands “splat” down, both hands “splat” up. Switch to a new hand position and do it again (and again… and again…)
4. Up Up… Down Down – The final step in having your student be comfortable with reaching away from her comfort zone is being able to do so while actually needing to play something immediately after reaching. After “splat!” is successful, then you can ask your student to play a rising 5 finger scale or a falling 5 finger scale in the requested hand position. Make it fun with “Let me hear an “Up Up” starting on high A.” or “Let me hear a “Down Down” starting on E.” This requires your student to find hand positions with both the bottom and the top of her hand. Once the simple scale is mastered, start giving finger number combinations “Let me hear 4315 in A position with your Right Hand.” and “Let me hear 51324 with your Left Hand.”
Here’s To “Reaching” Piano Students!
After many years of patiently asking my younger students to “glue themselves” to the bench when they needed to reach out of a middle-of-the-piano position, these 4 games evolved. And that imaginary “glue” became real “glue” as they then gained the keyboard awareness and confidence to remain centered on the bench and simply reach. Give it a try and banish the “Piano Student Scooch” from your studio too!
jackie says
February 2, 2015 at 4:10 amyou’ve got great, helpful ideas! so glad i found your site.
SonicPiano says
February 2, 2015 at 4:18 amAt first I thought you were referring to your students “scooching” forward on the bench closer to the keys. I repeatedly have to remind my younger students to sit the proper distance from the keyboard. But you’re right…they also slide to the left or right to reach the upper and lower keys. Love your suggestions, especially the Post-It notes. Another handy tool to add to my arsenal.
Susan McGuire says
February 2, 2015 at 4:59 amThank you, Andrea, for these fun ways to get across an important rhythmic technique!
Karen hunter says
February 2, 2015 at 6:13 am“Keep your booty planted!” I say. 🙂
Cheryl Amelang says
February 2, 2015 at 6:46 amThank you for your very creative and practical suggestions!! I love your ideas! Just last week, I was preparing some little ones for their piano festival and we practiced not scorching! Too bad, I didn’t have your ideas then! I will play these games for sure! (And on a side note, during the game last night, I made a comment to one of our guests. Football to me, since I don’t understand all the rules and can’t seem to “get” the game, must be a similar feeling when parents look at their children’s music, haha! We need to help them understand the rules!
Susan says
February 2, 2015 at 7:05 amI have them try to play the top key on the piano. Then the bottom key, and then play them together ….”see, you don’t need to move your bottom to reach all the keys?” That does the trick.
Olivia says
February 2, 2015 at 7:22 amThese are great ideas. Sonic Piano, some of my younger students slide forward, too – Last year, I used some foam from an old egg crate bed cover and made a cushion for my piano bench. I covered it in a bright orange fabric with white flowers. I centered the biggest flower right in the middle and my little ‘wiggly’ students love to find the big flower in the middle to sit on. As soon as they start sliding forward, they love to look back and find the flower to reposition themselves. (a little foot stool will also keep them from sliding forward)
SonicPiano says
February 4, 2015 at 5:42 amGreat idea! I’m off to A.C. Moore later today to pick up Valentine’s Day stickers and will look for a similar fabric to try on my bench.
Jean says
February 2, 2015 at 7:46 amThese are really great ideas and such fun ways to present them! I can hardly wait until my students come so I can try them out!
Linda says
February 2, 2015 at 9:06 amMy smaller students and beginners do the ‘scooch”. I have tried to get them to sit still and reach, but most times it fails. These games will do the trick! Thank you.
Amy Kendall says
February 2, 2015 at 12:37 pmI love these suggestions!! Great ideas! You are so much more creative than I am! I can see my students liking these “tricks”! Thank you!
Jill says
February 3, 2015 at 10:18 amI have some that are currently scooching and we worked on that in a boring way last week, now this week I can reinforce it much better with your ideas! Thanks!
Andrea says
February 3, 2015 at 9:42 pmGreat to hear Jill! 🙂
lynn kiesewetter says
February 3, 2015 at 11:00 ami often take away the duet bench and just use a single wide seat. those portable X benches that fold up are easy to store when you want to go back to using the duet bench
Becky says
February 4, 2015 at 7:39 pmThis happened just today with a student preparing for a performance. I had seen her do it before and had let it “slide” (ha) even though I knew better. Thanks so much for the ideas. They worked like a charm!
Amanda says
February 10, 2017 at 6:59 pmI respectfully disagree with you. I believe “scooching” to where they need to play helps them have better posture and maintain good technique…especially if they are playing an octave higher. Don’t you move around on the bench as a performer? I know I do. It makes a huge difference. You just have to aim for where you want to go and do it in one quick movement.
Andrea says
February 13, 2017 at 10:02 pmHi Amanda – absolutely – performers do move on the bench. This post instead addresses the exaggerated “stop everything and slide” that you often see in young piano students (to the point where it interrupts their playing completely). Moving to a position on the bench that suits where your piece is set before you begin, or small movements as you play are natural, but the “schooch” as we are referring to is what young beginners can often do when a simple reach will be less of an interruption 🙂