If you’re like me, you probably realized a long time ago that telling piano students how to play is far inferior to actually showing your students how to play.
Performing for your piano students can be an effective teaching strategy for modelling desired skills and techniques. It brings a verbal concept to life and provides a much clearer idea of expectations.
But effective modelling involves way more than a putting on a simple performance. Below I’ve outlined a five step process to get the most out of the times when you demonstrate for your students.
How To Effectively Demonstrate For Your Piano Students
Modelling piano playing is only effective when it is incorporated into a more encompassing strategy in which a skill is discussed, modelled, narrated, examined, and then practiced. Here’s a great way to make it work:
Step 1:
Begin by describing the skill that you will be modelling, talking about the different elements of your piano playing that you want your student to watch for.
“In your piece you can see that the right hand has both an outer and an inner voice. We want to phrase them in a way that makes the two voices distinct yet complimentary. Watch how I shift the balance in my hand to make the upper melody soar above.”
Step 2:
Model the concept for your student without narration, and then pause to discuss what your student observed.
“What did you hear and how did you see my hand contribute to what you heard?”
Step 3:
Perform for your student again. But this time narrate the points you want your student to pay attention to while you are actually playing.
“Look… the weight in my hand is on my 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers so that the upper melody is emphasized. My thumb and 2nd finger are playing more lightly to keep the inner voice quiet.”
Step 4:
Model the piano skill for a third time… performing correctly and then incorrectly. Following these two performances, discuss the differences between the correct and incorrect performances that your student observed.
Step 5:
Have your student perform the discussed skill or concept. As she plays, narrate your expectations, using the same verbal cues that were used when you narrated your own piano performance.
Like most teachers, I regularly modelled piano playing for my students in the past… but I did not always follow the above procedure. When I altered my approach, it really worked wonders for the students in my own studio. I hope it will do the same for your students!
Opportunities To Perform For Your Students
Piano students desperately need to be exposed to effective piano playing, so teachers should grasp any opportunity they can to play for their students and to engage both eyes and ears in the learning process. Modelling is one opportunity for students to watch a polished performer, but it is not the only opportunity. You may also want to let your students see and hear you play by…
- Including “just for fun” duets to play with your students at the end of each lesson
- Incorporating improv activities where you accompany your students’ creative experiments
- Performing teacher-student duets at a recital (or even a solo yourself) so your students can not only see a proper piano performance but a proper piano performance in a recital setting
- Including ear training in each and every lesson
Are You Looking For Primer Piano Resources?
If you are searching for exciting primer resources, check out these titles from Andrea and Trevor Dow’s Very Useful Piano Library (click on the cover or the link below each book).
Maryjane says
I particularly liked the breakdown of steps you’ve included here. I like to have the student deliberately
demonstrate the wrong way (followed by my cheery, enthusiastic, smiling-faced comment “that was REALLY wrong”! Then she goes on to show the skill correctly.
Btw, I always play a solo at my students’ end-of-year recital, and I’m curious to hear if other teachers do too.
Melinda says
I always perform at my recitals. I explain that I don’t believe in asking my students to do anything I am not willing to do also! So if I require (or heavily encourage) memorization, I also memorize. I also go first so that no one else has to!
Karen says
I also perform at my recitals. I think it’s important to model a performance. The kids and parents enjoy it as well. Sometimes I do a duet with my husband (who plays guitar) or perform with a vocalist. I try to vary it every year. One year I had a French Impressionism theme, so I performed three pieces from Debussy’s Children’s Corner Suite. This year, we used “The PopWaltz Prophecy” theme, and I concluded with some “Rach” music (Rachmaninoff.)
Laura says
The “right hand has an inner and outer voice” comment in italics in your article made me chuckle, because I’m finishing up Schubert’s Impromptu op. 90 no. 3 right now. 🙂 How did you know? LOL
Thanks for the ideas on demonstrating to students. I will have to give them a try and see what happens.
Andrea says
Hi Laura – Hope they’re helpful! Best of luck with the Impromptu… promise I haven’t bugged your house 😉
Regina says
I like how you lead them with your questions, making sure they understand what the hear and see.
I’m amazed how my students like to feel the demonstrations also. They like to ride my hand or have me play on their hand or forearm so they can feel the weight, tension-release, drops, rolls, speed etc.
It seems once I have students do this once, they come to other lessons and of their own will ask to ride my hands.
I just might try demonstrating the wrong way and see what happens.
Andrea says
Hi Regina – we blogged about this a bit too you might be interested as it seems similar to what you are doing with “riding hands” https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2014/03/03/the-magic-of-teaching-piano-using-mirroring/
Regina says
I enjoyed that article. It is similar in that they do mirror the feel of the teachers muscles.
I do want to try your idea of playing-mirror with them. I imagine it has quite a few benefits. I’m sure it would be much more rewarding for the student to figure their mistakes out themselves before being verbally corrected. I bet the mirroring helps build their listening skills too as well as their ensemble skills. Private students definitely need every opportunity for ensemble.
I’ve actually had to play mirror with myself after a physical trauma with my shoulder that hindered forearm/wrist motion. Physical traumas can really play tricks with ones mind and memory. Along with some physical therapy, I went back to the very basics of contrary motion scales/arpeggios and had my good arm reteach my bad one. I mentioned this to a retired college piano teacher who had a stroke. His wife told me later that it helped him regain some of his skills.
Elaine says
My only problem with your excellent (as always) advice is that I can play, and I can talk, but I can no way do both at the same time!!!
Andrea says
LOL Elaine – I never seem to stop talking so I have the opposite problem 😉
Sully says
Hi Andrea and Trevor, thanks for the great post. Using it today! Will let you know how it goes! I was thinking: something I really would like to see is a video of a TYPICAL piano lesson to one of your students. It would give such great insight into what you guys are about. So far we’ve received heaps of tips, but to see it put into practice would be really inspiring.