The first few weeks back to piano lessons should be all about relationship building. Taking the time to develop a positive rapport and good working relationship with your students will set your studio up for a fantastic year.
And one of the best rapport building tools is, of course, creating music together. Which is why I always turn to improv activities during my first few weeks of lessons.
Improv activities allow me and my students to have a blast creating music without the onerous time required to learn a duet… which means the rapport-building power of creating music together can begin on the very first lesson after a break.
In today’s post we’re sharing a rockin’ improv activity that will have your students leaving lessons with huge smiles and boatloads of motivation.
The Rock Your Way Back To School Improv
Our improv activities are so easy to implement that you can be enjoying them in less than five minutes from now… even if this is the first time in your life that you have ever taught improv. Just follow along with the instructions below:
Step 1
Print, laminate and cut out the improv cards found in The Rock Your Way Back To School Improv Pack. Print out The Rock Your Way Back To School Teacher Duet.
Step 2
With your student, clap the rhythm of each “Back To School” sentence. If your student would rather make up his own sentence, we’ve included a blank card.
Step 3
Have your student choose any two cards and then remove the other cards from the piano.
Step 4
With his fingers in the C 5-Finger scale, have your student play the rhythms on the cards selected in Step 3 on a single key and then experiment with different “white key” melodies to match the two rhythms on his selected cards.
Step 5
Begin playing the teacher duet included in The Rock Your Way Back To School Improv Pack. When your student is ready, he can join in playing a melody (from Step 4) that matches one or both of the rhythm cards selected in Step 3 (in an octave that doesn’t interfere with your part).
As he becomes more comfortable, your student can add more cards/rhythms to your duet, change up his chosen melodies, or even experiment with some “off the cuff” creations! Be sure to tag us in your Facebook and Instagram videos! We always love to see our improv creations in action 🙂
Adding Improv Early Is Key To Student Success
Even if you’ve never taught improv before, adding regular improv opportunities to your students’ lessons is an important way to build confidence, fluidity, creativity, tonality, and more! Our Level 2A method book gets students started with a carefully-crafted approach that guarantees success and builds this ability early and often. Find WunderKeys Elementary Piano Lesson Book 2A on Amazon – click the image below to see inside.
