Being a piano teacher is a wonderful gift. I get to share my love of music with others (oh, and I actually happen to know a lot about it too!) Jennifer's Musical Moments offers in-studio (at my place) and in-home (at your place) piano lessons. That means, in essence, I have two studios. One studio being my place of business, and my other studio being my "Pianist. Will Play for Chocolate" tote bag. So, while being a piano teacher is a blessing, being a traveling piano teacher can sometimes leave me scrounging for new and inventive ways to teach a concept using (sometimes unconventional) household items.
Here is a glimpse into some of my more recent, on the spot, tools I've used to teach.
Napkins
I needed one of my students to play an entire piece of music without looking at his hands. He looked like a bobble head bouncing his head and eyes up and down to check the notes, then check his fingers on the key. I then had an "ah-ha" moment. The "Napkin Song" was born. Napkins are perfect for covering fingers and hands. They are lightweight and they gracefully lay on the hand. Anytime we need to work on building trust in our eye to hand coordination, the "Napkin Song" works wonders!
Ping Pong Paddle and Ball
I used this fun activity to show rests (beats of silence) in the music. Rests can sometimes (actually all the time) be challenging for students to do. Some students simply skip over them as if they don't exist. One of my students was having difficulty feeling the rests in her song so I immediately came up with an idea. I needed a percussion instrument (besides the piano), however, there was none, so I found the nearest ping pong paddle and ball and created my own instrument! I told her every time you have a rest in your music, I will bounce the ping pong ball off of the paddle. If we don't hear the bounce, that means you were playing and you skipped your rest. After lots of laughs, and us changing roles as piano player/ping pong player, we successfully accomplished an understanding of the rests in the song, all while making some pretty fun sounding music!
iPad
The iPad is a common tool for piano teachers to use in teaching students. I really wanted to incorporate more ear training into my students piano lessons. I decided to use the family iPad to record excerpts of pieces for the students to transcribe by ear. The students LOVE this activity. It's great because they can work on developing their aural skills, not just in the lesson, but throughout the entire week, and once they've accomplished the task of actually deciphering music without written notes, they show their excitement by smiling ear to ear and asking for another tune to tackle. You can also use the iPad for other fun things like recording the teachers duet of a song for students to practice along, or simply just capturing successful musical moments with your students. Trust me, they will cherish these musical memories!
Jennifer Lorys
Jennifer's Musical Moments
Here is a glimpse into some of my more recent, on the spot, tools I've used to teach.
Napkins
I needed one of my students to play an entire piece of music without looking at his hands. He looked like a bobble head bouncing his head and eyes up and down to check the notes, then check his fingers on the key. I then had an "ah-ha" moment. The "Napkin Song" was born. Napkins are perfect for covering fingers and hands. They are lightweight and they gracefully lay on the hand. Anytime we need to work on building trust in our eye to hand coordination, the "Napkin Song" works wonders!
Ping Pong Paddle and Ball
I used this fun activity to show rests (beats of silence) in the music. Rests can sometimes (actually all the time) be challenging for students to do. Some students simply skip over them as if they don't exist. One of my students was having difficulty feeling the rests in her song so I immediately came up with an idea. I needed a percussion instrument (besides the piano), however, there was none, so I found the nearest ping pong paddle and ball and created my own instrument! I told her every time you have a rest in your music, I will bounce the ping pong ball off of the paddle. If we don't hear the bounce, that means you were playing and you skipped your rest. After lots of laughs, and us changing roles as piano player/ping pong player, we successfully accomplished an understanding of the rests in the song, all while making some pretty fun sounding music!
iPad
The iPad is a common tool for piano teachers to use in teaching students. I really wanted to incorporate more ear training into my students piano lessons. I decided to use the family iPad to record excerpts of pieces for the students to transcribe by ear. The students LOVE this activity. It's great because they can work on developing their aural skills, not just in the lesson, but throughout the entire week, and once they've accomplished the task of actually deciphering music without written notes, they show their excitement by smiling ear to ear and asking for another tune to tackle. You can also use the iPad for other fun things like recording the teachers duet of a song for students to practice along, or simply just capturing successful musical moments with your students. Trust me, they will cherish these musical memories!
Jennifer Lorys
Jennifer's Musical Moments
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