Making piano lessons fun and engaging!

In my opinion.......mistakes are WONDERFUL!  How else can we get better at something if we don't make mistakes? If we're not allowed to make mistakes?  Observing a baby learn to walk is the best example I know of learning from our mistakes.  I have learned so many precious lessons by simply observing my son, Matthew.  I thank God for giving me such an amazing child!  When he was first learning to walk, he'd pick himself off the floor from a nearby table, wobble, let go of the table, and fall back down.  Do you think that stopped him?  Of course not!  He'd get up and try again and again until eventually he was able to stand on his own and take his first steps forward just like most every baby before him and most every child after him.  And my husband and I (as every parent) were encouraging.  We'd praise him for making the simplest attempt at getting up.  We'd clap our hands and smile at him and when he'd finally ...

 POOF ® football Most of my students participate in some sort of organized sport such as football, soccer, basketball, etc.. so what I do is incorporate whatever sport is in season at the time into my metronome exercises.  Since were are now in the throws of football season my students and I will occasionally pass a football to varying metronome speeds.  We also pass the ball to different note values.  Most everyone has a football laying around somewhere.  We own two real footballs but I chose to purchase a soft POOF ® football www.poof-slinky.com to prevent surrounding equipment from breaking just in case the ball was thrown too hard. Even though I remind my kiddos to gently throw the ball they sometimes get caught up in the moment and imagine they are throwing the ball down the field to a team player who'll score a touchdown.  Gotta love children's imaginations!  I am no good at throwing a football so I have my football p...

Sometimes I do tend to think  way outside the box.  I've found that the more outrageous the activity the more engaged and excited my students get.  Well, I get pretty darn excited as well. I had some pretty odd items on my Christmas wish list this year.  One of the things I asked "Santa" to give me was a bow and arrow set for my piano lessons.  "A bow and arrow set?", you ask . "What would she need with a bow and arrow set and how on earth would she be able to tie this into a piano lesson?"  Oh , but you can and the kiddos have been eating this activity up for the past two weeks.  I tend to showcase activities like this one for a "limited time" and bring them out once or twice a year to keep their interest up.  After this week, it's getting packed away.  This set was purchased from "toys to grow on" ® and it's called "My First Archery Set" www.toystogrowon.com What I am doing with this "exercise" is...

Be-Bopping to note cards:  All you'll need for this activity is card stock, and a black marker.  I use different colors but you don't need to.  Draw a few quarter, half, dotted half, whole, and eighth notes on  card stock.  Make a few of each note so that your rhythm combinations are endless.  Laminate your cards.  Lay down a rhythm pattern vertically on the floor based on what your students have learned so far.  Turn on the metronome to a slow speed and have your children walk next to (not on) the cards to the metronome beat.  Have them go through the pattern a few times to a faster speed each time.  Some kiddos will be able to step next to the cards and go through the rhythm sequence with very little help while others will need a few lessons to "get it". I have students who have been with me for over four years who still ask for this activity!

I include metronome "exercises" in every lesson.  The kiddos look forward to this and these exercises alone have helped keep children in my program for much longer than if they were in a traditional program where they'd be expected to sit at the piano for the entire lesson.  The younger the child, the more wiggly they are.  So I say, "Let them wiggle" but in a way that still teaches them what they need to know as pianists.  Even my older students love the movement portion of the lessons.  Maybe it's just me but the most memorable classes I participated in were the ones that challenged me on many different levels. The activities take no more than 4 minutes tops and the benefits my students are reaping from these exercises have been huge.  They are developing such a phenomenal sense of rhythm that quite a few of my middle schoolers have been personally asked by their school band directors to join the percussion team! It's amazi...