Have any of you teachers heard of Alexander Peskanov’s “The Russian Technical Regimen for the Piano”? His series of books are absolutely invaluable to me as a piano teacher. I was recently introduced to them by a fellow teacher in my area, and I am working on a way to introduce these techniques into my lessons. Have any of you had any experience using this method? If so, how has it worked for you, and do you have any tips for me? Thanks! Looking forward to hearing about your successes.
Up and running again! September 25, 2009
Well, I’m finally all settled down here in TN! I have opened my own piano lesson studio, and currently have 17 students! I was so sad to leave my students in Indiana, but I have been blessed with wonderful ones here! I should be posting soon with stories, and questions, and all that good stuff! I am trying to post a pic of the studio… we’ll see how that goes!
Saying Goodbye July 10, 2009
I hate goodbye’s.. that’s just how I am. I guess maybe I think too much. I’m the person who is conscious about all of those “this may be the last” moments. Maybe I am just morbid, but I like to think that I am just realistic. You really never know when the last time will be that you see a person. So, I knew that when my husband and I made the decision to move to TN about a month ago, that I was going to have a terrible time saying “goodbye” to all of my students. I guess I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, though. I thought my kids would be upset and maybe even a little sad that their piano teacher was leaving them; but, I never expected them to be devastated, and sobbing, and not wanting to play at lessons. Nor, did I expect the parents to cry and bawl right along with their children. I certainly did my fair share of crying at the thought of leaving them all behind, and hoping that I can direct them to a suitable teacher, but I didn’t realize how attached we had become… all through piano lessons. I look back when I was taking lessons, and I would have been the same way if something had happened to my teacher. Needless to say, I feel very loved and appreciated. I’m gonna miss my little students so much 
Motivational Idea June 19, 2009
My friend and I have been sharing motivational ideas for our students.. since we are both piano teachers. She lives in Michigan, and I’m in Indiana.. so we have put an interesting twist on some of them. Most of the children think it’s pretty cool, so I thought maybe some of you would like to try some and see how they work for you. We have put them in competition against each other, and they think it’s the greatest thing in the world to beat the other state! HOOSIER’S RULE!!! 
One of the things we have done, is to time them on their flashcard drills. We have the same sets of flashcards for our kids, so it works perfectly. We don’t necessarily have a prize for the winning state, but just the fact that they won pretty much does the trick! We have also decided to share a motivational idea with each other.. every other week. So, one week she will give me one, and then the next week, I will give her one. It is really nice to have a little break in “thinking”… and the students absolutely love to have something fun to work towards! Just some ideas that I thought other teachers would enjoy! Let me know if you have any ideas.. or if these work for you!
Children with Talent May 19, 2009
How do you deal with a child that has talent to play by ear, and therefore does not pay attention to a new piece of music, but rather tries to figure it out according to how he has heard it in times past. I have a very talented young man… about eleven years old, and he can play just about any tune that he has heard before without any music in front of him. It takes him awhile to figure it out, but he gets it eventually. When he reads music from his lesson books, he does fine; but, when I give him sheet music to a familiar song, it’s like he doesn’t know a thing about reading music, and he reverts to “playing by ear”. I went through ‘The Entertainer” with him yesterday note by note and it took almost the whole lesson to get through just the right hand on just a few lines of the music… and it’s written for Level 3 piano students… so, it’s not that difficult. I know he was getting frustrated, but it was like he would just look at the music and not get anywhere close to what it should have been. He was going on what he thought it should sound like. I don’t want to discourage him, but I want him to learn to read music correctly. I would appreciate any feedback that you have in respect to this area! Is there any way to fix this problem in children?
Spring Recital 2009 May 8, 2009
Well, I was so stressed out about holding my first recital… and it went so smoothly, I can’t wait to have the next one! I had thirteen students play, the youngest being four and the oldest twenty. So, there was quite a range of age and talent, too. There were fifty one visitors… way more than I had expected! My Mom came all the way from Illinois to help me and I am so glad she was there! So many little things that I hadn’t even thought about came up, and she just jumped right in and took care of them! (like passing out programs, pinning on corsages, directing people where to go to take the food they had brought… and on and on it goes) I think I was more nervous about getting up in front of everyone and speaking at the beginning of the recital than I was about performing the piece I had been working on. And, I was so nervous for all of my students performing their songs as well. I was so glad when it was over, but I had a wonderful time. Everything went as planned until the little four year old had to play. She had insisted on playing five songs, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts. So, I was a little scared as to what she would do when it was her turn. Everything went fine… she introduced herself… played ONE song, took a bow when she was finished, and returned to her seat. I breathed a sigh of relief… until about ten minutes later when she decided she wanted to play again. Before I even realized what was happening, she was back on stage introducing herself again… and telling the audience which song she was going to play. Of course, that wasn’t in the program… and the crowd just started cracking up. Everyone was laughing… and her Mom was looking at me with a horrified look on her face. It was so funny and the little girl was so matter of fact, that you couldn’t help but laugh. It kind of “made” the recital. Sometimes you try so hard to control everything and make it all go so smoothly, when in reality, it’s the totally “out of control” things that make the best memories! I had a fabulous time, and I am so proud of all of my students! I’m already planning the next recital! I have posted photos of the recital to http://pianostaff.ning.com/
Recital Drama April 29, 2009
Well, my recital is just two days away, and as I have had the final lessons with the students, I have had a few surprises. Some of the students are super confident, some are not, and others, well…I don’t even know what to call it. I thought a little four year old girl getting ready for her first recital would be hesitant, scared, and maybe not even willing to participate. But oh was I surprised when a week before her recital she demanded that she be able to play five songs at the recital instead of just the one that we have been working on for the last few months. I started chuckling, thinking oh I can talk her out of that one… but, on the contrary. That little girl sat on the piano bench and balled and balled and balled when I told her that she could only play one song. I have never seen anything like it. She took one of her books and said that she wanted to start at the beginning, and play the first five songs. When I told her no, and that she just needed to pick one from that book, she begin to cry again, saying that she didn’t understand. She had practiced eight minutes on each of those songs for that whole week, and she did it just for the recital. So, being the push over that I am, I decided to let her pick 5 songs to play in the recital. Oh the drama for a four year old. I am hoping that by doing five songs, she will learn that it will be too much, and that she will gladly revert back to my way and only play one song per recital. I wish all my students were like that to a certain extent. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to participate at all sometimes! I can’t wait till Friday… we will see if my little student is still as ambitious as she was in her lesson!
Have you had any Creative Composers? April 13, 2009
I have had an idea that I want to put to good use, but I think I need some advice first! I would just love to have a composing contest with my students. I have never done anything like that before, but I have so many of them that always want to play me a little tune here and there that they have made up on their own. Do you think it is too difficult of a task for them to actually “write” their composition down? I would love to make a contest out of it and have them all play their pieces at the next recital we will have. I thought maybe I could come up with some sort of “voting” system and then a prize for the best composition. Most of them are beginners with great imaginations, and I would love to see them put their imaginations and talents to good use. Have any of you ever tried anything remotely close to this? Or, are my expectations too high for my students?
Would you send your child to school with no books? April 2, 2009
How do parents expect for their children to have a profitable piano lesson if they don’t come with their books. I am sure any parent would agree whole heartedly that if they sent their child to school without their books, that their level of learning would be hindered. So, what makes it different for a piano lesson? What do you do when you have an hour long lesson with a child, and they have no books. I do have a few extra books here and there, but not all of my students are in the same books. I also have worksheets and other fun music related games for times like these, but I am running of ideas. I would appreciate feedback on this issue, if any of you have encountered a situation like this.
Hiding=No practice? March 24, 2009
Well, it finally happened. A student pulled a fast one on me, and I fell for it…. hard. Usually, if a student is trying to get out of something, “trick” me, as I have had them do in the past, I catch on and stop them before they can finish. But this unfortunately was not the case last night. I don’t know about any of you other teachers, but for some of my younger students, (4 yrs old), I sometimes offer them an incentive to be good during the lesson. It could be the smallest thing, yet their whole attitude changes and the lesson usually goes very well. So, last night, I told this little girl that if she was very good that she could have a Mint Meltaway. (I had gotten some for Valentines day, and I made the mistake of letting her have one, so she always asks for them – and since then I have gotten more, so every now and then I”ll give her one if she is VERY good.) Being the brilliant little four year old that she is, when I gave her this offer, she quickly responded with a counter offer – that if she was SUPER good, she could have a peppermint stick and a Mint Meltaway. So, I agreed that if she was SUPER good that she could have both. Well, needless to say, she was close to perfect. I didn’t have to get after her for anything, she played her songs well, and she was very respectful throughout the whole lesson. The only thing that we did not get to do in our lesson was review her flashcards. She seemed so distraught that she had left them at home, but I just told her to bring them next week, and we would go over them. I kept my promise, and gave her both the peppermint stick and the Mint Meltaway, and then as her and her mother were packing up and getting ready to leave, I began teaching my next lesson. I did notice that they were taking longer than usual to get out the door, and before long, the little girl was walking back to the piano. A little annoyed that she was interrupting my lesson, I asked her what she needed. (keep in mind that she had already eaten the candy that I had given her). She looked at me with a look that just screamed… “Imin big trouble”… and said, “Miss Angela, I need to get under the cushions on your couch… I didn’t forget my flashcards, I hid them under the couch cushions.” I couldn’t believe it……and I told her that next week we have to do them for twice as long. Her mother agreed with me, and we already determined that no matter how good she is next week… no Mint Meltaways for her…… there is never a dull moment for a piano teacher
