Are You Ready for Fall Lessons?
- CJ Bloyer
- Aug 1, 2022
- 4 min read
3 Ways to Help Your Student Prepare for Fall Lessons
Can you believe it’s August already? I can’t. It’s been a busy summer here at Noteworthy Piano Studio. I keep telling myself August is a long way off and then…BAM!…it arrived! September is just around the corner and we’ll be starting our “official” studio year, so I wanted to to give you all some tips on how to help your student (or students) get ready for fall lessons.
#1 - Practice Practice
If your summer has been as insanely busy as mine, I’m sure that there hasn’t been as much scheduled practicing as we might see during the regular year. This is a good time to start practicing practicing. That sounds weird, I know, but English is a weird language; trust me, it makes sense.
So, let’s practice practicing. Start with having your student sit down at the piano during some point of the day. It doesn’t have to be the time you’ll set once you get your fall schedule together or even at the same time every day. Just remind them to sit down and play the piano. I recommend setting a timer when they do sit down. If your student is already using a timer during their practice, this is a good way to get back into the mind-set of practicing.
#2 - What to Play? What to Play?
Most of your students have chosen to take the summer off, which means they don’t really have anything new to practice. That’s absolutely okay. Have your student go through their current or older books and play things they enjoyed playing in the past.
If your student has other music you have purchased, but they haven’t played yet, they can play through that, using some of the techniques we’ve talked about in lessons. Remind them to look over the music before they play and identify all the things in the music they recognize. Again, this will help get your student’s brain thinking about their music critically as they prepare for lessons again.
If your student doesn’t have new music to play with and/or is bored of their old music, you can print off some music from the websites below.
Scribd is an eReader website that allows a 30-day free trial. After 30 days, it is a subscription service like Kindle or Nook. You can’t print off the music, but if your student has a tablet, this is an easy way to access music without using precious printer ink.
Musescore is another subscription service that offers a free trial period. Unlike Scribd, it does allow for printing.
Sheet Music-Free is chock-full of free music for all levels of skill. Music can be printed from this site.
8notes is more of a collection of other music websites than a free music website. If your student knows what they would like to play, but you’re not sure where to find it or don’t want to risk a basic Google search, this is a good option. Most of the music you can find on this site isn’t free, but there’s enough there to sift through, if you’re not picky. Otherwise, it’s a great place to find new music you can purchase.
#3 - Listen, Linda!
If you’re not already doing so, having your student listen to music is great idea all the time. The more we listen to music, the more we start to understand the things we learn about it. Consider listening to a piece of music with your student and then asking some questions about the music.
What kinds of instruments do you hear? (guitars, pianos, drums, string instruments, etc. Or if your child isn’t sure, ask them if they hear high, low, or mid-range instruments)
What kind of tempo (speed) is this song played at? (fast, slow, medium)
What does this song make you feel? (sad, happy, excited, scared)
Can you count out loud with this song? How many beats do you think each measure has? (2, 3, 4, 6, 12?)
You can also work on identifying rhythm patterns in the music and clapping along with them. Listen to the song once, then go back to the beginning and try clapping some of the rhythms as you listen a second time. You can even make a game out of this and see who can clap the most rhythms they hear.
If you have the opportunity, go to a live concert. Whether it’s a professional concert or going to the Farmer’s Market or other outdoor gatherings where buskers will often perform. If they’re willing and the busker is amenable, have your student ask them about how they practice and what they like best about their instrument or other questions that occur to them. Spending time with other musicians is one of the best ways to cultivate our understanding of our own skill and practice.
Winter Is Coming
As we move into the school and studio year, things are going to be busy for your student, so obviously, it’s important to also let them just be for a while. If they just want to sit at the piano and doodle on the keys, that works as well as focused practice to get ready. This is also a good time to start asking your student what they want to accomplish this year in piano lessons. I’ll be asking them this question during our first lesson of the year as well, so it’s a good idea to start them thinking about this.
Can’t wait to see you all in a few weeks!
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