Effective and Efficient Lessons

Dear Parents,
Following are suggestions to optimize learning in the lessons:
1. Set-Up
Please make a habit to set up your child promptly with their bench/footstool and books, and put the assignment sheet on my piano. Even older children need some help to make this step go quickly. This is best to do as soon as the previous student is finished. Next, you can organize you notes and score, and work the video.  This will be a non-verbal signal to your child about the importance of the lesson time. Therefore in this time it is best if the adults do not talk too much.
It is better to talk casually after the lesson.
2.  Assignment Sheet
Please provide an assignment sheet that is filled out with the main point of the lesson, and the main points on each piece that were covered at the last lesson.
It is also important to have the review pieces listed. This is also a signal to your child about the importance of the assignment and your role in helping them. Also, with a clear assignment sheet I can follow through with the assignment and provide continuity.
3.  Distractions
Please turn off all electronic devices so that the children are the total focus of attention.  Electronic games can be engaging.  When siblings are playing with very interesting toys like this it makes the concentration at the piano a little harder. Texting by the parent can be especially distracting, and can make a child feel that they are  actually being neglected by their parent, even though the parent is "present".   Many teachers and researchers are coming to this same conclusion. Dr. Karen Hagberg wrote about this in her recent article in Piano Basics.  She references Dr. Sherry Turkel, the Director of Technology and Self at MIT, author of the book "Alone Together:Why we Expect More from Technology and Less from each other. Dr. Turkel says that "mobile connectivity allows us to  bail out of the physical realm at any time."  You can watch her TED talk video which is very interesting:
Sherry Turkle - TED Talk
When the adults are totally focused on the lesson the children will best be able to concentrate.
4.  Observe without interference
Please observe the lessons without instructing your child to pay attention, or giving other directions. It is the teachers responsibility during the lesson to nurture the child's attention and behavior.  You can observe the process of learning this way. It may be that I allow the child more time to get ready, or learn through doing without giving the answer.  I may be allowing the child to learn through experience that if too much time goes by without focused attention there is not enough time for the new piece, or the make-up song, etc. In the long run this will develop concentration and motivation much more than verbal directions about concentrating or hurrying up. So, please observe what is ignored as well as what is affirmed. Please take notes and also use the musical score to refer to.  It works well to put some notes such as the spots directly onto the score.  Other notes may be better in a notebook.  Keep a main point for each lesson.  It is good to keep a notebook that you can look back on months later and reflect on the progress, and the points to stay focused on.
The child will feel your concentration and attention, and without the judgement will be able to turn all of their attention to the learning.

5.  End of Lesson
 At the end of the lesson I will summarize the main points.  This is a good time to ask any questions about the assignment.  Next, please help your child clean up the environment (stuffed animals back in place, etc.)  Often this is also a casual time to talk and that is important too.  Most of the time logistical questions can be saved for e-mail. Please be mindful of the next students lesson time and leave quietly.

After the lesson on the way home, please affirm what your child did well, and talk about what you will work on for the next week.
Thanks so much for your part in making the lessons an environment for optimum learning experiences.
Leah Brammer

On the Rhythm Part 2: Feel it - Read it

In the post  "On the Rhythm- Part 1", the beginning steps of listening and feeling rhythm were discussed.

Next, when students begin learning a piece, they usually find the correct notes (pitch) first.  The feeling of the rhythm may already be there so that the piece is recognizable by ear, however the exact rhythm needs to be reinforced by the parent and teacher as the next step.  It is difficult for students to feel longer notes for example, so there is a tendency that these note values are played shorter when the piece is being learned. The dotted half note in "French Children’s Song" is a good example of this.  Another familiar example is the dotted quarter notes, and also the half notes in "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

There are several ways to help the student with feeling and playing the correct rhythm.  The student can play with the teacher who is keeping a steady beat.  At home the parent can sing the melody in correct rhythm as the child plays. At the lesson, the student can clap the steady beat while the teacher plays.  Sometimes it helps to show the child a metronome, which they are very interested in, and then the teacher can play the piece with metronome at various tempos keeping a steady beat. This help the students differentiate rhythm and tempo.  At a later stage, the parent can clap the beat (softly) for the child at home practice. This can be done in the lesson first to make sure it is helpful to the child.

Specifically, on a spot such as a dotted half note, the teacher can clap the beat on that note when the child plays so that they feel the pulse on the long note. By clapping the pulse without counting “1, 2, 3” the child will be able to play without too much thinking.  Of course understanding counting is important too, and is good to do after the child can feel the beat without the use of numbers.

Recognizing the rhythm of pieces without hearing the melody is another good tool for internalizing the rhythm.  The teacher or another student can clap the rhythm of a piece, and then the student(s) can guess what song it is. The students enjoy this activity. Mary Had a Little Lamb and London Bridge have the same rhythm until the last two measures, so students have to listen until the last two measures to know which piece is being played.  This internalization of the rhythm helps students perform the pieces better, and is also a step towards reading rhythm.

Introducing the visual picture of the rhythm to students is easy to do on the Book 1 pieces they already know.  Twinkle D has only quarter and half notes and is great because every phrase has the same rhythm every 2 measures with the half note at the end. Teachers may want to use the Orff or other syllables to represent the sound in addition to clapping, and/or use a hand gesture to indicate the pulse on the notes longer than one beat. . You can clap the rhythm separately, and also while singing the melody.  Counting can be introduced after the rhythms are understood through direct association of the feeling with the visual representation.

This can be done with all of the Book 1 pieces when the students are ready.  Older students may still be in Book 1 and doing this activity, while younger students studying in Book 2 will benefit from this relationship between what they have already learned by ear, and the visual representation of the rhythm. There are various useful materials that can be used to teach these concepts. I like using a white board for the rhythm, and 8"X11" paper each with one measure on it for the full score representation.

Dr. Suzuki says: Raise your ability on a piece you can play.”

Therefore, using the sound of the pieces the children have already internalized and learned to play, help students to feel the rhythm. Next present the visual representation of the rhythms they already know.  This is integral learning as the students are connecting what they can hear, feel, and do with the mental learning of the reading concepts.

Recital Preparation-Key Points

1. Listen to the recording as much as possible.
Notice when the volume is right so that you are able to  hear the music clearly without it being to loud or soft.   This way you can make the best environment for listening to many repetitions. If you have more than one child performing, you can make a playlist with the two- four songs so that it is easy to repeat.

2. Be well rested and early to the recital, with appropriate concert dress. 
Balance practice with other activities, free time and rest.

3.In practicing, affirm each step, each part that is done correctly, and especially notice when the tone is really clear and ringing.

• Practice the beginning and the ending many times.

• Practice hands separate in a slow tempo, and also in performance tempo.

• Spot and part/phrase practice focusing on the most important points.

Focus on the tone as much as possible without too many instructions so that the child can internalize what they have learned. 

It is good to have a performance practice time (in concert dress) one and/or two days ahead.  On the day of the recital, please practice with good concentration for a short period.  There is no need to play the piece hands together many times.  This can make the piece get worse! If the child makes a mistake with this kind of in tempo hands together playing on the day of the recital it may inadvertently get into their performance too.  So, it is a good time for lots of listening, rest, and hands separate spot/part practice. So, it is like putting the repetitions (skill development) into a savings account to "spend"  at the recital. 

all the best,
Leah Brammer