Last week, I asked all my students a simple question:
“What would you like to achieve on the piano by Christmas?”
“Guitar” was perhaps the most amusing answer, although I’m not entirely sure that particular student had understood the question!
While some students weren’t quite sure yet, others had plenty of ideas. Common suggestions included learning a favourite piece or progressing to something more challenging. One student wanted to “play a duet with another student”, while another wanted to “make up my own songs.”
Thankfully, both composition and ensemble playing are already part of my piano curriculum, so those answers have given me some ideas for the term ahead.
Where appropriate, I’ll be pairing students up by overlapping lessons during the course of the term, giving them the opportunity to experience playing together. Hopefully, we’ll be able to share some of those duets at our forthcoming concerts in November.
Making up our own music
Another strand I’m introducing this week is composition. Throughout the term, I’ll be encouraging students to take part in my Autumn Leaves Project, using improvisation as a simple and accessible introduction to creating their own music.
The idea is to take away some of the mystery of composition. Rather than beginning with notation and lots of rules, students will start by experimenting at the piano, making musical choices and discovering what sounds good to them.
As the project develops, I’m hoping to showcase some of their creations at the November concerts too.
So, between favourite pieces, duets, compositions and increasingly ambitious repertoire, there should be plenty for us to work towards this term.
And as for the guitar? That one might be outside the piano curriculum.
My first performance directing the Chester Songsmiths took place in Hoole this weekend at the Lights Switch On. It was most enjoyable and the ladies were in good voice. It has been as much a learning curve for me to pick up and work with their established style and repertoire as for the ladies to learn the new songs I have introduced over the past 9 weeks. Working without a score when you are used to having the notes in front of you can be a challenge but it does enable you to get ‘out of the copy’ and really ‘into the music’.
The half-term break offers a chance to relax and reflect on the exciting weeks ahead. Many of my students are preparing for their first performance platform event which takes place in just over two weeks. This gives all my students an opportunity to perform their chosen piece in a relaxed and friendly, informal environment.
One of the most important things I realised when I started teaching the piano ten years ago was the value of time I had invested myself (however reluctantly at the time) in learning scale patterns. They really are one of the fundamentals of piano technique upon which much of the repertoire is built. Making it fun or simplifying the task of learning them is always a challenge for the piano teacher. There aren’t really any short cuts however this new book I have come across with visual guides seems to be particularly helpful. 