Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum How fast to advance kids

There is probably no rule of thumb here. But I am noticing a trend in my students, maybe. The kids who seem to move slowly - because of lack of practice, or motivation, and I respond by giving them rep that is maybe fun but not too challenging, often end up making big leaps later. Maybe I'm imagining this, but if I give them some easy contemporary piece, they come back later and say they really want a challenging classical piece.
This is an AHA moment that doesn't seem to sink in for very long. I think deep down, I want to reward students by giving them a challenge, but..... sometimes that backfires too, and often their reading skills suffer because they are spending too much time on one piece.
How many pieces do you give that can be easily learned in a week? How do you balance short term and long term pieces?

These are some thoughtful questions. I was just dealing with some goal-setting issues with two different "want it all" parents. Both parents insist on having their kids stay on the testing track, even though none of their kids have time to practice, and their kids fail to finish their theory assignments week after week.

I want to give them new pieces every week so they can improve their sight reading skills. But that doesn't mean they'll do it. And not every kid is cut out to play long-term pieces.

John, from these forums, made a comment once that stuck with me. Something about the student reading through a new assignment a couple times with the teacher, and should be able to play it fairly well at that point, taking it home to fine tune it.

I started using this to gauge how much to give each individual student. When a student is struggling with something, I may only assign the first phrase of a piece. I have noticed that if we reach a certain level of fluidity at the lesson, the practice will be more successful, perhaps because the student isn't too intimidated or overwhelmed to practice at all.

I have one student who easily takes on an entire unit (PA) each week. She's a quick learner, and is serious about it. Others may only get two pieces total, across the four method books and supplements.

When a student is struggling for whatever reason (usually not practicing, or not practicing enough) I back off, and make sure there is something more easily attainable. I often find myself reaching for Dozen a Day in these situations, because the students find these exercises easier to conquer, and feel more successful.

I rarely turn to pop music, as I find most students have a harder time learning it, rather than easier. When a student does ask for pop, I tell them I'll get them started on it, help them understand the chords and rhythms, but then they'll get to work on it at home by themselves, and just bring it in when they need help. I usually see it for a few weeks after that, then never again.

Yes, it's common sense, mostly. It's difficult to pull back sometimes because we all want our students to progress, regardless of their attitudes towards practicing. Working with them is usually the most pleasurable part of the lessons - even if it's on material that seems mundane, or if it's on points covered a gazillion times before.

Sure beats throwing a piece at them, and hoping that it might hold their interest.