I know what you mean. I have a 2nd grade girl who comes to every lesson dressed as if she's going to perform in Carnegie Hall! It is really nice and shows great respect on the part of the parents. I always work extra hard with her, just because she lifts my spirits!

Last evening, my best high school student was a bit unfocused. Quite unusual for this guy. When I was on Facebook later, I saw his post that he now has a girlfriend (his first). He popped up a chat window saying, "Now you know why I was unfocused . . ." Ah, young love!

Yes, this child really did lift my spirits too. And the mother told me on facebook that her daughter loved being dressed up and "performing" on my baby grand piano.

This small occurrence was really uplifting at a time I needed some light heartedness. (I have been grieving over our 14 year old dog who was put down on Saturday...after a year of declining health...dealing with the guilt of the decision etc.)

I wonder if having a girlfriend could motivate your student to play beautifully...as a way to impress her. When my son started lessons (age 10) a neighbor told him that he "got two girlfriends in college" because they were impressed by his piano playing.

Oh, he doesn't need motivation to play beautifully. He plays like a real artist. He just lost concentration.

Oops! And you even mentioned he was your best high school student. I goofed.

Loving this thread!

Lollipop - I am so, so sorry about your kitty. I had to say goodbye to my precious kitty last year, and it was incredibly devastating. My students were very affected as well; I think they liked coming to see her more than they did me.

My contribution...so last week, as I was having a lesson with a 6-year-old boy I've had for a while, he said the word "stupid." I told him that I would prefer if he doesn't use that kind of language during lessons (I'm pretty strict on respect during lessons), and he said, "Oh, you mean words like stupid and crap and butt? My mom doesn't like me to say those either. That's why I say them at school." LOL!

I had a 6 year old student who brought me this hand written note:

"for Miss lastname

Dear Miss lastname, Mabye my
levels would be higher
than John's. If I don't
be goofy I might
get songs higher than
you exected. I might
be in level 1 in earl-
y April. if I don't be
goofy."

This is a child who has needed reminders about appropriate behavior...i.e not to grab my arm when I turn a page...not to shout at me etc. Lately she has really made effort to listen, and she's progressing very well. (She was my 4th student today and the only one so far who came well prepared.)

I just thought it was sweet that she write this note to me. And it shows her intention to behave and learn the best she can.

One of my students has perfect pitch and very, very picky taste in music. I'm struggling to motivate him to learn to read music because he can play much cooler songs without ever glancing at a book. I just introduced him to a book of complete scores by Ben Folds Five, whom he'd never heard of (specifically the song "Narcolepsy). He loves it! He's actually looking at the music and practicing hard, and he came to his lesson saying he'd been listening to lots of Ben Folds stuff lately and had learned bits of five different songs by ear.

For the record, I'm strongly encouraging ear training, a strong foundation in theory, and even composition with this kid, in addition to reading music. He's not going to end up a concert pianist, but he very well may be in a band someday, and he might as well have a full toolkit for that. He understands that reading music is a valuable tool with this as his career goal.

A 7 year old student told me yesterday "You don't have a real booster seat. You just use old junk from around the house."

(I use a seat cushion that has a pouch for keeping keys/money and has a carrying handle...probably intended to use for ballgames. Also I use a large colorful floor mat (interlocking kind) cut in half and stacked.)

I had to laugh because these are items that my husband acquired years ago. They have been mostly unused, and now repurposed to be booster seats for the piano bench.

I've talked a bit about my ear learner. Let's call him Ryan. Ryan has a very strong interest in oldies and has a very rock 'n' roll vibe. He is learning guitar and piano, and has taken drum lessons. He has an interest in learning didgeridoo as well, among other instruments. Funky and groovy are good words for this kid. He has perfect pitch and good aural memory, so he picks up songs he hears after only a few listens.

I have encouraged him to develop his gift by helping him to take licks from songs he picks up and expand them into full songs. I've taught the circle of fifths, common chord progressions, and I'm starting to teach left hand patterns. Still, I've been somewhat at a loss as to how to teach him to read music. The trouble is, he doesn't want to read anything he doesn't love to play, and he doesn't love to play anything he can read.

I have a Ben Folds Five book, and I realized that "Narcolepsy" is actually pretty easy to play. He took to it right away, and now he's a big Ben Folds fan. He talks about him, as well as about new Ben Folds songs he's learned, at each lesson. Which kind of undermines my efforts to give him music he hasn't heard before, but it's really fun to introduce a student to something that really gets him excited. And he's working harder than I've ever seen him do.

Sweetest 6-yr-old boy ever:

He was working on a part in his song, and I had him do the section 5 times. Afterward I said, "Good job - and your last one was your BEST one!"

He said, "I know! Because I practiced it the most. It's just like planting a seed. The longer you leave it in the ground and the more you water it, the more beautiful of a flower it becomes!"

Took the words right out of my heart.

(Of course, he's usually talking about his birthday, and his favorite basketball team, and his uncle and aunt's birthdays, and his neighbor's cat's birthday)....

^^^Wonderful! Thanks, I needed that.

Darling. I may just steal it.

A 5 year old student (who started lessons at age 4) was about half way through his lesson yesterday. We'd been singing songs from a new primer book. He requested to sing them all, and I went along with it. He had also done some piano playing. At one point he said "I want to do something funner". And so we did.

I got a kick out of his word "funner", but appreciate the direct feedback. Ended up using a magnetic board...reviewing EBG and more. And he was happy. Later as his brother had his lesson, I could hear the 5 year old humming as he played with Legos. (The brothers arrive at same time and wait during each other's lesson.)

This felt like a success to me. The previous week this 5 year old was not having fun in his lesson...finding note reading difficult (hence we started a new, simpler supplementary book...and I worked on making reviews into a game).

it's hard to notice how quickly i can get into "piano is a discipline" mode with my young ones.
so, today i started a new assignment with my little ones to come up with 3 animal sounds on the piano this week (like a mouse eating cheese, or a gorilla stomping through a forest, etc). next week we'll sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm and incorporate our animal sounds. they were VERY excited!

I can relate to that description of being in "piano is a discipline" mode. With some you can push ahead, and other times it's pretty clear that they need more fun.

Little kids show their annoyance readily. (I had an unpleasant situation today along these lines). It's good to recognize that they're annoyed and re-evaluate how to proceed. It usually means I need to back up and cover some concepts again or in a different way...or I need to recognize that the child is learning a completely new concept...and I've moved too quickly.

This happened today in starting the transition to notes on the staff (with a 6 year old). It helped to do worksheets/game to distinguish between notes on lines and spaces etc. Lesson ended well, but frustrating initially. (This child missed last week due to parent forgetting lesson...and has apparently forgotten a lot as she's had little help at home. It was also back to re-teaching orientation to keyboard, steady beat etc.) Ugh! Next week we'll start off with a review...and I'll remember to Keep It Simple!

Maybe this is too little to post. But here it is anyway. I had an adult student who stopped lessons beginning this month due to needing to help at family owned restaurant (hired help quit I suppose). She had progressed well in just 6 months. Also she brought me tomatoes from her garden in fall. I enjoyed teaching her.

Anyway, she just called. They've got help again at their business and she'll start up lessons again in April. I feel happy!

If the 3 adults I have continue, maybe I'll organize a recital for adults after all. I had considered it, but then one left for 2 months due to a work assignment...he returned and another stopped lessons. Now that they're all back, I'll see. Maybe this summer.

So, asking the birthday girl (at her piano lesson) what she might be thinking of doing when she grows up, she replied:




Become a piano teacher! Nice!

I have a wood block perpetual calendar in my studio. (Three block set with month, day and day of week.) I had a student ask what it is. I told her it's a calendar showing what day it is.

Then she said "How does it move?" Obviously she assumed it would move automatically. I told her I flip the blocks to change them.