Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Avoiding excessive talking while teaching

Totally agree.



That, and the sweet spot will vary from day to day or week to week in any one individual, too.



I like that.

I've had students like this, too, and yes, deciding how much time to give them to talk about their experiences is a balancing act. For purposes of this post, though, I'm thinking about how I as a teacher can avoid excessive talking to my students. I could have worded the thread title more specifically, I realize now.




These are very good points, LiW.

Perhaps think about it this way~

Talking implies that the kind of learning your student is doing is listening.
How about mix it up a bit, use the other senses? Visual and physical/sensory ..
Taste and Smell prob are out.. keke.
Find ways to make it interactive so you are not just relying on your student's ability to listen well.

These are great tips. Thanks, hello my name is.

I'm not quite sure how you'd use these visual cues. You could give a piece of paper to the student that says, "play the phrase again", but piano is all about listening. I suppose you could have a music stand at the entrance with the tip, "practice five times per week".

I've been known to move a student's finger but it's not generally effective. So what physical sensory things can you really expect. Only that the teacher plays a phrase first, perhaps.

Yes, the teacher playing a phrase and the student echoing it is one example. When used sparingly, it can be effective. (OT, I'm not advocating learning much or all of one's music in this way, though. I'm still cleaning up the mess created by the former teacher of a transfer student of mine, a student who learned almost or entirely fully by rote for six years.)

One way I like for building visual skills is to have students do copywork. Some theory books (I know Piano Safari is one of them) have copywork exercises.

Copying could also be done as a wordless, interactive activity during lessons. I draw a note on my staff paper, student draws the same note on his/her staff paper. (Or student alternatively responds by placing a magnet on a magnetic staff if doing written work is a challenge.) It can help me as the teacher understand if a student is experiencing visual challenges in interpreting where notes are positioned on the staff.