Thomas J. West Music

The best music teachers (or any kind of teacher for that matter) are able to assess their students' aptitude, attitude, and prior knowledge at the first meeting and design instruction to meet them where they are. In a one-on-one setting such as piano, the teacher has a unique opportunity to really get to know the student and assist them in making the most progress possible. The teacher really works with the student using their prior knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses to help the student uncover the musician that is already within awaiting expression. It's not unlike Michaelangelo's famous quote about removing the excess marble from the Statue of David.

Assessing the Student

I recently took on a very young piano student who had just turned four years old the week before I met him. I found out very quickly that his fingers were a little too small to play the cluster of three black keys using three fingers, so I knew that we would be using the pointer finger only. I also found out in the course of the half-hour lesson that he is only capable of staying focused on instruction for short bursts and was basically "done" with the lesson by about twenty minutes in.

He knew his alphabet, but not fluently, and he knew that the sounds on the piano go higher if you go to the right and lower if they go to the left. He also knew his right from his left - not a safe assumption at age "barely four." He can't read yet and certainly wasn't ready to start in a young beginner book such as the Alfred Basic Piano Level 1A. So, given these facts about this student, what could I possibly teach him?

Improvise With What You Have

Since he knew his alphabet, I decided to teach him the letter names used in music and where to find them on the piano between A3 and G4.We began by labeling and playing each note individually, then playing them in sequence. We then attempted to play them backwards (from G4 back down to A3) which proved to be challenging. Many teachers do not realize that students do not always make the connection between alphabetical letters and their relationship to rising and falling pitch. For more reading on that topic, I highly recommend The Creative Director by Ed Lisk.

Once he had a basic idea of the letter names, I asked him to find the A key again. He couldn't remember even after the repetitions we had done. So, I improvised and created a way for him to find the A key. I showed him the group of three black keys and then played and counted them from low to high: "1, 2, 3," and then played the A and said "A key." I repeated this several times and had him play and say it with me, then alone. After that, he could remember how to find the A key.

Playing the Letter Game

After that, I still had some available time in the lesson, so I improvised again. I knew that he needed something to practice with his mom for the next time I would see him, so we made up a song using the musical alphabet letters. I asked him for a word that began with an "A". "Apple" was the obvious choice, so we played Ap-ple on the A key. We then went on to the "B" key and he came up with "Butterfly". We proceeded, playing rhythms that were appropriate for the syllables of each word and came up with:

We practiced it together multiple times. He was reluctant to play it alone, demonstrating his reluctance by playing something silly instead of what we had practiced. Before we ended, we even tried playing the song in descending order starting with "Giraffe"! We showed the song to his mom so that she could help him practice.

Student-centered Teaching

At such a young age, it is not surprising that he has as many limitations to learning as he does. His parents were unsure if he was ready to begin lessons, but they saw a strong interest in the piano from him, so they were willing to give it a try. In my perception, this young man will be capable of playing things by rote for now and may be able to move into the Suzuki Piano Schoo, Vol. 1, a method based on rote teaching without notation perhaps by the end of 2008. Or, as I told the parents, it may be best to just hold off until 2009 and he has longer fingers and a bit more focus. Despite the fact that his parents are willing to pay me money to work with their son, I will definitely opt for what they feel is best for him, even if it means discontinuing lessons for now.

I encourage every music teacher to improvise and meet their students' needs in whatever way produces the best results. Too many teachers get caught up in following the method book or only rehearsing the concert music. Breaking the mold and trying something else leads to great adventures.