How Much Should Be Assigned for a New Lesson? – A Guide for the Young Students
I did not have very young students until much later in my piano teaching career. My own lessons as a piano student began when I was nine years old, and as I learned about how the brain functions in young children, I decided that I had started at a ripe old age! There is a best “window of opportunity” to learn languages, including music, that closes down earlier than most folks expect.
A general rule that I believe to be accurate for young students:
the earlier the better.
However, there are some things to consider in order not to over- or underwhelm young students, and also to not dampen any excited enthusiasm about learning to play the piano.
Preschool students aged 3 and 4 are incredibly bright and well-suited to learning new things.
Until age five, a child’s brain develops faster and more completely than at any other age. An amazing 90% of brain growth occurs before starting to school in kindergarten. Those experiences a baby and young child have contribute to how the brain grows and develops.
All of my recommendations here are for use with the Revolutionary Piano Method for Itty Bitty Students Ages 4 to 5. The first Lesson Book is written to be individualized to each student’s ability and attention span. For a mature five-year-old student, the first lesson may be pages 6 through 13, with page 13 being the homework practice assignment. The lesson would be 30 minutes long and include all of the correlating theory book pages completed under the supervision of the teacher. It should include repetitions of locating and playing F and A keys during different times of the lesson.
For young students barely four, a formal piano lesson may be intimidating or super exciting – yes, to the point they can barely sit still! I still think this is a wonderful age to begin because enthusiasm is high, and young students can be quite compliant if the instructions are simple and the lesson time very short. This explains in detail how to teach the first short lesson.
It has been very successful when I take a few minutes from an older sibling’s lesson and start teaching the younger student on a weekly basis. To make the first lesson more enticing, I may ask the student to just watch as his parent or older sibling is given the lesson. After observing, he should then feel that this is not something that is going to be hard to do. In the link in the above paragraph, there is a dialog step-by-step approach for the lesson. I believe the key to success in teaching young students is:
very short + very fun + repetitions + lots of praise
Notice in the Itty Bitty Lesson Book 1 that there are Notes to the Teacher in yellow blocks on pages 7, 8, and 11. These are points where the student must be very confident in performing as instructed before progressing to the next page. Young students may need to stay at one of these critical points for several weeks until progressing on. There should be no deadline or rush, just demonstration of solid learning – longterm memory learning. Can the student remember and comply from one week to the next lesson? If not, then repeat and postpone going on to something new.
The text is very self-explanatory for an adult (teacher or parent) – practically word for word what you need to say and how to direct the student. There are some supporting activities that can be done to reinforce the lesson concept:
HOP OVER A KEY – Does the student know what it means to hop? Practice having him hop over a small object, back and forth.
RIGHT HAND – Does the student know which is his right hand? Remind him of his right hand by shaking right hands in greeting before starting the lesson.
COUNT THE 3 BLACK KEY GROUP – Does the student know how to count to three? Practice counting other objects before the lesson.
THUMB – Does the student know his thumb from his fingers?
WRITING F AND A LETTERS – Not at the first lesson, but soon the student will be working in the Theory Book and need to trace over the letters F and A. Being able to write these on his own is a great help, but takes time.
Once the student is on page 13, the usual lesson and assignment to practice for the week is just the one exercise practice line, saying each letter as each key is played. Doing this once a day is the goal. Doing it more frequently is desirable only if enthusiasm is not affected. I never want to overwhelm a student, especially young students. Regular little drops of water will fill the bucket.
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