One of the main things we hope our children get from piano lessons is confidence. Playing an instrument, knowing what to do, learning to read music, they are all skills that lead one to be confident. As piano teachers, we need to understand this aspect even more then musical achievements can serve piano students for a lifetime. The following is a list of ways Piano Teachers can inspire confidence in piano students.
Teach Piano Students To Play A Song
If you ask your piano student to play something and they look at you with a blank stare, chances are you’ve missed the opportunity to let them know they can play a song. All to often us piano teachers want to get to the next bigger and better song so quickly that we fail to stop and enjoy the songs our students are learning.
This is so easy to fix. After a song is done, after you’ve put the star or sticker on the top of the page, keep it on the students lesson plan. Let them know that they should continue to play the song they’ve finished. From time to time during future lessons ask your students to play you those completed songs. On my lesson plans I always have 3 songs at the bottom of our lesson plans that my students have completed. I ask them to play one for me each week. Then, I teach them when someone asks them to play piano; they always use these three songs. They are always confident and ready.
Understand The Piano Student Is A Student
Students aren’t professionals and we need to treat them with compassion and empathy when they play for us. My favorite thing to do when I hear my student is play is to always say “great job”. They always have a smile on their face. It’s never perfect but they’ve done their best and they need to be rewarded for that. Always make a student feel good when they express themselves.
When you go back and work on particulars be positive and modify positively. Instead of “that part was to loud”, use language to and ask for what you want. Can you play this passage softer? They don’t need to focus on being to loud. You can also use performance modeling. Demonstrate a passage and then ask the student to mimic that sound. Show them the dynamic marking or reasons you want something to be played soft for example.
Have A Recital
Playing a recital is taking all the work you’ve done on a piano piece and telling a story. The story is what you want your song to say to those who listen to it. The ability to take literal actions and turn them into a story can only happen if you’re confident in what you’re trying to do. In life, we’re often asked to speak in the boardroom, or give our boss our opinion. Learning to perform gives us the confidence to meet these challenges in life.
Every word, thought, and idea you put into a recital needs to be positive. Recitals need to be a fun thing, a happy time if you will. It’s a piano teachers job to create a warm friendly environment. Confidence comes when students have a place filled with friends to cheer their performance so make this happen for your students.
The Ability To Inspire Confidence Comes From Within
Piano teachers can give their students a special gift, Confidence. Whether it’s teaching songs, understanding students, or hosting a recital inspiring this confidence is at the heart of every piano lesson. Treating this ability as a gift and never forgetting that all piano teachers were once piano students is reason enough to continue the tradition.