You know those days when the student is so tired of playing that certain piece but you just need them to play it one more time? Well, over the years I’ve collected ideas to make repetition more fun and today I wanted to share a quick way to keep these ideas handy for the studio! It’s a simple jar full of ideas to draw on when you need to “play it one more time”.
First, I gathered ideas from my collections as well as this awesome list someone shared on Facebook the other day. Then I printed them out, cut up the strips of paper and slipped them in a little glass jar (Target Dollar Spot is amazing!). And “Ta-Da!” My students now pull out ideas for repetition that keep us laughing and having fun as we play that one tricky section or page just one more time.
My students love choosing the slip of paper themselves and I’m thinking of making another of these to check out to students once in a while so their practice at home could be more entertaining too. I could just send them home with a list but somehow, pulling a slip of paper out of a jar is so much more fun! Hope your students enjoy it too!
Author: Whitney
Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com