Happy Tuesday! Here’s our 28th Teaching Tactic for you to use in your teaching right away! Today’s tip is to divide up the parts, have the student play one hand while you play the other hand. Maybe this is something you’ve been doing forever and never thought about it, or maybe you’ve never tried this. Why would you play one hand with the student? Hands together coordination can be hard! And students need an aural sense of their goal for the piece. Playing one hand along with the student lets them hear how the parts line up, without the complications of trying to do both hands on their own. And it’s rewarding for the student! I even do this with my adult students. After playing through a piece like this with one senior adult she gave me a high-five and said “wow, that sounded good!”.
If you’ve never done this before, give it a try! If it’s in your teaching toolkit but you’ve forgotten to use it for awhile, try adding it back into your teaching this week.
Author: Spring
Spring Seals, NCTM, teaches 60 piano students ranging from age 3 to 70 in Fort Worth, Texas. She also serves as the Director of Certification for TMTA. She is passionate about helping teachers become more effective in their studios through professional development, new resources, and fresh ideas.