OK this may be controversial… but a method book does not always contain what your students need (shocker!).
We all know how unique each student is, and well, a book just can’t meet every individual’s needs.
Even your favorite, colorful book series can leave gaps in student’s knowledge and skills down the road.
The truth is: I never regret spending a little extra time working on key building blocks of beginner piano skills. I’m talking about taking the learning OFF the book page and into something more tangible that students can grasp.
One of the very first skills pianists ever have to master is knowing their left hand from their right hand. It’s one of those skills you don’t want to come back to months down the road because you breezed through the one dedicated page on the topic in your method book.
Here’s some things I do with my new students to work on this crucial skill:
1) Pay attention to if the student is right or left handed
It sounds simple, but don’t assume your student is right handed!Knowing their dominant hand can help students remember which is which. Using the simple terminology “writing hand” and “non writing hand” or “coloring hand” vs “non coloring hand” have done fine for me over the years.
2) Incorporate practice with other skills you are working on
Here’s a simple game you can play (even from the very first lesson!): Simon says play a soft sound with your right hand. Simon says play a long sound on the black keys with your left hand. Etc.
3) Stem Direction Game
Once you introduce the quarter note symbol – talk about stem direction. Then play this game at that piano, at on a table or on the floor!How to play: students observe the notes in the cloud and determine if they are RH or LH notes based on the stem direction (pre-staff reading skills!) Then, the student uses that hand to “high-5” or tap the matching hand.
Tip: Draw an example of each to help students remember as they play!
4) Rhythm tapping with different hands
Before playing a pre-staff piece, first have students analyze the music. Will the RH or LH play first ? Let the student pick two colors, and shade over their RH and LH notes.
Then, practice tapping the rhythm of the piece using the correct hands.Once the student can do that, they are ready to think about which note names and hand positions they will use!
These Music Note Worksheet Booklets incorporate LH and RH practice as they introduce the family of note values. You can check them out here.
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Ms Emily Music 