Blog: Piano Teacher

“What do I teach, and when?”

Within my teaching career, both in the classroom and in private lessons, the above question has been my biggest obstacle. There is a lot to think about: What concepts do I teach, and in what order? What songs and pieces do I use to teach each concept? What concepts are developmentally appropriate for a child? And how do I know my students have mastered a concept and are ready to move on? 

Back when I was teaching in the classroom, I attended a Level 1 Orff class in an attempt to find the answers to these questions. Throughout the two week course, we learned so many wonderful musical activities that immersed the students in experiencing music. But at the end, I asked the instructors, “These are all great ideas. How do I know what to teach and in what order? How do I know my students have learned it and are ready to move on?” Their answer? “You’ll just know,” was an incredibly disappointing way to end the class. I didn’t know, that’s why I asked. 

I went back to my classroom, and my students loved the new activities. But that’s all they were — disjointed activities that had no logical sequence or progression. 

Five years after leaving the classroom to be a stay at home mom, I attended my first Kodaly Level Class. We focused on making music a JOY for students, and were inspired to become better musicians and teachers. We were introduced to a sequence. It was formed by music pedagogues, and used research on child development. This concepts outlined what concepts to teach, and in what order. We also learned how to prepare our students to experience, discover, understand, and internalize each musical concept. Heck, there were even sequences within the sequence for specific concepts. For example, there is a specific order in which to teach rhythm combinations of ta and ti-ti. Throughout the course, each concept was thoroughly and completely explained, and when I left I felt confident I had the resources, knowledge, and network to successfully implement it.

Part of this process is diving deep into folk literature. You write out the music using just rhythm and solfege. This is called tonic solfa. Then, you have specific items you are looking for, based on what you see in the tonic solfa. You look at the components that make up the song. From the knowledge of the smallest components, you can then decide WHEN you will use a song, HOW you will use a song in the classroom, and FOR WHAT PURPOSE.

Now, I was not at this point, and am still not, teaching in a classroom. Instead, I teach private piano and vocal lessons. While I have found a method I am confident is solid, my students enjoy, and I can alter to include sound before sight, I am still struggling with the order of which to beginning piano literature pieces to teach.

After much thinking, I came up with a plan to create an analysis form, similar to the one we used for Kodaly class, but tailored for piano literature. I posted a picture of the analysis form for beginning piano literature that I created on a Facebook Piano Pedagogy collaboration group. There was a lot of interest, as well as a lot of questions. The questions ranged from, “why would you do this?” and “How would this help you as a teacher?” All the questions were valid. This post answers the whys. The other parts of this series will explore other aspects of the analysis. 

Here are my reasons for wanting to analyze the beginning piano literature. The first reasons directly relate to with teaching the piece to the student:

1. By analyzing each song, I will know what concepts each piece contains.
2. By knowing what concepts are in each piece, I know if I need to create a preparation activity for it several weeks before introducing the piece to the student, and what concepts I can use it to reinforce.
3. What are the most difficult aspects of this piece so I can adequately prepare a student before presenting them with the piece

The following are more long-term goals:

1. What order should I present pieces, based on most difficult concepts?
2. At what point can I eventually get away from piano method books, and instead use the piano literature only?
3. What is the highest quality of piano literature available to teach each specific concept?
4. What folk songs can I use to prepare concepts that are needed to perform beginning piano literature?
5. Can I adapt the Kodaly sequence to fit the needs of beginning piano literature, using the knowledge of the requirements needed to perform the beginning piano literature as a consideration?

I have a series planned out on the analysis form. This is the first in the series, that explains the WHY behind the form. Of course, the “WHYs” cannot fully be understood until we finish the series. I hope that by explaining thoroughly what each section is about, and then finally, the application of it, the “WHY” is explained.