Away from the Keyboard

I can't imagine myself teaching without the whiteboard.

A student was sight reading a piece of music. To help him with the rhythm, we drew the rhythm of the first four bars onto the white board. Together with another student, they learn how to clap and chant the note name.

After the rhythm was comprehended, we progressed to creating new rhythm for each other to clap.

Such teaching activities do not need to be derived from books. They should be at the fingertips of the teacher. Including such activities in lesson plans would be a good practice .

Honey , Chicken

Students played Carefree Waltz with an error in the rhythm. A minim and a crotchet were played as crotchet then minim.

Honey was used to pronounce in rhythm of minim then crotchet.

Chicken was pronounced in rhythm of crotchet then minim.

The error was corrected in the most yummy way !

Scales ladder - create your own teaching materials

Wonderful to see Wenen again after a week's break.

Instead of relying on printed materials in teaching, it is interesting to create your own.

On a blank piece of paper, this student drew a ladder with eight steps. On the right side of the ladder, I wrote 12312345( fingerings for right hand C major scales) . The same was done on the other side for the left hand.

Then I guide him through playing the keys, paying special attention to bring the thumb under the finger three.

This is just one way of engaging the student. Personalised material and done with no frills. Just paper and colours.

Student enjoyed while learning scales theoretically and practically. I enjoyed the teaching .

Well done !

Toy Piano

Found a website which markets some toy piano. Looks adorable and definitely suits the little toddlers and little hands. It would be nice to get some but it is definitely too expensive. I remembered I used to play something similar when I was a kid. Most likely those were made in China. Search begins !