This page is still a work in progress and is not yet fully edited or complete.... Videos are still being editing with appropriate dates before putting them on the website. However, I decided to go ahead and publish part of it because I've made a commitment to another teacher who would like to use it as a resource.
Teaching piano technique to beginners is often the biggest challenge for teachers and students alike... and from what I often observe, failure to learn proper technique is usually the second leading cause of students failing to progress, followed only by lack of practice.
Examples of teaching piano technique are being demonstrated on a digital piano because it is easier to get in position with my video camera. Lessons are taught on a Yamaha grand piano, but occasionally, I move students to the digital piano and cut off the sound; sometimes the frustration of missing notes interferes with learning technique.
I am not visible in these videos since no one is behind the camera to control what is being shown. I wanted the focus to be on the student and his or her hands.
There are more videos under the Video section of the Main Menu and for just my students, there are more teaching videos on the password protected pages of this website. Watch for more upcoming videos of students demonstrating and learning hand technique on this page which is currently available to the general public.
And finally, when Gwen and Chelsea mention Waddle Waddle, Quack Quack, instructions for teaching that song may be found on Kristin Jensen's site: www.eartrainingandimprov.com Kristin is an amazing resource for teachers who wish to teach improvisation to young children.
Video 1. Gwen: "Don't squish the frog....Road kill...."
Video 2: Chelsea: "Just make sure you remember ...."
Video 3: Hunter, age 15. Hunter has had 7 months of piano and is playing early classical music, Czerny, Opus 599. He also knows his major scales in C, F, and G and their primary chords in all three inversions and Amin, the relative minor of C. He is also learning how to apply chord inversions to a lead sheet and beginning to play popular praise and worship music.
Skylar is demonstrating how her finger technique continues to improve. She is age 6 and has had 4.5 months of piano lessons.
Aline started piano lessons at age 8 and studied with me for 6 months; we spent a lot of time working on technique. She returned to Africa and 10 months later, we resumed lessons. Initially, videos had to be a minute or less because of download speed in the African bush but we're now able to use Dropbox and have the luxury of several minutes of video at a time. On a weekly basis she sends 7-10 assignment videos and I send her 7-10 teaching videos after watching her lesson. Her "attendance" to weekly lessons in spite of the distance is impeccable. For those interested in make-up lessons through video, notice the camera angle in this video. Her grandmother is an amazing coach and mentor as well as a great person to have behind the camera. Without her dedication and Aline's commitment to her music, this would have never been possible from such a great distance.
After approximately 12 months of lessons, Aline played full scales, two octaves ascending and descending. After 15 months of lessons, she began her first classical studies, Czerny Opus 599. She has since completed Nos.1-13. She has learned the primary chords in 6 keys and some of the minor chords and is successfully playing from a lead sheet and transposing many of her assignments to another key. Aline is age 10. Aline's careful attention to her technique has enabled her to quickly progress to an amazing level with less than two years of piano lessons. Her current studies in Bastien Level 2 have become mostly weekly sight reading exercises. Her main study emphasis is classical, improvisation, and playing praise and worship music from a lead sheet.