Challenging Students

I have one student who is a challenge to me, not because he is difficult to teach, but because he learns things too quickly!  He comes with his pieces learned quite well every week.  He even learned a challenging version of "12 Days of Christmas" in less than two weeks.  I hear him often picking out "Fur Elise" by ear, so I have decided to offer him this version by Yoke Wong, http://www.pianomother.com/Fur_Elise.html.

Striking a balance between mastering each concept that is taught and moving quickly enough to match the student's ability has been challenging to me.  My tendency is to want to push too much, which can frustrate the student and cause confusion.  So I will try to keep the lessons at a steady pace, while offering some challenges along the way.  We may skip over lessons that seem redundant, or just sight read them for now. 

Christmas CD Giveaway

http://thechurchpianist.com/christmas/simply-christmas-cd-giveaway/

Jenifer Cook, The Church Pianist, is giving away her lovely Christmas CD at the above link.  I love her arrangments, and her blog has encouraged me to become a better pianist!

How to Make Piano Lessons Enjoyable

Quote from my student today:  Piano lessons are more enjoyable when you practice!

(Yes!)

Hand Position Pop Quiz

I love this idea. I printed out the pictures and am giving each of my students a mini-pop quiz this week before their lessons and challenging them to use the correct postion! http://ladonasmusicstudio.com/2011/11/11/hand-positions/

Christmas Links

I am getting my students ready for Christmas, but find myself getting a late start.  The music I ordered hasn't arrived yet, so I browsed the net for free arrangments for beginning students.  I found a nice site that contains many lead sheets from Christmas Carol Music, http://www.christmas-carol-music.org/Index_of_Titles.html, some beginning and easy arrangments at 8notes, http://www.8notes.com/christmas/default.asp?a=1&difficulty=0&orderby=5&pageA=4, and some wonderful offerings by Susan Paradis, http://www.susanparadis.com/catalog.php?type=Music&section=2&level=x&subtype=x&subtype2=x.  I also created my own arrangement of The First Noel, above, which is suited for a student who has been introduced to I/IV/V chords.  If anyone else has some ideas for free Christmas arrangements, I hope you will share!