Here’s the truth, Fun piano lessons are easy piano lessons. How easy or difficult something is is often a reflection of how much we are enjoying that particular activity.
As the director of Lessons In Your Home in Miami and also as a music teacher myself, I often get these same questions regarding music lessons. Lets examine fun and easy in a little more detail.
Who makes the lesson fun?
Well, if there are two people in a lesson (teacher and student), then both really play a factor in whether or not the lesson is fun. The student should approach the lesson with an attitude of excitement and eagerness. However, some days, this can not always be the case, and it is up to the teacher to really the lesson the energy it needs and deserves. We can’t always be having a great day, but the teacher needs to be able to turn off any bad feelings when approaching a music lesson and turn on as much positive energy as possible. A smile and a compliment at the start of the lesson can really go a long way in improving the atmosphere of the lesson.
Games
When the lesson feels like it’s getting a little monotonous, sometimes games are introduced to make the lesson more fun and enjoyable. Games are an essential aspect of easy piano lessons. Every teacher has their own specific games that they like to use to make learning the piano more fun. Timed games are great for improving speed. Add any timer to the mix and a goal to finish the exercise in a limited amount of time immediately improves the student’s energy and excitement.
Motivational equals easy piano lessons!
Games can also be used as motivation to finish a task or perhaps a page in a method book correctly. For example, I say that if a student really concentrates on the exercise and performs well, we’ll play a quick game of tic tac toe once they finish. The game takes about 30 seconds to play, but I’ve saved about 5 minutes of potentially unfocused time. Not only have I made the lesson more productive, the student is having a lot more fun working towards this immediate goal.
Competition
I really like to use flashcards in my lessons and make games out of them. For example, if the student guesses the note on the flashcard correctly, they collect the card. However, if they guess it wrong, I get the card and whoever who has more cards by the end of the game wins. Kids, especially younger ones, love competition and this motivates them to study up and practice before the lesson. And as we know, practice before hand makes for easy piano lessons later.
Practice
Practicing before a lesson is a huge contributor to the ease of the lesson as well. We all know the horrible feeling of taking a test that we’re not exactly prepared for. We look at the questions and sit there and wished that we had studied more to make this a much easier process! Not saying that a piano lesson should feel anything like a test, but it will certainly feel much more difficult if you are not able to play through those exercises any more gracefully than the previous week’s attempt. Practicing definitely makes for easy piano lessons. When we are prepared for a lesson, it’s a wonderful feeling. We are noticeably better than last week and we feel great about ourselves. Above all games and competitions, practicing is the best way to make your lesson enjoyable, and yes, easy.