Do I rein her in? Or let her be creative?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (220245)
Walnut Creek, California
July 26, 2022 10:38pm CST
This evening, I had a piano student whose parents are of Middle Eastern ancestry.
She is a bit of a rebel, and I like that. She is five- or six-years-old.
After three or four lessons, she can play Mary Had a Little Lamb with me, as well as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and a couple of other songs.
But she also wants to rebel and "improvise." You have heard probably my tune, "Little Bird." It is entirely improvisation. But it is also based on my knowledge of classical piano and music theory.
When her dad would sit in the room with her while she played, he would direct her to do the right thing.
Tonight, her grandfather brought her. He played on his cell phone outside the lesson room while I taught her.
I was able to get her to do "partial scales" with proper fingering, and also to get her to do some of her songs with proper fingering.
But I also allowed her to improvise, and do what she wanted to do.
My basic question: To what extent do I teach her her to do "the right thing"? And to what extent do I encourage her to explore the keyboard and make it her own venue for personal expression?
I bet music teachers have been asking questions like this for centuries.
Your thoughts?
Photo is of a friend who started playing piano with me before he turned two.
14 people like this
13 responses
@TheHorse (220245)
• Walnut Creek, California
27 Jul 22
I am adamant about good finger positioning, etc. And I teach partial scales from the start. But I want the piano to be seen as something they are drawn to, not something they do because their parents want them to be "perfect, disciplined" children. Finding the perfect balance is my goal.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (37379)
• Toccoa, Georgia
28 Jul 22
@LadyDuck you said it just the way I was thinking.
1 person likes this
@Torunn (8607)
• Norway
27 Jul 22
I guess you'll get the best results with a mixture.
I'm not very good at playing the piano, but I know from horn playing that those good at impro are also pretty good at playing "the right" way. I'm sure there must be articles about inquiry based teaching also for teaching how to play. In science, I usually find that the inquiry part gets better for everyone involved when the inquireres have some kind of clue about what they're doing and can expand on that instead of starting on scratch.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (108164)
• Marion, Ohio
27 Jul 22
If she is learning I would let her have fun with it too
1 person likes this
@aninditasen (16503)
• Raurkela, India
27 Jul 22
I think you can teach him the right way to play for sometime and then allow him to explores the keys and bring out his tunes on the piano. The baby on your lap is indeed cute.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
27 Jul 22
I would say she needs to take instruction and do the right thing first and then be rewarded with a little improv time at the end.
@xander6464 (44420)
• Wapello, Iowa
27 Jul 22
She's 5 or 6, so it's high time to tell her to get a haircut and a real job and forget the piano.
@DaddyEvil (137634)
• United States
27 Jul 22
As long as she isn't learning bad habits, and her dad isn't in the room, I'd let her improvise... to an extent. If you can work the improvisations into her actual lessons, it would probably suit her. Can you ever say learning something is really a bad thing?
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (80736)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
28 Jul 22
I say let her creativity flow and see how it goes,
@LindaOHio (181717)
• United States
27 Jul 22
I think at the beginning she needs to learn the basics properly. When she gets those down pat, then she can experiment.
