| A clever kids piano teacher knows how to disguise | | | | your fingers almost play it by themselves. |
| the repetition of short passages so that the student is | | | | So how do we disguise repetition for the younger |
| not fatigued by the repetitive effort. | | | | kids? |
| In piano teaching, a short portion of a piano piece is | | | | First, teach them the rudiments of six short piano |
| usually called a "passage." A passage has to be | | | | pieces they know outside of piano lessons, like Jingle |
| worked on, like tilling a field, until it is smooth and may | | | | Bells. It doesn't have to be a whole song, it can be a |
| be recombined with the rest of the piece. | | | | passage or fragment. Then, write the names of the |
| Younger children require more creative effort on the | | | | songs on a Post-It in a numbered list. Take a pair of |
| part of the teacher in order to make the repetition of | | | | dice and let the child throw and see which song they |
| passages palatable to their shorter attention spans. | | | | have to play. This takes the tedium out of playing one |
| But first we should ask, why repeat passages at all? | | | | piece over and over. Besides, the dice make it a game. |
| The answer is, of course, continuity. Music is most | | | | Second, bait and switch. Work on a passage a little, |
| pleasurable when it is continuous, not broken up by the | | | | then say, "Oh, let's drop that for a while," especially |
| stumblings of the inexperienced performer. For | | | | when you see the first signs of fatigue. Work on |
| example, if you listen to a pianist or a band or sing in | | | | something else for a few moments, and then suddenly |
| church, the group doesn't stop if there is a mistake: | | | | come back to the first, abandoned task. It will seem |
| that is musical continuity. | | | | fresher to the child the second time if there has been |
| And continuity comes from familiarity. If you are familiar | | | | a break. |
| with every part of a song, it is reasonable to assume | | | | Third, make a game of it. Ask them to bet their mom's |
| you can play the music continuously, so that we, your | | | | sofa that they can't play that song again perfectly. |
| listener, can enjoy it. | | | | Make the basis of your bet something utterly ridiculous, |
| So the object of repetition is to familiarize your brain | | | | like their washing machine, but act very serious. They |
| with every little wrinkle of the piece. Think of it as | | | | will play along. As they repeat it, maybe point out a |
| driving a thought deep into your subconscious, into the | | | | thing or two, a fingering here, add a part there, and |
| BACK of your brain. | | | | work on it a few seconds, then move on. |
| Glenn Gould, famed concert pianist and iconoclast, | | | | Take all three of these ideas and combine them, and |
| remarked that sometimes he looked down at his | | | | you have a child-friendly way of "practicing," repeating |
| hands and thought he wasn't playing: the music was so | | | | short passages over and over without the child feeling |
| ingrained in his brain that he was not aware of the | | | | exhausted. |
| efforts required to play Bach fugues without really | | | | Offering a child a piano game in equal measure to |
| thinking about it! | | | | hard work is a recipe for a happy student who |
| But that's what you're after, a kind of out-of-body | | | | proceeds at their own, comfortable pace. |
| experience where you know the piece so well that | | | | |