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3 Fun Things To Do If Your Student Forgets Their Piano Book

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We’ve all been there before…

You are waiting for your student to show up for their piano lesson, excited to see them and dive into what you’ve prepared for the day.

But then they walk in…and it’s pretty apparent that they’ve forgotten their book. The ONE must-have item!!! 🤦🏼‍♀️

I know the initial reaction is often to feel frustrated…and maybe a little bit of panic 🤣 wondering “what do I do now?!”

I know it can feel like a setback for your lesson, however 💡this situation provides an opportunity for you and your student to be flexible and get creative!

While it’s totally natural to feel a little bit of frustration (especially after preparing a lesson) just take a deep breath! Rest assured, there ARE options, and I have compiled 3 of them for you to have at your fingertips at all times. 😉

Table of Contents

🎹 IMPROVISATION/COMPOSITION

No book? 

No worries! 

Use this time to do an improv session or work on a composition together. If you’ve been teaching scales, improv together on it. 

This is actually one of the FIRST things I do when I meet a student for the first time. I play in the key of Eb minor (which is the key of my piece “Cascade”), allowing students to improvise and play ANY black key! 

I’ve seen so many students’ and parents’ eyes light up when this happens! The music is so beautiful and truly feels like students have been playing for months!

For a deeper dive into improv and all the ways you can incorporate it, check out my improv workshop!!

💥BOOM CARDS

If you’ve been around for any amount of time, then I could bet you’ve heard me mention Boom Cards. 😂 

Boom Cards are easily one of my favorite tools for teaching and focus on different theory concepts including intervals, scales, piano keys, note reading, rhythm, and so forth.  

You can shop all of my Boom Cards on my site, but here are some of my favorite bundles. Grab what best suits your students ⬇️ 

🎲PIANO GAMES

Games are an easy, yet effective way to motivate kids (of ALL ages) and help them remember specific concepts. You aren’t “missing” a lesson just because you play a game. In fact, incorporating games will add in some fun, all while getting your students more engaged and delivering concepts to them in a way they will remember and enjoy.

Here are my top 5 favorite (physical) piano games ⬇️

PIANO KEYS (To help reinforce the names of white keys)

Use one (or all) of these tips to help your piano student stay on track when they forget to bring their book to a lesson. Trust me, they’ll do the trick! 

Comment or send me an Insta message whenever you try one out!