Piano Training Tip: A playlist can help student’s growth AND yours…

We’re going to keep this month’s piano training tip short and sweet, but it’s one of those that you’d call “A Golden Nugget.” I’m going to explain the importance of creating playlists for your students, and how it’s not only going to further their growth, BUT it’ll also further yours.

I’ve been teaching piano ever since I was 14 years old and I’ve seen this happen all the time with my students and within the industry altogether. I meet children who say they know how to play piano; however, when they show me, they only know how to play ONE piece, and more times than not, it’s the piece that they are currently learning!

Here’s the question I ask myself: Why spend so much time learning a piece, only to forget it as soon as you learn a new one?

Teachers, our primary job is to teach students how to learn the instrument and yes; technically, if they can play one piece, they have learned, but what are parents really paying for if they can’t recollect previous pieces? I don’t know about you, but I want my students to be able to play for 15 minutes straight with complete ease. So, how do we train our students to fully absorb every piece they learn? Here’s my simple piano training tip to you! 

Piano Training Tip: Create a customized Lesson Playlist with every student.

The lesson playlist is based off where each student is throughout their practice. It’s never too late to start a playlist with your students! If this is a brand new concept to you, then as your student learns pieces, film them, and add those pieces to their becoming “playlist.”

Over time, these pieces will start to add up, and it will become their full repertoire. These customized playlists build themselves according to the pieces that each student is learning so it’s always a little different. Here are some steps that must be implemented to fully take advantage of the growth that can come from a lesson playlist:

1. Teach pieces from your chosen piano book series, while also incorporating some “side,” fun pieces.
   

   When I’m teaching my younger students, one piano book series that I enjoy is Faber Adventures. It’s a good progressive method with quality pieces, but I also like to always include what I call “side” pieces. These are the pieces that are outside of the books, and the student gets to pick which are added to the playlist! Once my students get older and we’re no longer working with books, we move to more huge and fun pieces. This is where they get the ultimate freedom in choosing the pieces for their playlist! You want each student to feel like they have a part in deciding what goes on their playlist. You want them to stay excited about the variety of pieces on their “portfolio” so that way, they always stay interested in revisiting and playing them!

2. Run through the playlist weekly at each lesson as warm-up exercise!
   

   Just like anything, in order to retain something, you have to continue to practice it. As their playlist grows, it’s necessary for their recollection that you allow them to showcase it to you. I personally use the playlist as a warmup for each lesson. I have the student play through x amount of pieces, (depending on how much time we have in the lesson). If you have a young student, you’ll most likely have tons of short little pieces the student can play. As your student gets older, those pieces become longer, so we only end up running through one or two as a warmup.

3. Update the playlist based on the student’s growth.
   

   This goes hand in hand with step 2. When your student has learned new pieces and they’re growing in their practice, reflect and reassess their playlist. Some may want to keep all their pieces; whereas others will see that certain pieces don’t mean as much to them now, as they did back when they learned them. Students are always evolving, growing, and obviously improving, (or at least they should be). Getting rid of some old pieces that aren’t as fun anymore leaves room to learn more fresh and current pieces!

A teacher training tip that benefits the teacher, too? Tell me more.

Another great reason for students to showcase their playlist is because it says a lot about you as a teacher. The better your students are, the more they are “showing off” your skills as an awesome teacher!

Your students are an investment to your teaching. Imagine if your student was the one playing for 15 minutes straight with ease? I don’t know about you, but I’d want to know who that kid’s piano teacher is. The more they showcase, the more you’ll get other parent’s attention, and potentially add a new family to your studio! Your students are extensions of your years of hard work. Just remember, when your students learn a new piece, make that piece a part of them. Doing so will make them last for years to come!