Great Practice Promoters from Teach Piano Today's Andrea Dow
The "What ya gonna get?" Grab Bag
When you are looking for your piano student to repeat what you’ve been working on one more time, have them reach into your bag, pull out a slip, and follow one of the following instructions as they play:
1. RH one octave higher, LH one octave lower
2. Like a funeral march
3. Standing up like Jerry Lee Lewis
4. While bopping your head to the beat
5. With your right hand behind your back
6. With your tongue out
7. While humming the RH melody
8. With your left eye closed
9. Start from the middle, play to the end, then start from the beginning and play to the middle.
10. While twitching your nose like a rabbit
11. With your RH held in the air in the Start Trek salute
12. While blinking along with the beat
13. With a teacher/student chuckle after every phrase
14. While chewing imaginary gum
15. As proper as the Queen of England
16. With the worst posture you can imagine
17. With your left ear touching your left shoulder
18. Giving a quick “double-thumbs up” every time you play a G
19. With a clap after every 8 beats
20. While stomping your right foot with the first beat of every measure
21. While fidgeting on the bench like you have ants in your pants
22. With the largest most ridiculous smile you can hold on your face
It’s a simple exercise that will not only have your piano kids begging to “play it again” but will also have them learning to experiment with expression, playing with distractions, focusing more intensely… and enjoying themselves a whole lot more.
Andrea Dow
