Instructional Design in Piano Lessons: Part 1 Intensifying Successful Teaching
Instructional Design in piano lessons encompasses more than the one focus of student sequential learning through logical, well-planned and incremental portions of the material introduced.
In other areas, the student will benefit from a more emphasized guidance from the teacher. These areas include eye-hand-key coordination, sight-reading enhancements, finger-to-key strike motions, and artistic rendering benefit – to just name a few.
Rethink Your Position
Typically students, especially beginners, concentrate on note letter identification and key location. They rarely consider HOW to most quickly ARRIVE at that key location.
Instead of a teacher who assigns pieces in a logical progression so the student will attain a level of mastery, perhaps think of yourself as a type of Trainer-Coach. Instead of expectations of daily practice of a certain number of minutes per day, consider that your student may benefit more by focusing on a particular skill that is required in the assignment piece/s.
- Does the student understand how to approach and execute that required skill – and have it in written form to refer to during the week?
- Are you always as detailed as is needed in your instructions and demonstrations?
- What is the first thing that should be addressed when this student sits to practice?
- How can the new skill be demonstrated so that the student shows complete understanding?
- Is this skill a graduated process (through multiple steps) or can it be accomplished more directly?
A Different Viewpoint
Instead of setting a certain number of minutes to practice for a certain number of days until the next lesson, encourage acquiring a specific and easily identifiable performance skill needed in order to play the chosen piece correctly and beautifully. Perhaps a focus on dynamics, or key-strike fluidity, is the needed area to concentrate student improvement during a lesson or series of lessons.
That would lead to tracking advances in mastering the particular skill – rather than just time on the bench. Student interest should increase, as well as time spent invested in acquiring that specific skill. This would lead to an all-over performance improvement, though that was not the main goal. A “specific task” is more targetable and would seem more achievable than a general all-over improvement of the whole piece.
Feel Like Sharing?
What do you do, or have your students do, that maximizes practice time? I invite you to share what works for you – or what doesn’t work – in the Comments section below.
Instructional Design in Piano Lessons
The strategy of the Instructional Design in piano lessons is to break down the whole task into single, manageable parts. That’s why it works so effectively.
What Would the First Lesson for a Young Student Look Like?
What Would the First Lesson for a 6 to Teen Look Like (video)?
View sample pages of all the books for students
ages 6 to teen:
View sample pages of all the books for students
4 to 5 years old:
View sample pages of all the books for older
teens and adults:
View the books on Amazon:
About the Author, Composer, Illustrator,
Educator, and Eternal Optimist
Leslie Young is the author/composer/illustrator of the Revolutionary Piano Method. She co-founded a K-12th grade charter school in Texas and has been a piano teacher for about 40 years. She has had experience teaching a variety of students tackling piano for the first time or as returning students.
Leslie believes that “learning to play the piano is more about diligence and perseverance” – but would add that just as critical to success is the method that is used, the pattern of critical thinking, and the instructional design principles that promote immediate success.
She states: “In teaching piano to students of varying ages, what also varies is a commitment of time and the amount of dedication. Children of certain ages may do very well with a parent as teacher; others may need someone who is not family to instruct them. Some older children and adults prefer to make progress on their own, and this method is designed to act as a meticulous guide through new material. Some adults and teens insist on professional teachers, which also encourages continuity. Because these books are self-explanatory, a new or experienced professional teacher will have no trouble using the Revolutionary Piano Method with students. It’s an easy and effective way to learn piano.”
