I enjoy working with most of my students, especially those who practice hard. I find all students unique and they response differently to my requests or questions. I feel that very often I need to react spontaneously to their responses. For the beginners I mainly focus on reading musical notes and learning correct rhythmic values. With beginners who haven’t played the piano at all I teach finger exercises written finger numbers only. Then I use Piano Adventures theory, lesson, technique and artistry, performance, and popular music books. Although Alfred’s and Bastien’s methods are well known, I prefer Piano Adventures because they introduce the coordination of right and left hand in more progressive manner. At the beginning the following will be covered.
• Postures at the piano, finger numbers, high and low on the keyboard
• Music alphabet, Intervals
• Musical form, Dynamic marks
• Staff; line notes, space notes
• Time signature, accent mark, legato, staccato
• Basic chords (C, F, G)
• Pentascales
• Phrase
Even with the beginners I incorporate basic theory and phrasing in the lessons because it makes them understand the underlying structure of the music and play better.
As they advance beyond the basics I emphasize the expression of music by the use of correct articulations, left and right and balance, tone quality, and phrasing. In advanced level, sometimes fingerings can be tricky. In some case, there are universal (standard) fingerings but not always. We all have different finger/hand sizes and best fingerings should consider specific size and shape of an individual hand. In addition they should consider the context of a particular figuration. In advanced level, I teach the effective use of pedals and arms as well. Effective pedaling requires good understanding of chords, melody, phrasing and good listening skill. So I spend part of a lesson on pedaling with advanced students. I often find some students play as if they do not have joints and we discuss how to release the tension from arms and wrists.
There is a saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." So I sometimes play for them to show how some passages have to be played. Some of my students pick it up right away. Although I am classically oriented, I sometimes mix music from movies, TV shows and musicals for the lessons with classical genre depending on students' preference. I would like to share with students of all ages what I have learned as a music student, a professional and even as a person to systematically help develop their knowledge and skill as a piano player.