I did this early in my piano teaching career... and I did it again this year....
If you are teaching piano students Grade 0 level, make sure you only teach staccato pieces after Junior Hanon No. 4, or as their 7th learning piece. What does this mean? Let me explain.
As a Muso-Method teacher, we have a strategic Muso-Method curriculum where we allocate 8 to 10 pieces per grade from Grades 0 to Grade 5. At Grade 0, it is definitely 10 pieces. Example:
Snippet of Muso-Method Curriculum:
- Grade 0 - Complete 10 pieces
- Grade 1 - Complete 10 pieces
- Grade 2 - Complete 10 pieces
- Grade 3 - Complete 8 pieces (inclusive of a whole Sonatina)
- Grade 4 - Complete 8 pieces (inclusive of a whole Sonatina)
- Grade 5 - Complete 8 pieces (inclusive of a whole Sonatina)
Now we are more specific with our Muso-Method curriculum. We also rank them 'easy', 'medium' and 'hard'. That means within the grade itself, there are also different levels. Most of the time, we recommend the following.
For every 10 pieces per grade, each student completes:
- 4x 'Easy' pieces
- 3x 'Medium' pieces
- 3x 'Hard' pieces
So what did I do wrong?
Well, I once allocated a staccato piece (rank 'hard') to a 6yo boy as their 4th or 5th learning piece. Immediately, his self confidence dropped and he didn't want to practice piano at home anymore - and the poor Mum was SO confused why he went from loving the piano to hating it.
The reason? He found it too tough. But it's not HIM! It's ME!
It's me - The teacher. These types of experiences helped us (Lawrence and I) reinforce and perfect the Muso-Method Curriculum even more. We realised that 'fast' staccato pieces at Grade 0 need to be saved till the end of the Grade 0 learning list. Such pieces include 'Creepy Crawlies' from the AMEB Syllabus and 'Jinx' from ABRSM Syllabus.
Immediately, I told the 6yo boy and parent to drop the piece, and acknowledged it was my fault - because I had given a piece that was not his level yet. We replaced the piece with a new one, and immediately he was a happy chap.
But why did I do it?
I got overexcited. This little boy was learning pieces SO quickly - I thought he was not your average student and he can DEFINITELY do it. But I was wrong.
It proves and shows that no matter how fast or 'prodigy potential' a student has, we need to all trust the Muso-Method process and curriculum, in order for the student to GROW their CONFIDENCE. There are no shortcuts, and we believe this applies to all students of all ages.
Others: "Are you sure because he wasn't just a 6yo kid?"
Another person: "Perhaps it was because he was a boy."
Well, luckily for you. I did it again this year with an 'older' kid
She was 9 years old in Hong Kong and had a bit of an 'introverted' personality. This 9yo kid was learning super quickly and again, I got over excited and wanted her to play a 'fast' and 'cool' piece at the student concert.
This girl only started Grade 0 at the beginning of April (not even 1st of April, more like 10th of April) and blitz through 3 pieces quickly. So at the end of the month, I challenged her to complete Jinx from the ABRSM Syllabus. It is now the end of May and I definitely acknowledged I made a mistake.
Her self-confidence has dropped and she said it's no longer 'fun and serious' but 'scary and serious'. I was a bit down that I let her down too, and didn't want her to experience this. I told her that 'correcting' her (she had 'even' problems) is not that she's not good, it's so she can be GREAT.
She easily rebutted that she doesn't want to be GREAT. Haha.
But again, it's not her fault. It was ME.
Think about it: she went from 'playing everything well easily' to all of a sudden 'having weekly feedback' which she can't complete quickly. On top of that, I had only given her 1.5 months to complete a 'challenging' piece.
Reflection
1) She had not completed enough technical exercises to 'prep' her playing Jinx
2) This piece was not at her level yet
3) This was one of her first real fast pieces, at metronome crotchet beat = 120
So, if you are self-doubting yourself or have just absolutely no clue why all of a sudden your students' confidence dropped after completing a piece... then get a copy of our Muso-Method Curriculum.
Lawrence and I (Isabelle), the Ng Siblings, spent almost 50hours+ perfecting the Muso-Method Piano Curriculum, having our teachers and us personally testing it out on on numerous students.
We are also in the process of filming actual tutorials for each piece. Our goal is to be able to give you a whole 'course' per grade, inclusive of both technical exercises and pieces!
If you are interested, you can create a free account to access FREE tutorials at musomethod.app, or pay a Basic Plan $35/month to access more in-depth, step-by-step courses. Examples include:
-
6 Month Fingers Curve Challenge (for Beginners)
-
Muso2Six: Learn 2 octaves of Notes in 6 Weeks (Every Jan, April, July, Oct)
-
Muso-Method Fundamentals Course by Muso Pedagogy (Teachers Certification for Beginner to Grade 5)
-
Grade 6 ‘Puck’ by Grieg ft. Lawrence Ng
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How to Handle High School Music Students ft. Andy Li