Piano Nov. 2

I'm finding that my students are having trouble understanding the difference and correlation between the bass clef and treble clef and the notes on the keyboard. These beginners are also confused as to which hand plays which staff. So today my solution was:

Bottom staff is in the basement...the lowest part of the house. The lowest notes on the keyboard come from the basement and are written on the bass clef. If we turn the music sideways the bass would be on the left - therefore for beginners the left plays the bass.

The top staff is the attic...the highest part of the house. The highest notes on the keyboard come from the attic and are written on the treble clef. If our left hand plays the bass, the right hand plays the treble clef.

I also have them sit in front of the keyboard and tell them left plays from middle C down...like going down the steps. The right hand starts at middle C and climbs up the stairs to the stars. I put a star on the highest note.

Just a few ideas for a future book. 

too many numbers

I have started working with an elderly woman who has some sort of dementia, not sure of the official diagnosis, but she suffers memory loss. She also recently lost her husband of 50 some years and moved in with her daughter and family. So life has not been easy nor blissful for this dear lady recently.

I am already teaching the two grandchildren at their home, so their mother wondered if piano would be helpful for her mother. I believe music is helpful in all sorts of situations so of course I said yes.

A few things I've noticed so far...keep the lesson short. We only have a 15 minute session. I try to follow her lead, but she does like to tell me she can't do this. I have to tell her over and over that she can it just takes time. Her fingers are very stiff so that also poses another problem.

Today I realized that there are too many numbers - we have finger numbers 1-5 and beat numbers typically 4/4 or 3/4 time and then to add to all of this we tell students a quarter note gets one beat and a half note gets 2 beats. So for now - fingering is thumb, pointer, middle, ring and pinkie. She knows those words and when I tell her we're going to count to four in each measure - she isn't so confused with all the numbers. If we ever get beyond the basic one hand playing, I will try to introduce the finger numbers again. Too many numbers confuses me sometimes too.