This is a case study on one of my current pupils based over a 10-week programme of piano lessons.  I have outlined aims and objectives to achieve (or aim to achieve) by the end of this period; listed below as Short Term, Mid Term and Long Term; followed by a Lesson Plan, a Lesson Report and Suggestions for Next Lesson for each consecutive week. 

I hope this gives you a good insight of my teaching methodology and approach.

 

CASE STUDY

Name of pupil:  Amanda                               Age:  23

Previous Experience:

Amanda started piano lessons at a young age but stopped after sitting for Grade 3 examination at the age of 12.  She still remembers how to read music but struggles with value of notes and needs a good basic notation and note-value revision.  Amanda is not an experienced performer and gets very nervous when playing in front of others. 

Pupil’s Aims and Interests:

Amanda is aiming to get her level of playing beyond the beginner level and eventually sit for Grade 4.  She is passionate about classical music, however, she enjoys listening and playing pop tunes.

Initial Assessment:

Amanda is very keen in getting her playing back in shape.  Even though she lacks confidence, she responds well to the things she is asked to do during lessons and her frequent questions show a high level of enthusiasm and that she is willing to learn.

Her technical ability is at a very early stage.  However since she is a quick learner she has potential for rapid improvement. Amanda is a good listener and she criticises her own playing frequently which will help her improve further and develop her listening.  

She struggles to maintain a pulse and her sense of rhythm is quite poor.  On top of that Amanda has a lot of tension in her and struggles to play with relaxed wrists.

General Overview:

Amanda is a hard worker but finding time to practice is a constant struggle for her.  She has a full-time job and she is also taking a part-time course, which is occupying her free time after work.  However she manages her time well and her improvement over the course of study implies that she is finding the time to practice everyday. 

A lot of work needs to be done in terms of loosening her up and improving her sound quality.  Her wrists get very rigid when she is playing and as a result she tenses her fingers, which look very uncomfortable.  Over this course of study I will be trying to make her aware of her tension in order to get her arms tension-free. 

Amanda’s understanding and knowledge of classical piano repertoire is very limited, and although she is keen to learn classical pieces, she seems more enthusiastic to be able to play pop tunes on the piano.  I will be allowing her to learn easy pop tunes as it helps her keep her level of enthusiasm up.  I will be choosing easy arrangements that she can tackle but which also present some technical challenges for her which she will come across in classical repertoire at a later stage.  However, I will also be introducing classical pieces which we will constantly be working on and also try to make her get into listening different recordings to broaden her piano repertoire knowledge as well as learn to listen to different interpretations of a piece.

Amanda needs to develop a critical musical ear.  She is too aware to play the right notes during her lessons, which is getting in the way of her phrasing and musical shaping of a piece.  Learning to listen will improve both her aural perception of music as well as her musicianship in general.  Her theoretical side of music is quite poor as she forgot everything she did in her initial lessons.  I will also be constantly incorporating music theory elements in order for her to get a better understanding of a piece.

 

Outline of Course Aims and Objectives: 

Short Term:

1. Introduction of scales and arpeggios. 
2. Importance of fingering. 
3. A good understanding of the different notational values. 
4. Establish evenness and more control in fingers.
5. Use of different articulation both in scales and pieces.
6. Listening while playing.

Mid Term:

1. Developing rhythmic understanding.
2. Maintaining an even pulse.
3. The importance of breathing while playing.
4. Shaping phrases.
5. Improve sight-reading.
6. Improve posture.

Long Term:

1. Release of arm tension.
2. Having more knowledge about the theoretical side of music.
3. Get her playing up to Grade 4 standard.
4. Improve aural ability.
5. Widen repertoire knowledge.
6. Develop interpretation skills.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 1

Aims and Objectives: 

• Short Term:  1, 2, 3
• Mid Term:  1, 2
• Long Term:  1, 2, 4

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up with some physical exercises (5mins)
• Discuss and work on scales (15mins)
• Discuss repertoire (5mins)
• Work on ´Here There and Everywhere´ (20mins)

Lesson Report:

Physical warm up exercises are a very good way to break the ice with the pupil and ease into the lesson.  I explained to Amanda the importance of these arm exercises and how they get a better blood circulation going as well as help loosening tension.

I keep asking Amanda questions such as why she thinks scales are important.  I believe that asking direct questions will keep the pupil focused and also help develop her perception of thinking towards music.  

Her stiff wrists were constantly present and she cannot maintain a clear sense of pulse.  This resulted in unevenness of quavers as well as rhythmical issues.  I included some aural exercises to help her achieve a better sense of rhythm by getting her to tap the pulse while I play, and clapping the right hand rhythm while I clap the pulse.  The latter proved to be challenging for her.

Suggestions for Next Lesson:

• Work further on maintaining a pulse and rhythm.
• C Major and G Major scales played with both hands.
• Introduce a classical piece.

Lesson Plan and Report 2

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 2, 3
• Mid Term:  1, 2, 6
• Long Term:  1, 2 4

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up physical exercises (3mins)
• Work on scales and discuss fingering (15mins)
• Discuss and work on ´Here There and Everywhere´(22mins)
• Aural exercises and discussion (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda is starting to be more open to suggestion and critical feedback, and has clearly taken into account all the issues we discussed in the previous lesson.  She worked hard at her scales but she still finds her wrists are stuck with constant tension.  She has a tendency to go faster than she is capable and getting her to slow down her tempo is a challenge.  I find tapping her pulse helps her achieve evenness in her scales and it also helps in developing an internal natural pulse. 

Rhythms still prove to be a struggle for Amanda so we revised the value of the notes (semibreve, minim, crotchet, quavers, semiquavers).  Clapping different note values while I kept the pulse helped Amanda in having a better sense of rhythm.  After a  discussion on the choice for a classical piece and Amanda seemed keen to start a new piece (Gavot) alongside with the pop tune she is currently learning. 

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Introduce D Major and F major scales
• Work on Gavot

 

Lesson Plan and Report 3

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 2, 4, 6
• Mid Term:  1, 2, 4
• Long Term:  1, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up physical exercises (3mins)
• Work on scales and discuss fingering (15mins)
• Work on Gavot (22mins)
• Aural tests (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda is too critical and her approach is causing her lack of confidence as she thinks she is not making enough improvement.  I explained that growing musically is a long process and that she must be patient and belief in herself to make it happen.  Amanda needs to change the perception of how she thinks otherwise she will find it very hard to overcome future performing situations like exams and concerts.

There is still work to be done in terms of listening to her self when playing.  She is too rigid when playing scales and she is not listening hard enough to work out where the difficulties always occur.  I asked her to play a scale and after give constructive comments on her own playing.  In the Gavot Amanda lost her sense of pulse especially when playing the triplets.  I introduced the idea of shaping a phrase to make it sound more musical.  It took a lot of repetition for Amanda to understand so we involved singing the melody line to help her phrase it better. This proved to be a more natural thing for Amanda and she was responsive right away.

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Further listening exercises
• Awareness for different articulation where appropriate.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 4

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 5, 6
• Mid Term:  2, 4
• Long Term:  1, 4, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up, scales and discussion (15mins)
• Work on Gavot and discuss technical issues (25mins)
•  Discuss interpretation and give her music listening tasks for next week (5mins)

Lesson Report:

I introduced Amanda to a new simple physical exercise, which helps loosening the finger joints achieving more flexibility.  She is still struggling with the substitution of the fingers in the scales causing unevenness and is lacking in flow.  Amanda still has not shown any sign of musicality in her playing but she is starting to be more flexible and more responsive to the suggestions I give her.  We worked on different articulation that can be used to make music more intriguing.  I played the Gavot a few times, each time using different articulation.  Amanda responded quite well to this listening exercise.  I introduced the element of balance between the hands and gave her a few features to consider and possibly apply to her Gavot for next week.

We discussed listening to different recordings and she was enthusiastic to explore more.  I suggested that a good start for this is YouTube. I set a task where she will choose a piano piece of her own choice and listen to different interpretations in next week´s class.  This will help develop Amanda´s listening perception, widen her repertoire knowledge as well as develop her understand of different interpretations.

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Discussion on different interpretations of a piece.
• Further work on balance between the hands.
• Scales at a faster tempo with 3 octaves similar motion.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 5

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term: 1, 2, 5, 6
• Mid Term:  2, 3, 4
• Long Term:  1, 5, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Discussion on listening task (10mins)
• Warm up exercises and scales (10mins)
• Work on Gavot (20mins)
• Aural exercises (5mins)

Lesson Report:

The listening task seemed to have a very positive effect on Amanda.  She seemed to have discovered a whole lot of music and what it offers.  The exposure to piano repertoire led her to motivate and challenge herself further. 

Whilst still struggling on establishing a stable pulse, Amanda started practicing with a metronome, which she still finds hard to follow.  I demonstrated effective techniques that she should use in her practice time to improve her scales.  I also encouraged her to breath which Amanda found hard as currently she can only focus at one thing at a time.

Amanda´s left hand is very weak and she has poor control of it, however she showed improvement in the phrasing of her right hand.  Further work on balance between hands is beneficial for Amanda´s awareness that the left hand is accompanying and providing the harmony, therefore it should be quieter and it must not over-power the melody. 

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Introduce B-flat Major and E-flat Major scales.
• Learn ´Moderate High Spirits´by Turk.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 6

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 3, 5, 6
• Mid Term:  1, 3, 4, 6
• Long Term:  1, 2, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Scales drawing attention to fingering of B-flat and E-flat Major scales (15mins)
• Work on ´Moderate High Spirits´(25mins)
• Discuss listening to new piano repertoire (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda is so eager to learn that she is lacking patience in her practice time.  She seems to be trying to work at a faster pace than she can handle.  This resulted in lack of attention to fingering in the two scales as she is avoided separate hand practice. Pulse and rhythm seem to be the first major difficulties to tackle with the new piece.  Amanda feels comfortable tapping along the rhythm as it helps her understand the division of the note values.  She had never seen ornaments before and found the different between appoggiatura and acciaccatura difficult to distinguish.  Constant reminding of breathing while playing helps her phrase more naturally. 

Amanda is developing a deeper understanding of how the whole body is involved in piano playing and that the whole arm must be tension free.  Her fingers are starting to take a natural curved shape on the keyboard, which is reflected in her sound.  She is also searching for different ways to make her pieces sound more musical by applying a wider range of dynamics and articulation.   However she gets easily frustrated when she gets stuck in a difficult passage and tends to loose her focus and patience. 

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Put scales tempo up.
• Further technical and musical work on ´Moderate High Spirits´.
• Introduce new aural exercises.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 7

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 3, 4
• Mid Term:  1, 2, 5
• Long Term:  1, 4, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up and scales aiming to achieve more agility (15mins)
• Further technical and musical work on ´Moderate High Spirits´(25mins)
• Include sight-reading and singing aural exercises (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda is starting to challenge herself and as a result she was much more focused during the class.  Her wrists are starting to let go of tension however further relaxing needs to be achieved.  Her sense of phrasing is improving as she is starting to think musically and she seems to let go of the awareness of playing the right notes.  Further to this point, I introduced the idea of having the wrists doing a circular motion to help shape a phrase more musically.  Amanda found this quite challenging and it will take repetition until it sinks in.  I encouraged her to play for her friends to see how she would handle a performance situation.

Aural exercises included the tapping rhythms as well as singing different intervals which Amanda responded well to, as she has a good voice and has a passion for singing too.  However sight-reading needs a lot of practice as she is still having issues with reading certain notes and playing the correct rhythms.  I suggested simple ways to include sight-reading in her own practice time - opening a score at a random page and choosing a minimum of 8 bars and try to play them through without stopping.

Suggestion for next lesson:

• Learn D-flat Major and E Major scales for next week.
• Work on ´Minuet in G´ by Mozart for next week.
• Discuss elements she should be aware of before starting to sight read a piece.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 8

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 2, 4, 5
• Mid Term:  1, 2, 4, 5
• Long Term:  4, 5, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up and work on scales with attention to fingering of the new ones -

D-flat and E Major (15mins)

• Work on ´Minuet in G´ focusing on fingering and phrasing (25mins)
• Discuss sight-reading tips (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda expressed a lack of motivation in practicing scales.  I gave her different and varied practice regimes for her scales including playing them in dotted rhythms and then in ´hop-scotch´ rhythm; this will help her achieve more evenness and more control of her fingers. 

Amanda is starting to get used to simple rhythms and was quite competent in tackling them.  Musically, phrasing still needs to be brought out more and we spent a few minutes discussing the form of the piece in order to help her understand where the piece is going in terms of phrasing. 

Suggestion for next lesson:

• Learn B Major scale and work more on evenness.
• More work on ´Minuet in G´ and introduction of a new more demanding piece.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 9

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 2, 4, 5
• Mid Term:  2, 3, 6
• Long Term:  1, 2

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up physical exercises (3mins)
• Scales – focus on achieving evenness (17mins)
• Work on pop tune ´Trouble´ by Coldplay (10mins)
• Work on ´Sonata No.8 in G´ by Arne (15mins)

Lesson Report: 

Amanda has been showing slow but constant progress on various aspects.  She is developing more agility in her scales however unevenness is still present and her occasional stumbles are getting in the way of the general flow.  Her stiff hands are not allowing the fingers to drop naturally on the keyboard after each substitution.   She was sitting too close to the piano, which was blocking the freedom of her arms.  We altered her posture by moving the stool a bit further away from the piano and this had an immediate positive result in freeing up her arms.  We worked on how to produce a warm sound when playing detached notes.  Amanda was applying a movement involving her whole arm resulting in a harsh sound.  After demonstrating the technique she should apply she felt stuck as her kept blocking her arms from the elbows.  We worked on some loosening exercises, which helped Amanda have an idea of what the correct posture is to avoid tension. 

Suggestions for next lesson:

• Further work on Sonata No.8 in G by Arne.
• Focus on getting rid of tension.
• Sight-reading.

 

Lesson Plan and Report 10

Aims and Objectives:

• Short Term:  1, 4, 6
• Mid Term:  2, 3, 4, 6
• Long Term:  1, 2, 6

Lesson Plan:  (45mins)

• Warm up physical exercises (3mins)
• Scales and discussing different approaches to achieve evenness (17mins)
• Work on ´Sonata No.8 in G´ by Arne (20mins)
• Discussion on course of study (5mins)

Lesson Report:

Amanda still struggles with finger substitution in scales, however her hands are more free and she is starting to get comfortable to feel the keys and letting her fingers take their position without hesitation.

In the Arne Sonata we studied the score together and examined the form of the pieces, breaking down the overall structure into phrases.  Amanda was getting slurs confused with ties and as a result she was holding the first slurred note longer than it was written.  In this piece, there is a whole range of dynamics changing frequently.  Amanda was finding it hard to follow all that was written on the score so I asked her to slow down the tempo.  She still constantly rushes her tempo, however as soon as she is reminded she let things fall into place effortless.  Amanda´s thirds are weak as she is still trying to achieve more control in her fingers without tensing up.