Adult Students

I just had an adult come to a FIS, who already plays very well by notes and also by ear. What he plays by ear is absolutely lovely and full of expression, and he has a lot of background from playing fiddle and he knows…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• advanced students, staying ahead of students

I am considering putting two (currently private) adult students into one small group of two. They are at the same level (almost finished F1) and progressing at around the same rate but have very different strengths. One loves to improvise but also tends to rush…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• adult students, combining students, private vs group, private vs shared

I wanted to share a teaching experience I had a few weeks ago. One of my adult students, Julie, is a delightful person and so excited about learning piano and LOVES Simply Music. A few weeks ago her classmates couldn’t make it to class so…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• duets, emotion, importance of music, improv, improvisation, Laurie Richards, life song, Time for More Music

I wanted to share my experience in teaching Simply Music to adults. When I began about five and a half years ago, the majority of my students were children. For various reasons – over time – many of those children left. I realized that my…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• adult students, advertising, marketing to adults, teaching adults, Workshops

Any advice for an adult student who is extremely resistant to comp and improv? She hates improv every time I bring it up and stomps her feet. She does it reluctantly, though. She is also showing resistance to arrangements and is practically hitting a wall…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• #ttci, arrangements, claiming territory, comp & improv, comp/improv, resistance to c&i, Tune Toolkit, variations

I have an older middle-aged student who is having memory trouble with the variations. He keeps trying to write clues for himself and I’ve stopped him multiple times and told him to trust the method, and that it’s a memory builder. I’m good at seeing…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• arrangements, Gordon Harvey, Laurie Richards, memory, playing-based, playing-based tools, remembering arrangements, remembering variations, variations

I have a student in her 50s who has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. She had to miss her last lesson as she had a sore wrist. She told me today at her lesson that her physiotherapist told her to give up piano. She doesn’t want…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• adult students, adults, claiming territory, improv, improvisation, student reluctant to improv

I have an adult student who loves to sign but who sings very off-key. She knows it, and she asked me if I teach how to sing. I don’t. I’ve taken some singing lessons, but that’s about it. And while I’m not the best singer,…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• singing in class, singing off key

I have a prospective student who has been playing piano at church since she was 12, and she’s in her fifties now. She said several times that she was “groomed” for playing hymns at church, and she reads music, but she doesn’t play with freedom…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• accompaniment, blues, chords, church music, freedom, praise band, praise music, worship band, worship music

I have an older (70ish) student who plays pretty well, but stumbles over what the diagrams mean. I’ve reviewed them countless times and of course, told her to watch the videos. When she’s playing at her lesson, she looks at her hands most of the…

• Last updated 9 years ago
• diagrams, Gordon Harvey, older students, playing-based, self-generation