Simpedia

Robin Keehn, Washington

Hi Libby,

I think there are a couple of things here that you need to help her manage. First, she has only had four lessons. She needs much more time just to get connected with the instrument. If she has never played before, there is a lot to get used to–specifically, just moving her fingers on command.

I think that you need to slow it way down and help her master DCT first. If that is too hard, work on Night Storm and come back to DCT when she’s feeling more comfortable. The last thing she should be doing right now is to play with the audio. It goes way too fast for a beginner, so ask her to put it away. I’d probably get it out when she is in Level 2 and has really mastered the Level 1 pieces.

I always tell my adult students two things:

1. It is a process, not an event. Learning to play takes time. As wonderful as Simply Music is, it isn’t magic (although it’s as close to magic as learning piano comes!).
2. Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers says that it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert. As related to adults being discouraged by their progress, I relate the story about 10,000 hours and then will ask, “So, how many hours did you practice this week?” It helps them to get a more realistic perspective on their progress.

So, I would slow it way down. Give her some improvisational work on black notes to help her with getting fingers connected without the expectation of learning another song. Get her started with playing fingers 1 and 5 for the “outside” of chords and later bring in finger 3.

I would argue that she doesn’t need to strengthen her fingers more than just getting them coordinated. Her strength should really come from her body and her arms–that’s where the power is. That is another topic!

I hope that helps.

Laurie Richards, Nebraska

I have found that adult beginners typically have very unrealistic expectations and have a tendency to get frustrated when things don’t come as easily as they expected. Which means you really have to manage expectations every week and be very encouraging.

I like Robin’s black-note improv suggestion. It is pretty easy for even a beginning student to get a sophisticated-sounding result with this, which helps them to experience success. If they have trouble knowing how to start this project, the following steps have always worked really well for my students:

1. Pick a LH position using fingers 1 and 5 on black notes (so the notes have some distance between them)
2. Hold the pedal down with the LH position
3. Add any RH black notes – start with one at a time, any rhythm
4. Get comfortable ‘mucking around’ (Aussie term!) in this manner
5. Then try moving the LH to a different position (still fingers 1 and 5) – RH ‘just try stuff’

Once they get started like this, it usually flows pretty easily for them.

Just keep encouraging her that she is exactly where she should be with regard to her songs, and that as long as she sticks with it she will find the songs coming more easily to her.

Leeanne I., Australia

Hi Libby,

I have a student in her 70s that is doing exactly the same thing! We did Jackson Blues last week and at her lesson yesterday, when I asked her to play Jackson Blues, she was trying to play far too quickly and losing the song. We have had the conversation several times about learning ‘what to play’ before we learn ‘how to play’.

My student then revealed to me that she thought she had to be able to play the song fluidly by the next lesson! Where she got that from, I have no idea!

It just goes to show how important the conversations with your students are! Constant reminders to go slowly – the slower you learn the faster you play. Don’t expect to be playing like your teacher or Neil on the video within a week, we have been playing these songs for years. You will get there eventually, trust me as your teacher.

Carefully placing her hands in position, 5 fingers over 5 notes, thinking about what to play next and then playing is exactly what she should be doing at the moment.

As for hand exercises, the only thing I teach my students that are new to piano are some stretches. As their muscles are doing something new, they may find they get stiff or sore. Simple forearm stretches and rolling the hands to loosen the wrist. The muscles themselves will strengthen over time. Doing extra work to strengthen the muscles could end up doing damage from overuse. If they find they are getting sore during practice, it’s time to stop and have a rest.

As Robin and Laurie have said, give your student improv work to do. I suggest to my students to start off their practice each day with improv work, this is what I do myself. I find it warms me up without having to think too hard, then I go on and do my foundation songs, etc.

Peter S.

Hi Libby,

I’ve also had several older students with similar difficulties, in particular struggling to hold their fingers in a chord shape. Sometimes their fingers seemed to have a permanent bending tendency which took them out of position as soon as they lifted their hand in the air. At first I closed the piano lid and asked them to practice having just the three chord fingers on the surface of the lid. Then slowly lifting their hand up and down while trying to hold its shape. Finger four was always a struggle to keep up in the air and lacked flexibility.

I also asked them to spend time doing the 5 steps of sound with both hands at same time to help improve flexibility and coordination. Once this could be done by muscular memory alone I changed it a bit so instead of the right hand always starting the scale on finger 1, I’d get them to start the RH on finger 2/note D, while the LH still starts on f5, so RH is always 1 note ahead during the five steps. When doing this, beginner students are often surprised by how challenging the five steps of sound become again. They later tried starting the RH on other fingers too. Doing this helps with finger coordination and keeps the mind involved and focused. I think that’s important for the brain.

The black note technique mentioned by Laurie also sounds good for keeping things interesting and musical.

This approach did seem to work over time, but of course it is was very dependent on how much practice they did, as some of them did not practice much. When they did go though a good period of regular practice their fine motor ability always improved in way they were satisfied with. I remember how pleased they became when their hand was able to hold a chord shape. It took a good 10 weeks or so though. In your own situation doing Jackson Blues after 4 lessons could be moving too fast.

Another factor I find useful to talk about with adult students is helping them develop patience, such as in Robin’s post emphasizing process over product. Being able to play slowly, or ‘in slow motion’ as some students prefer, is also important. I never just tell a student to do this though; they have to be shown, and to feel how excruciating it is to listen to an entire song played in super slow motion. They need to make peace with that feeling before they’re willing to do it regularly themselves.

Lastly, these adult students have had a full life of career, raising families and many other large scale challenges. To then be asked to spend weeks holding finger 4 in a certain position can be a struggle. Particularly if they haven’t done much fine motor or art type activity before. Trying to shrink their attention down to this level can be hard to reconcile. It’s good to talk about this with them.

Libby B.

Thank you so much everybody for replying!

All your information and suggestions are so helpful, and great idea with the improvising. Will slow things down and remind her that she’s only had 4 lessons.

Looking forward to my next lesson with her now!

Teri D., Iowa

Libby,

I also have older students with left hand issues and an autistic girl with the same problem.
If they have difficulty in Dreams Come True, I begin with just one note in the left hand, then build the next week with the 5-1 with 5 on the low C.
I then have the students “echo” the right hand with the left to build that left hand dexterity. One of my adult students picked up quickly while playing the two hands in unison.

Just break down the steps and focus on building with each lesson rather than mastery. This is also a great way to initiate improvisations.