Student with ADD
Found in: Special Needs & Learning Differences
Karen H., California
I’m hoping you’ll have some advice for me. I have a bright, wonderful 7 year boy who I’m teaching privately because I knew I couldn’t manage a shared lesson with him. His attention span is very short and he’s quite hyperactive.
We’ve had 12 lessons, he’s learned RH and LH for Dreams and can put hands together but not consistently.
He’s got RH down for Night Storm but has more trouble with the LH. His mom reports that practices have gotten to be very difficult due to his frustration over trying to put hands together.
He’s quite happy to play hands separately but having a ton of trouble with BH!
We talked today and Mom agreed to try changing his practice time to early in the morning when he may be fresher. We’ll see how that helps this week and I’m thinking to begin teaching him Fluff from Time for Music this week.
Amy Y., New Mexico
How much has he processed the songs away from the piano? Just on the lap putting the song together, then playing one hand on the piano with the other hand on the lap. Or maybe playing the songs as a duet. It can be very frustrating for some kids trying to play the right fingers on the right keys at the right time while working both hands.
The other thought that I have is he probably need to begin PAS as well (this is definitely what I would do personally), so he would experience success and learn to move his fingers more and gain the experience of playing with both hands.
Louise H., Michigan
You may need to break down BH in smaller pieces, such as playing the LH Night storm with only the first note of the right hand. Do this over and over until he has it. Then add the next note and repeat the process. I have taught Dreams to kids with them just playing the first note of the left hand with sentence one. You can add the second note later.
Teaching kids with is hard. I had a high functioning ADD/autistic boy for awhile and just getting him to focus took half the lesson. Having some cue words sometimes helps, like “get ready” and when he hears those words he has to put his hands on his lap, or piano or wherever! But those words needs to cause him to stop and focus. We had to practice that too.
I also do 15 minute lessons with young beginners and less focused kids. It is just enough time to teach them one concept without losing their interest.
I agree with Amy–I use lots of improvisation with him. Teach him the first three notes of the C blues scale and have him play with you. Have him play on white keys while you play Honey Dew. Alternate between a Gb chord and an Ebmi chord while he does the black keys. Those activities always worked with my boy with ADD and got him playing and ready for the lesson.
Can he play 5 steps of sound with BH easily? If not, I wouldn’t do Finding Fluff. Sometimes it is easier for kids to play hands contrary motion (ie 1 with 1, 2 with 2, etc), than parallel motion as in Chester, Fluff Pie or Finding Fluff.
I also found that leaving my piano open (I have a grand) was a distraction because he could see the hammers moving up and down. Closing that all down helped too. Using practice pads sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. Kids with ADD are always in a hurry to play. Teaching him to slow down will help a lot. I’m guessing he is rushing too fast to do what his mind knows he needs to do, but his body isn’t quite ready to do it at that speed.
Page S., Nevada
Next time you have a lesson with him, you may want to consider asking him how he feels when it is time to play with two hands… what goes on for him in his body (and where) and mind? You might get some insight as to his world. Another question might be… what if your hands could talk to each other? Can he play with both hands when there is NO sound?
[answer author ="Annette S., California"]
I have had great success with a child with ADD/autism as well. Here are two ideas.
1. Take a break half-way through the lesson and let him ask any question he wants while you both get away from the piano. I call this a joy break!
2. Walk them to the car, have him get in, and have a brief, private conversation with coach about how the lesson went and how to work together after each and every lesson. Or maybe you can find another way to get the privacy in your studio. I included this as part of the lesson time because it was so important.
Fiona H., Australia
He sounds like 2 of my students both in private. Different things work for each one so I can share my current approach to give u some starter ideas!!
One student needs to come in the room and just ‘reset’ for piano time. She also needs my approval. So I put my stopwatch on my iPhone on the piano stand and she just comes in, plays anything she likes and gets all her music on the piano- I don’t interrupt her or ask her anything. This can be for 3 minutes – some days for 5 minutes. Then timer goes off- she stops playing and it signals for her to be ready for the lesson. Praise is really important to her at this mark. I have about 10 good minutes with her – I always use this for new material as she is focused on piano. She loves this bit of the lesson as she is really overactive and chews up new things- very impatient. Then, rest of lesson is playlist checking and more detailed correcting of songs which I only do a bit of each week so as not to overdo it. It all works out in the long run for her so far.
My other student just can’t do BH tog on foundation- we took a year for level 1, got there in scrapped together form and now having same situation – in fact she retains level 1 songs hands sep perfectly. Instead of sending her around the bend with repetition of same foundation songs – which highlights her inability to put BH tog, I started her on songs for children and this indeed is our soln. Just RH chord, LH single note on CFG- she likes that she can actually play something w/out frustration BH. I did start her slowly on this – ie: RH only. Even RH single note hold down, then build to RH chord finger #1,3, then build to 3 note chord – has worked also for my 4,5 year old students. I always start her lesson with songs for children to get BH on the keys and to establish confidence at beginning of lesson time. They quickly learn that the same technique of playing can relate to other songs in the book. They enjoy feeling good about playing ‘different’ songs. I am actually teaching her all level 2 hands separate.
– I will stay with this and songs children- we may never get BH tog on foundation. I think it’s not worth a student giving up altogether for the sake of confirming to how someone else says a song should be played. I am showing her coach how to play the hands sep herself so when they have time to play with her, then they do 1 hand each like a duet – and that’s the way the song sounds like the CD version- just adds variety for the student.
I always go with what the student needs. The parent may have some ideas – especially if they are involved with weekly practice. They may see some little things you can explore for your student.