Student with Broken Arm
Found in: Special Needs & Learning Differences, Students
Shelly E., Utah
I have a private student break his left arm. I need ideas for how to engage him for the next 6 weeks. He is just starting level 5. He is reading music and came from a traditional background. He is almost done with RR. I could focus on lots of reading and playing pieces with his right hand only, but any other ideas? Anybody know a good reading piece meant just for the right hand?
Mark M., New York
Visualizing practice is tremendously valuable. Great for anytime, but especially for vacations or medical situations or other situations when someone may be away from a keyboard or otherwise unable to play with one or both hands. There’s research that says that visualizing something mindfully, eyes closed, not moving any body parts, actually has about 70% of the effect of actual physical movement-based practice.
I’m also a big fan, as I mentioned in a separate post here not long ago, of having students practice SH each along with audio *before* doing the actual work of learning/processing BH together. Huge head start. And this can be done here as well, as part of the visualized practice. And then even doing the actual BH work can be done by visualizing the LH aspect of the BH work while RH is doing the physical work.
So the student can learn plenty of new things and get very close to lots of final results while the LH is out of commission. And then, once LH is able to play again, you’d just spend a bit of time on all the things worked on in the meantime, to actually get the LH physically involved in it all.
There’s no area of the Curriculum where you couldn’t take advantage of all this.
Robin T., Australia
All of what Mark said and maybe use some blues backing tracks and get him practicing improvising using the blues scale.
Elisa P., New Jersey
I had a student many years ago break her arm and they thought she was going to get a vacation from me. They thought wrong.🤣 Great ideas mentioned above. Great duet opportunities with your student too.
Ian B., Pennsylvania
I’ve had a few similar situations.
1.) Present a challenge to the student to try learning/practicing the LH parts with their RH. Then, as Mark said, have them try “visualizing” the part with their LH.
2.) For BH, I recommend a heavy focus on use of audio and backing tracks during practice. Even if they are not playing that hand they are HEARING it.
Christine W., Kansas
Chord games, progressions, inversions, introduce circle of fifths, and keep playing review list melodies! I jump in with left hand and we play together during lessons. I have a student in the same boat right now!
Original discussion started August 19, 2024