Preparing for piano lessons - help is to hand

As a piano teacher, it is my job to engage students in their learning so that they keep moving forward and experience the reward of progressing. From 29 years of teaching, I have learned that this is the only reward that students who study for the long term require. 

PREPARING FOR LESSONS : WHAT TO DO 

Each week, my students are given lesson notes outlining the requirements for their next lesson. These are written during lesson time and are designed to help them excel by:

• Closing skill gaps that have been identified during that or several lessons. 

• Refining developing skills or building new ones by piggy-backing off others.

• Reinforcing learning across various mediums or various contexts.
  

By reading and following their lesson preparation notes, students will get an opportunity to shine in their next lesson as they will be able demonstrate a new accomplishment. 

The headings on lesson notes are deliberately explicit so that younger students are clear about expectations: 

• Music homework to prepare for your next lesson

• How did you go preparing for this week's lesson overall? 

• Scales or exercises to prepare for your next lesson

• Pieces:  The things to focus on to help you improve and prepare for your next lesson 

• Keep track of how many minutes you’re practising on which days here…    
  

Lesson notes are also a written, running record of a student's progress and clearly indicate if a student is practising, doing their homework or not. 

The only thing I cannot do as a teacher, is make people read their lesson notes. 

If you have any questions or requests related to lesson notes, please raise them during your next or any other lesson.