This portfolio is a demonstration of the techniques and practices I have learned and implemented into teaching lessons. It’s important to clarify that the pupil has proficiency in music already which made more basic practices obsolete. However, there will be a focus on how to implement easier techniques in case of a newer learner. The focus on the lessons was to improve piano playing and how to effectively tackle any piece of music the pupil chooses to play which will be demonstrated in clips of the lessons. The lessons comprised of one early adult learner, which informed my teaching style but there will also be explanation on what could be done for other age groups and in larger classes. 

This discussion took place in the beginning of the lesson. It is important to understand what the goals are for the pupil as this informs what kind of teaching needs to be done. Here the pupil hopes to learn the fundamentals of piano and how to learn music. This implies a more basic lesson on what exactly a piano is and skills needed to learn music.

These two clips discuss the basics of setting up on a piano and what some of the functions of the piano are. A demonstration of how the pedals affect the piano both sound wise and physically are used also. This it important as it allows the pupil to better understand not only what but how the different features of the piano are used. Demonstration of such things could unlock an inherent curiosity for the piano which could make the pupil more curious about music in general which is useful in the longevity of a pupil’s musical journey. It’s also important to ask what the pupil may already know as it saves time in explaining topics that may not need to be discussed and may make the pupil feel accomplished when they get something correct. 

Here, the pupil is learning how to practice a basic scale. By demonstrating the technique, the pupil is able to understand how to accomplish it successfully. There is also a progression in the exercise as the pupil was unable to accomplish the task. It is important to have levels to the exercise as a pupil who is unable to achieve it needs a way to work up to it, whereas a pupil who is successful will need something slightly more challenging. Here the pupil is tasked to practice the scale in one octave very slowly and is then asked to increase the number of octaves as they practice the task more. This is a good way to set a target for the pupil while giving them a chance to exceed the task set.

This is the first time the pupil has been presented with a piece of piano music. The pupil was asked some questions about what the music wanted and was told how to begin learning the piece. As the pupil had some experience with music, a more challenging version of the first task was set, where they had to play a scale in a more difficult key. While the pupil was unable to succeed in the first exercise, they were given an easier version of the task by only asking for the scale in separate hands. They were also explained what goes into learning a piece of music. If the pupil was that of a less skilled disposition, an even easier task would have been set, or possibly a variation of the task that was used in the clip.

Here is an exercise on piano technique. The pupil had been set a task to learn the first bar of a piece, but was struggling to sustain some notes that were meant to be longer than others. They were given the task to play the notes staccato apart from the one note they had to sustain. A vital point shown was the demonstration of how to utilise the arm and wrist to achieve a healthier sound, and by explaining what bad technique looks like and the dangers. By demonstration and discussing technique like this, the pupil is able to use many different sources of learning. By watching, they can use their visual learning to copy the technique, by discussing it, they are able to use their cognitive learning, and by listening to the difference in techniques, they are able to use their auditory learning. Finally, by getting set tasks, they are able to use kinesthetic learning. This is a very useful resource and is something one has to keep in mind as different students have a preference in their learning styles and by utilising as many as possible, it allows for a larger breadth of learning for students and solidifies any information as there are multiple sources of sensory learning being used. This is especially useful in group settings as one will need to keep in mind that each student is different. As the relationship between student and teacher is solidified stronger, the teacher may be able to ascertain the main sensory learning patterns the student may prefer which should inform the teacher what tasks are set and how information is presented.

Here, the pupil was given a task to understand a simple rhythm. Mnemonics were used in this task to assist with the understanding of rhythms. This is much more valuable for younger students as it gives a fun creative method of understanding what rhythms are. An important aspect is to remove the learning from the piano in this case. This is in order to develop the pupils core understanding of music instead of forcing a reliance on just piano technique. It’s also important to give the student methods that they can change and develop on their own as each student will learn in different ways. By making the student say a familiar word, they strengthen the understanding of the rhythm as the memory of the word and the inherent pulse of the word becomes associated with the rhythm making it seem less foreign of a concept. This is especially true in younger students. This task was also paired with clapping which links back to multisensory learning.

The 3 clips provided are an intense course of learning. The aim was to learn the first part of the piece, which was one of the student’s goals. They were taught the common repetitiveness of music by demonstrating the same patterns within the first part of the piece. This engaged the cognitive part of their learning by understanding that instead of learning every note separately, they can infer on memory and knowledge of patterns. Additionally, work was done in linking a new scale into practice. The pupil was taught to break down the piece into smaller chunks to practice and put together once everything had been established. This is the fundamental way of learning music and by doing detailed work like demonstrated, the pupil can hope to achieve success with practice.

This was start of the second lesson. Here, the pupil was introduced to a new piece of music. However, the main part of this was to recap on what was taught in the previous lesson. This is to reinforce any topic that was discussed and to see how well the topics settled with the student. Depending on how well the pupil responds to the recap, the teacher may need to re-imagine methods of teaching or use more methods of teaching done previously. Additionally, by doing such a detailed recap, you can gauge how much the student has practiced. While such a thing can be discussed, this should inform the teacher how to suggest practice as a pupil with less time to practice may be unable to complete more detailed tasks. This is common with older students as they may be busy with work.

This discussion was a continuation on the topics discussed last lesson. While the pupil was learning a new piece, the learning was based on figuring out the patterns in the piece and using different kinds of knowledge to learn it easier. Here, a new way of thinking of the piece was discussed. The student was tested on their knowledge of chords. A newer student may have needed further practice on chords, and the lesson would have had to be changed. The lesson was structured this way as it was clear that the pupil knew at least the very basics. It is important to keep an open mind as some students may need a further deep dive into some techniques and ideas. This topic was a very useful resource in this piece as it mainly comprises of broken chords. By adding a new way of thinking into the pupils vocabulary, it allowed them to infer from more sources in their cognitive learning. This is also useful as some students may prefer different ways of thinking of music.

Here an important sentiment was discussed when talking about the technique of the piece. A key take away is that the pupil must evaluate what kind of demands a piece will require and act accordingly. The example was of arpeggios, where it was explained that by knowing the technique of arpeggios in all the keys, the piece could be interpreted much easier as the pupil would not have to learn all of the arpeggios as they are learning. Here, it could be useful to set tasks in order to practice arpeggios and assign homework to do with the technique as this was the main focus of the lesson. This was just an example, and if the pupil was unable to figure out how to properly practice any techniques in a piece, the introduction of a lesson would be a good place to discuss such things where the main focus of the lesson could be on the struggle of said technique.

This is a very intense part of the lesson. The pupil was asked many questions about the piece. This kind of teaching would be unsuccessful for new music students as they would not be able to keep up with the theoretical topics. However, as the pupil is well versed in music, they were tested in such a way that their theoretical capabilities were shown. A newer student would have to work their way up to reach this level but this was a new skill that the pupil would be able to effectively utilise in their learning. By learning theory, the student would be able to infer harmony and certain techniques to learn the piece easier. This was a great example of this as the piece repeated with slightly altered harmony which allowed a simple challenge in noticing and applying such theoretical knowledge. It was also said how important theory is in music in general which could open the door to a new level of learning in which the student may want to explore. Slowly introducing such elements will hopefully broaden the pupils musical talents and interest, making them a well rounded musician instead of a simple pianist. This is a very effective tool used in group settings also, as it is easy to gauge where students are theoretically as you can easily examine what a student may know. Younger students may struggle however as they may find such learning boring. A teacher may want to utilise friendlier terms like in the mnemonic task, which will allow the younger students to infer from their imagination more.

Here is debatably the most important section taught in the lesson. The pupil was taught about interpretation. While only a basic level was discussed, it put some emphasis on individuality and is important that a teacher cultivates such a skill early in the pupils musical journey. A demonstration was provided after mentioning some words to describe the feel of the piece. This allows the pupil to hear the difference in playing and lets the pupil picture a story which they can associate with the piece. A good exercise could be to get either the pupil or the teacher to play the section while picturing contrasting things and seeing how the music sounds. This is very useful in younger students as they may struggle with more complex ideas where a simple word or story may prove much more successful. Additionally, it could be useful to have peers in a group play their own version as it would demonstrate how different the same piece can sound.

This is another example of teaching a new technique. It’s important to know that the pupil may need the exercise to be stripped back into easier forms so that the pupil can successfully complete it. It’s also important to reaffirm that the pupil is doing well. Simple positive comments are a great help in assisting the students confidence and it could make them more excited about learning new things. It’s important to note that the focus of some of the exercises was not to play perfectly, but to practice one thing at a time. A new student would easily be overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once. The teacher should have goals for every exercise and lesson with main focuses to work on. This is a great example of this as there is no real goal in note accuracy, dynamic control or even keeping time. The focus is simply finding a comfortable balance of comfortability. When one milestone is achieved, then more can be done to improve other areas until each aspect of a piece of music is perfected. This is a good way to teach new students how to approach music as it makes it seem much more accessible.

Lesson Plan:

For the next lesson with this student, a discussion would take place at the start about what they remember from the previous lesson. There would be a focus on what they wanted to accomplish within the time of the next lesson and perhaps a better overview on what they wanted to learn overall. For younger students, it would be advisable to discuss with parents and encourage them to take part in their child’s learning at home. This would be a great time to answer any questions the student may have either with the piano or anything away from the piano. Then the student would be guided through a warmup, using any techniques learned like any scales. This could be useful to see how the student is progressing at home as it would highlight any improvement with control of the keyboard. It could be interesting to expand upon any of the techniques like introducing new scales or improving on the existing ones. For this pupil, they would be instructed to demonstrate the C major scale with both hands seeing how many octaves they are able to complete. It would be recommended here to introduce any new material that the teacher wants to go through in the lesson. This could be showing a new excerpt from a piece of music or a new technique that the teacher would have to expand upon. An example of this could be to progress with the Bach piece in the provided clips, working on the next few bars. The pupil would also be asked to demonstrate how they have been getting on with the piece so far also. The middle of the lesson would follow similarly to how it was demonstrated in the provided clips, going through a piece of music, discussing all the aspects of learning, utilising multisensory learning and various exercises to assist in successful learning. As more time passes, it would be advisable to scale the difficulty in repertoire, terminology and technique as the student should be expected to progress. This will ensure the pupil isn’t bored from playing things that are too easy but one must also ensure that the pupil isn’t forced to play anything too difficult as it may cause them to get frustrated and give up. This would be the standard until the end of the lesson, where the teacher would recap what was discussed in the lesson, ensuring the student has understood what has been taught. The teacher must also ensure that the student has something to work on until the next lesson. This could be anything from: improving on or learning new scales, improving on or learning new repertoire, listening to more music to broaden musical knowledge, research or strengthen any theoretical ideas. This ensures that the student always has something to do, and will allow the next lesson to build upon a better foundation. In the case of this pupil, it would be likely that they would be asked to learn a new scale, try match some of the chords with the correct name in the Bach and to listen to 2 different recordings of the Bach and describe what they liked and disliked about each. This is a great example of utilising multisensory learning as the goal is to broaden their listening skills, their cognitive skills and their kinesthetic skills, ensuring that the student becomes a well rounded musician.