It's a busy day for me here between juggling lessons and then Ash Wednesday service at church, but I wanted to share an excellent article I read yesterday regarding piano warm-ups.
I have to admit that I probably don't put enough emphasis on this as a teacher. While I typically have my students start with scales in lessons and when they practice at home and then move on to technique (either from Piano Adventure or some other type of technical warm-up), I probably don't spend enough time emphasizing why this is so important.
I've been trying to improve in this regard, and that's why I so appreciated a recent blog post from Jason over at The Piano Pedagogy Page. He discusses the importance of sequential warm-ups as part of the student's weekly lesson. I totally agree with him! I'm going to see if I can make this type of approach to warm-ups more a part of my weekly lessons, while helping my students understand just why it's so important.
Has anyone else had success with taking time for sequential warm-up at the start of each lesson? I'd love to hear your thoughts and any tips you may have to help students understand the importance of thorough warm-ups!
sometimes I wonder if I'm taking too much time with technical exercises too! We have been doing 5-finger patterns, different ones, trying to work our way through all the keys. I also like the Dozen A Day series. I use Alfred's Premier Piano Course, and didn't realize the Faber series had a book with exercises. I will take a look at that.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy- Yes, Piano Adventures has a Technique & Artistry book to correspond with each level. It's been an invaluable teaching resource for me! I'd encourage you to check them out. Here's a quick link for the Primer Level Technique and Artistry Book:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Primer-Level-Technique-Artistry-Book/13671