Weaning Young Piano Students from Watching Their Hands
Among the early discoveries a baby makes are the fascinating objects at the end of their arms called hands. From that point on, most of the training a young child receives encourages them to watch their hands. They watch their hands when they draw, color, and learn to print. Even the act of eating requires hand watching. The list goes on and on.
Changing or adding to a habit is never an easy task. That is why it takes time and gentle, consistent persistence to teach a young child to look at their music instead of their hands when learning to play the piano.
I often ask my students if they want their Mom to drive them home from their lesson looking at their hands. Their expressions are precious as they emphatically tell me NO. When I ask them “why” they always answer, “She will make the car crash!” I then tell them that that is what they do with their notes if they do not watch their road as well, which is their music.
To help with this training, I have designed a small keyboard printed on heavy paper that fits behind the keys on the piano. On each white note of this paper keyboard is a picture of the corresponding animal. I like this much better than stickers that could be placed on the keys as it helps me train my student’s eyes off the keyboard–by having them check the home of each animal above the keys, not one of the keys.
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