I have a student who is good at playing once he is shown how to play. He doesn't want to bother with notereading, however. His mom and I are at our wits end to have him learn to read. Any idea?

-- Tarn Standerwick (tarnstanderwick@cs.com), October 31, 2002

Answers

Spend the lesson time teaching him to sing his pieces. Sing the right and left hand parts separately. Sing la-la-la if the piece doesn't have words. Do not show him which keys on the piano to play or worry about fingering for a while. His assignment would be to go home and figure out how to play what he has learned to sing.

For many people it is easier to learn to read if they can sing the notes, rather than worrying about trying to play them. If he can first learn to read by singing, then it will be much easier for him to transfer that skill to the piano. Incidentally, this is an excellent exercise for every student, not just ones who have reading problems.

-- Alan (Noname_Poster@yahoo.com), November 15, 2002.

I have a student who doesn't like reading too.. He's a transfer student that has very sloppy technique and can play anything he hears. I've given him bartok, schuman and refuse to play the pieces until he spends at least 3 weeks working on them.. of course most of the pieces are in the library on CD but he doesn't bother going and checking those out. Another suggestion would be to give him really easy songs, and have him read through those on a regular basis, at the lesson. hope this helps.

-- Shannon Whaples (noname@hotmail.com), March 28, 2003.

Maybe the student will practice a little bit more notereading if he or she has to notespell while playing.Try having him-her do that whenever he isplaying hands separated. Explain him the benefits of reading...And bribe him! Give him candy or something in order to motivate him. It might work.

-- gabriela fernandez (glf7102@mwsc.edu), April 21, 2003.