The time frame between Halloween and Christmas is filled with additional activities and distractions for all of our students. If you throw in travelling over Thanksgiving, students often come back tired and having lost a week of practice. The same thing can happen after the two week Christmas/Winter break. Rather than fight through the pieces they have not touched and trying to get them all in shape the first week of January, perhaps shaking up the lesson structure would be helpful. These “down weeks” are the perfect time to plan to teach a new technical skill or increase their skill level on anything they have worked on. Here are a few ideas for that lesson that is crashing in the first five minutes!
- Prepare a packet of theory review sheets of skills they know but havent seen for a while.
- These weeks are just terrific opportunities for a sight reading lesson.
- Most students find Chords/Cadences the easiest to learn and play successfully of the traditional skills. How about teaching the next step. If they are only playing in root position, encourage them to play hands alone in inversions. Cadences? Try at least one inversion as well. If they are already doing that, how about adding a few new keys to the list?
After a warm up with one of these skills, now ask for their “best piece.” This will encourage them to play what they feel confident about. After trying another skill listed above, move on to one of the pieces you know is likely suffering the holiday blues. The first lessons back after Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday can be positive ones if we account for all the company upheavel, traveling, and disrupted schedules. With a little creative planning, we can get them back to playing those festival pieces with confidence and musicianship. Let’s usher in 2024!