Sarah Dodge - Piano Class Visit 2

I returned to the same piano class roughly three weeks later because of the crazy block

schedule and snow days getting in the way. By now, the students had taken a playing test on the

pieces they had been learning previously and were moving on to the next piece for the final

playing test. They were also working on the pieces they’d play for the concert, as well as a fun

choice piece each of them selected and brought in to work on during “free” class time.

Since the class involves only a few teacher-led lessons and lots of individual practice, I

walked around to each student and helped them with their playing test and choice pieces. Group

1 was working on a fairly simple piece, although it involved a few challenging syncopated

rhythms and some independence of hands. Group 2 was adding in some varied pedaling - the

book had stopped marking where the pedal was meant to be raised and lowered, so I helped them

establish where a few good places to pedal may be. With this group, I also talked about

fingerings and hand positions that would make the fingerings easier. They had begun to move

out of the typical C and G positions that most beginning piano books introduce!

The next part of class stepped away from the pianos and introduced some basic music

literacy, aural skills, and sight-reading skills. The teacher projected the Sight Reading Factory

website onto the board, and she introduced the idea of aural rhythmic dictation. They did a few

of the exercises together as a class, followed by the students pulling out their Chromebooks and

trying some on their own. This class was a continual reminder to me that each of them had a

personal laptop/Chromebook for their use, and it made me think of some ways we could

incorporate using them in something like an ensemble setting. Certainly the Sight Reading
Factory is a great resource, but I’d like to explore what else is available (aside from Smart

Music, which is another conversation to have).

Piano was my first instrument, long before the trombone. Believe it or not, I had a much

harder time teaching piano than I thought, especially to those who had little to no musical

background! I didn’t test out of the piano classes at JMU of my own choosing, so I would learn

in the ways that they expected me to in order to pass the KPE. However, I was never a beginner!

It’s been so long since I was at their level that I had some trouble meeting them where they were.

I was, however, easily able to demonstrate for them ideas that they could practice or work up to.

Before I make it into public schools, I don’t think it would be the worst idea for me to

brush up on a little bit of piano pedagogy!