The Intermediate stage of piano lessons is quite variable. It can range from 3-6 years, or even more, of study, and spans a wide range of repertoire. For my purposes here, I will define it as the time beginning when a piano student has received 3-4 years of instruction, can comfortably sightread simple music hands together in C, F, G, and D major (and their relative minors), has an understanding of major intervals and primary triads, and has developed some independence in practicing at home, and extending to the time when the student has developed proficiency in a wide variety of literature and is ready to move on to advanced technical and interpretive challenges. Generally, the intermediate student has some fluency at the keyboard and is ready to begin working on more difficult music and exploring musical expression and interpretation rather than “just doing what the teacher says.”
I offer 45-minute lessons to Intermediate students, as 30 minutes is just not enough time to dive deeper into the music they are learning. My 45-minute lessons are generally structured in this way:
- Technique (scales and chords from the Royal Conservatory of Music's program)
- Repertoire - old and new, in various stages of progress
- Theory - used to be RCM's resources, but this year I am loving Mark Sarnecki's Elementary Music Theory and Essential Music Theory books!
I often ask students what they want to start with. I like to give them the option of “showing off” what they have learned in a particular piece or jumping to something they really want help on. Other times, I will pull out a simple duet book and we will start a lesson by sightreading a duet or two together (SO FUN! And such good practice for these kiddos!) There are also times when I really want to make sure we address technique or theory, or a particular piece of music, and I will choose. But I like giving students autonomy over “what we do first” whenever I can.
Technique is so important for these students. I often get intermediate students who are transfers, and what is most often lacking is solid technique. So we discuss posture at the piano, using our whole bodies to play (not just the fingers!), proper hand position, and the importance of playing without tension. We address a lot of technique within the music itself, like wrist rotation and accomplishing “jumps” side-to-side rather than up-down, but I also want my students to be very familiar with major and minor scales and chords in every key. We talk about how learning the correct fingering for scales and chords in inversions and arpeggios gives us tools that will help our playing, because then when we see scale passages or arpeggios in a piece of music, our fingers already know where to go! Our students need to recognize these patterns in their music as they grow in their reading skills.
Repertoire is so varied in this group, but I do like having one book that forms our “core." For students who are interested in classical music, I'll use one of the Faber Piano Literature anthologies. (I also like the RCM Etude books as part of our “core.") For students who are interested in playing in a worship band at their church, I'll use Donna Gielow McFarland's Worship at the Keys, as well as music that their church is playing. The rest of their repertoire I choose based on their interests - a book on sonatinas, a fake book with lead sheets, Celtic music, hymn arrangements, musical theater anthologies, music by a favorite composer, and so forth.
Students are often working on 3-5 pieces at a time. I like to assign one piece that can be learned and mastered in a week, another few that will take a little longer, and then a “stretch” piece. Additionally, if the student needs to have a lot of “quick wins,” I will choose pattern-based music like Juan Cabeza's Diversions. It is important that not everything is hard. Our students, just like us, need to have music that they can play easily for enjoyment as well as music that takes focus and discipline to master. Finding balance between the two is the sweet spot and the “secret” to motivating students to practice.
Beyond learning correct notes and rhythms, we also work a lot on expression - paying attention to the form of a piece, differentiating between repeated material, attending to articulation, breathing between phrases, developing beautiful singing lines, and so on. Sometimes we will work together to create a “story” narrative of a piece, to get the student thinking in terms of beginning, middle, end, or tension-resolution. I want my students to not only learn how to play the instrument, but also to learn to listen to themselves and really begin to “sing” at the keyboard. These things take time to develop, and usually begin by strict imitation of what I'm doing. Gradually, students begin to take risks and develop some ownership of their pieces. This is when lessons get really fun!
Theory is another important component to lessons and the students' theory books give us an opportunity to discuss why music is notated the way it is. Music is an aural art, but to pass it on to a wide audience it needs to be written down. For a full comprehension of how music works and why, our students need theory and performance practice.
The intermediate stage of lessons can quickly become really fun or really hard. I find that with good music selection, giving students choices, and making sure they are able to have a “win” every week (a scale learned, an easy piece mastered, or a fun time playing a duet with me), students stay engaged and enjoy lessons. (And hopefully they enjoy some of their practice time at home, too!)
Let me know what you love about your intermediate lessons! What is still hard? Let me know in the comments.
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