Sometimes it’s hard to notice the tiny improvements your piano kid is making in their piano studies.
Playing harder music isn’t the only sign that they are growing as a musician. On today’s show, I will share ten subtle changes that are easy to miss but are definite signs they are making good progress on their musical journey.
Listen to the full episode here
Finger Independence
So many things we do with our hands involve our whole hand: throwing a ball, using a fork and spoon, etc.
Playing the piano requires the ability to use individual fingers or specific groups of fingers together.
How is your piano kid doing with independent fingers?
Playing Hands Together
Not only is it a challenge to play with two hands at the same time, but it is also a BIG challenge to have each hand play a unique rhythm pattern at the same time.
If you’ve ever tried to rub your belly and pat your head you know how tricky it is to make your two hands do two different things.
Not Stopping at Barlines
When your child is able to flow smoothly from one measure to another without stopping, they have met a big musical milestone. Congratulations!
Phrasing
Music is so much more than making the right sound at the right time. You can play accurately but if you play without feeling or without grouping the notes into phrases, your music will sound very mathematical and unemotional.
Understanding the structure of music as phrases is a next-level concept. Similar to the changes in our voice when we make a statement or ask a question, music ebbs and flows in phrases.
Sight to Sound Correspondence
Audiation is the ability to look at a piece of music and imagine the sound in your mind.
When your piano kid is able to associate musical symbols with specific sounds, they are on their way to becoming awesome audiators.
This includes things like noticing a whole note as a long sound and a quarter note as a shorter sound or realizing that notes on the upper lines of the staff will make higher sounds than notes lower on the staff.
Tracking the Music
Musicians, like drivers, never look only at the notes they are currently playing, their eyes are always scanning ahead to prepare for what’s coming.
If your piano kid is constantly looking back and forth between the music and their hands, they need a little more practice tracking the music. One sneaky trick to help them is to cover their hands with a kitchen towel. Covering their hands helps them realize that their fingers are able to find the notes without their eyes leaving the music. This results in much more fluent playing.
Following the Intervals (not EGBDF)
Musicians do not think about every single note name as they play them. Musicians notice groups of notes and the direction and distance one note is from the next.
Crossing the Center Line
The ability to keep your body centered in the middle of the piano while leaning left or right to play high notes or low notes is a subtle milestone.
When your piano kid looks from the left page to the right page of their music, they are crossing their center line.
Vicki Conway shares more detail about center line and other developmental concepts in PPP 148 and PPP 149.
Pattern Recognition
When your piano kid starts noticing patterns in their music, they are growing as musicians.
Just like recognizing CAT and HAT sound similar to each other, seeing patterns in rhythms or intervals helps musicians to play more fluently.
Posture and Hand Shape
We could spend a whole episode talking about each of these concepts. To learn more about posture and proper sitting at the piano, listen to PPP030.
Hands should be in a natural shape, not stiff and straight, not curved too round. The bridge of your hand should be up and not concaved or sagging.
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