What special can you get playing the piano?
First of all, the sound of the piano itself is so beautiful, and the music played on the piano fills our hearts. Living with the piano can cultivate a rich mind, and we can also face ourselves by touching the art.
In order to master one piece, it is necessary to learn many skills of music. I set long-term and short-term goals according to the individual level of my students and always encourage my students to be able to achieve them. In addition, I provide the opportunity to perform the piano in public and to listen to the performance of others. I believe that these activities are useful not only in music but in various scenes of life.
Good relationship with my students
Building a good relationship with my students is considerably important. I open my heart to my students with a smile and a gentle tone. If my students have anything to worry about, I listen to them at any time (worry about practice ways, time and maintain motivation, etc.). I seriously listen and understand the situation, and consider the solution with my students and parents.
Four skills
1. Repertoire is the most fun. Music is divided in four eras: baroque, classical, romantic and modern. I teach my students to understand the characteristics of each era, and approach to artistic performance with confidence.
2. Techniques : I provide good posture, good hand and finger form, and how to use body (e.g. wrist, arm, etc.) with technical words (e.g. arm drop, arm weight, rotation, etc.). Scales and Arpeggios are important technical skills and help to develop tonality feeling. I approach the “Alexander technique,” the method that I have studied, acting in a natural way.
3. Sight-reading is training to read notes. Students have to not only read, but also play in a suitable way for the music. It is a skill to capture music from the score in a short time.
4. Ear-training : Making good ears is connected to making good performances. (Rhythm, times, intervals, melody, harmony, tone colors, dynamics, articulation, etc.) For beginners, it starts with very easy things such as clap back and sing back in short measures.
Music literacy
Theory is musical rules. I teach notes, rhythms, musical terms, musical forms, proceeding along each student’s level. I also cover the music history and the backgrounds of composers in the lesson.
Assignment
In order to improve the level efficiently, I assign homework to my students for review and preparation of lessons.
Recital and others
Playing in public is an important step for students. I always encourage my students to “perform so that it reaches the hearts of the audience”. To explore my own performance, I still take the piano lesson from my teacher who teaches at college of music and work as a pianist. Great courage and effort are required to perform in public. Sometimes it will be successful, and sometimes not. It is an opportunity for students to get an experience that cannot be got in the usual lessons.
Assessment
I have adopted lessons based on the content of ABRSM in U.K. ABRSM is splendid assessment recognized all over the world, and students can learn four skills in a good balance through ABRSM. There are from grade 1 to grade 8, and grade 8 is music college entrance exam level. It is available twice a year in Japan. I support all the students who want to challenge ABRSM exam.
Keep learning
Including school days, I have studied since I started my career as a piano teacher. Piano teachers have relationships with students for a long time, from young children to junior high or high school students. Therefore, I think a piano teacher is a very responsible occupation. Especially the beginner students are the most important. After graduating from university, I have studied the following to improve my teaching skills. I participated rhythmic teaching course, and various piano teacher’s seminars. I have studied overseas piano methods in English. Moreover, I have ABRSM piano performance grade 8 and a professional qualification diploma (DipABRSM). In 2019, I completed online ‘Teaching Elementary Piano Course’ of Royal Conservatory of music and obtained the certificate.
English
Children’s lives and school education have changed with time. In Japan, English classes have finally started at elementary school in 2018. So, I encourage students to learn piano in English.