Hi,

I am having to teach an adult pupil piano for the first time next week. Although I've taught young children and teenagers before I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what i could do with the first lesson. I'm in my final year of my music degree and so is my pupil although her principle study instrument is saxaphone.

I'd appreciate any of your suggestions or advice.
Thanks
Linz x

It would be useful to fing out how much your new pupil already knows about music - in terms of theory, sight reading and whether a start has been made at the instrument. I've made adult starts (as a pupil) at both flute and keyboard - but from a position of many years experience beforehand and was grateful for the opportunity to be able to demonstrate where I was up to. So perhaps your first lesson could find out the starting level?

I only teach the piano, but I can tell you what works best for me - using exactly the same beginners book that I use for the kids. This was enforced when I went to one of the ABRSM Seminar's several years ago, when the speaker on the day said that if you tell the adults to ignore the pictures, they'll get on better with the same beginner's books as the kids. From experience of having many adult pupils, the ones who are willing to use the kids books get on far quicker than the ones who prefer using an 'adult' beginners book. In piano, as good as the adult tutor books are, they move on too quickly too soon. Hope this helps - although it's piano I'm mainly talking about. Obviously the other post comes into it, by finding out what experience they have. I'm talking here of complete beginner adults.

Yes, assess what your new pupil can do first - it can take several weeks or subtle as well as direct questioning. What does she want to do? To play by notation or ear or both? What genres are of most interest? If she is in her final year, then lots of time to practice won't be available. Could you chat about possible targets that could be achieved by next Easter, when I presume the lessons will end?

Teaching adults can be very rewarding. With a very musical pupil like you will have, you're bound to have lots of fun!

With someone starting from having no musical background I usually do a quick tour of the keyboard.
I start by pointing out D between 2 black notes... that way you don't have to remember right. left or up /down. After that they can work out what the other notes are.

With adults I run through the basics of notation shouwing that the stave works like a ladder and how it is sort of like a graph of what your fingers are doing.

Then we make a start on whatever tutor we are using.