I just started teaching an eighth grader piano, and she has some musical background because she plays the violin and she can play by ear very well..
however I really want her to read notes and so the music I'm giving her is extremely simple and she seems bored by it even though she can't really play it without stopping and having me tell her the notes... =/ I can't seem to get her to use the right fingering either
how do i encourage her to read music when she can already play what she likes by ear? I'm 15 so there isn't much of an age difference, but her mom kept asking me so I gave in and she's a friend so I couldn't really reject...

any ideas?

Sounds like all she really needs to do is learn how to play scales with the correct fingers, work out the bass clef, and then she could probably start teaching herself. You say you really want to teach her the notes, and by this I assume you mean notation, but perhaps she's musical enough to be able to learn to play by ear?

Or why don't you ask her to go out and buy the music she really wants to play? Find out what she's aiming for, and then find her some simple music in those styles. Eric Satie's "Gymnopaedies" and "Gnossiennes" are quite simple to play but no one could call them boring. Good luck!

Violinia

She likes Canon in D and Pathetique because she's learning them by ear. She has it down pretty well but her fingering is awkward and it's not really musical, it's just notes.. but should I be worrying about that stuff since she's a beginner? or should I just focus on technical things first?

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I'm 15 so there isn't much of an age difference, but her mom kept asking me so I gave in and she's a friend so I couldn't really reject

Well, good for you for having a shot.

I always find this kind of situation quite tricky - tying in what someone already knows with what they need to know to play the piano. In some ways it's easier to teach a complete beginner!

Maybe you could try it the other way round - get her to work out something by ear on the piano and then write it down with her help (lots of input from her). Don't know if this would work, but worth a try.
What books are you using so far ??

Maggie

hmmm... tricky.
I have a similar problem with a pupil who came to me at 14 saying that she wanted to learn to 'play properly'.
Similar problems to the ones you are speaking of....
I think that the reality of learning 'properly' is a bit hard to take.
My pupils does not seem to be as motivated as was indicated at the start and just does not seem to put in the careful practice that is needed to get sensible fingering patterns established.
Bieng older I have been able to point out that it really is not worth her coming for a lesson if she then goes away and ignores everything I have suggested.

Watch this space......

I have found that it's not just the sight reading ability that needs to be addressed, it's the motivation. Talk to them about what they think the usefulness of reading music would be, encourage them with your own personal enjoyment of sight reading, get chatting about it so they VALUE sight reading. That's half the battle. Then there are plenty of sight reading workbooks (such as the excellent Paul Harris series) which can make it a structured PART of their practice life, and arrange some rewards (at ANY age we love rewards and a short term goal or motivation - what is it for them, chocolate cake? points? new pieces book when they've finished this sight reading grade book?).

Also, you could draw up a page of random notes for them to play as fast as possible (each line, then the whole page). I call this the Notes Challenge - my pupils love it, and it's like a computer game in its addiction to get better and faster at reading the notes. Decide on a final "success" time for the whole page to stop doing it at (e.g. twice the time it takes a teacher to just rattle them off at). For each note they have to say it's name as well as play it, and if the instrument permits, point at the note (to stop series of notes being not looked at due to memorization - as long as they look at the notes, its useful).

Best wishes

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I think that the reality of learning 'properly' is a bit hard to take. .................does not seem to put in the careful practice that is needed to get sensible fingering patterns established. QUOTE Sounds very like one that started with me a few months ago. Had even apparently gone quite a way up the grades and scraped passes Being older I have been able to point out that it really is not worth her coming for a lesson if she then goes away and ignores everything I have suggested.

Exactly what I did!

Aaargh - that was not what I meant it to do - quotes got in the wrong place there. That'll teach me to preview.
Let's try again ...

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just does not seem to put in the careful practice that is needed to get sensible fingering patterns established.

Sounds very like one that started with me a few months ago.
Had even apparently gone quite a way up the grades and scraped passes

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Being older I have been able to point out that it really is not worth her coming for a lesson if she then goes away and ignores everything I have suggested.

Exactly what I did!

I think sometimes students think we have magic wands .... a little boy said to me years ago, after a couple of years of lessons"I thought at the start it was going to be instant Mozart - now I know better!"

Maggie

Maggie, just a quick tip if you want to change your post after you've posted it you can click edit at the top right and it will let you change it. That should save you having to recreate it again.

And my contribution (I wasn't going to but since I posted...): that is exactly the way I learnt to play as a child then decided I wanted to learn 'properly' primarily because I could learn 'hard' pieces but what motivated me is that it took such a long time to learn them and even things that should have been simple were 'hard' if I had to read them, easy piano versions weren't particularly any easier than the original. I was (and still am) amazed at how well some people can play something having not seen it before which is what motivated me. So if you want to motivate her to play 'properly' try to inspire her by showing her what you can do that would be very difficult to do without learning the way you do. That way she may gain the inspiration needed to take the plunge and go right back to the start; remember though not to discourage her from playing in the other way as well if she enjoys it, after all playing by ear is a good skill to have.

thanks for all the comments I'll try some of the things you guys suggested ^^;;

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Maggie, just a quick tip if you want to change your post after you've posted it you can click edit at the top right and it will let you change it. That should save you having to recreate it again.

Thank you! I didn't know that (really !!) but perhaps I should have noticed that edit button. I usually preview and proof-read but hit the add reply button by mistake.
Cheers

Maggie