Hi there,

basically i'm new to piano teaching. I only have two students, one them i started teaching from the beginning using the piano time 1 book and he's progressing really well. ( Aged 8 )

The other student started lessons in about february with another teacher and now he's come to me ( aged 11. been about a month ) he's working towards grade 1 - his previous teacher has done no sight reading or aural practice with him, and minimal scales. When he plays the pieces, he doesn't look at the music - it seems like he's just learnt it by heart from constant repetition and his note reading isn't good at all. My beginer honestly sight reads better than he does.

Do you think that it would just totally put him off piano if I went back to early basics? I feel that he has started grade 1 much too early. I mean, he didn't know what a key signature was? Or a time signature? Is this normal?


Any help much appreciated!


- Thanks

It shouldn't be normal, but it does happen. I'm also teaching a pupil who came to me from another teacher and I'm constantly surprised by the gaps in her knowledge, although she had done lots of work on scales and even had her own sight reading book. But she didn't even know what theory was and the only dynamic markings she understood were p and f. Worst of all, she had been taught to play 2 Grade 1 pieces, and both had basic mistakes in them - wrong notes as well as wrong rhythms. I decided to let her take the exam (it's next week) and have done a lot of work on sight reading and aural, as well as theory.
Do you think your pupil would pass the exam if he took it? You could try to fill in the gaps while working towards it, if his scales, sight reading & aural tests are all okay.

David's right all but the most dedicated pupil would get discouraged if you went back to basics. You'll just have to do your best to fill in the gaps. At 11 he should be able to understand why you're introducing scales etc if you explain that they're needed for the exam. If you're worried that the pieces might go stale you can always learn others from the book saying that he'll then be able to choose which he likes best for the exam.

Unfortunately I have too many of these pupils coming to me at the moment at the beginning if year 7, some have even passed grade 2 but cannot read a note, especially in left hand, no idea of rhythms, key signatures, very weak technique, no scales. When they don't know what the next note is they look straight at me rather than the book as their previous teacher has just parrot-taught them. Yes it's so easy to say "it's an A" - it's also gross laziness on the part of the teacher.
It's easily demoralizing for the pupil if you take them back too far, equally so if you keep them at that standard and they struggle. The worst ones are the ones who come to your first lesson already with the exam book. You need to decide whether to just get him through this one in any method possible and deal with the gaps in learning afterwards, or to take him off the exam book now before it drags on any further, and teach the gaps with some carefully chosen books (ones preferably that don't state the grade standard on the front!) that have some pieces that would keep him interested while actually learning properly at the same time.

Thank you all for your input, i am thinking of maybe giving him some different pieces from the grade 1 syllabus, maybe some chrissmassy ones aswell, and of course continued work on scales/aural/sight reading, would grade 1 theory perhaps benefit?

Maybe some written theory exercises at the level he needs rather than starting on a G1 theory book although the TG grade 1 theory workbook might work or at least some selected pages from it to start with. I think you said earlier on he is 11 - the theory books I use are probably a bit young for him - Lina Ng Theory made easy, My first theory book etc.

Christmas carols might be a good idea. My daughter sounds a bit similar - with her previous teacher she was playing grade 1+ pieces from memory but had very poor (virtually non-existent) sight-reading skills. For various reasons her note-reading is finally taking off. For the past week she has been playing through an old Christmas carol book of mine which she found on the shelf. Knowing what they are supposed to sound like means she can hear when she's played a wrong note and she has discovered that reading is quicker than working it out for herself by ear (particularly when "black" notes are invovled as she has no theoretical knowledge of intervals).

It's easy to feel that a child is ready for Grade One and launch off on the exam material, only to find that the child's focus is then so much on the exam that basics can slip. Everything will have been going really well, progress has been steady, and the Grade One pieces look no harder than what they've been mastering in a few weeks. However what you're up against is exam entry dates and exam dates. Everything then has to be timetabled, and teacher is scared to spend too much time on alternative pieces at the same time as the exam repertoire in case the latter slips. Scales seem to take up more time than they ought to in lessons too, because unless you're constantly going over them they will forget. Having been well able to sight read simple pieces, they start then forgetting basic note names, for instance - and start memorising instead of reading. I've had this myself as a teacher, and can't blame anybody else! I think the only answer, if it's already decided to do the exam, is to get through Grade One as best you can and then consolidate. Backtracking is demoralising. This is one of the reasons I leave out early grades when I can get away with it; I think exams at this stage can be counterproductive to genuine progress, and some of my best all-round pupils are ones who skipped Grade One. I explain that we'll do all that would be required for the exam, plus more, but then be able to move on once the skills are in the bag rather than have to focus on the same pieces ad infinitum until the date comes around. "Moving on" then means Grade 2 scales, plus any others that might be relevant, aural work, and lots of repertoire at the right level, which will eventually include something from the syllabus. If it looks like the rest could be added and perfected by the next exam date, then we enter Grade 2. By this stage, all the basics have had more time to stay put and are less likely to fall by the wayside when we focus exclusively on the exam syllabus in the month or two before the date. But if I was in your position now I'd just grit my teeth and get the exam over and then start filling the gaps.

Very wise words Dulciana!!! I know exactly what you mean . . .

Looks like you just need to do some basic sight reading exercises. Really basic.

Yes, and I second that. I have tried out a Grade 1 piece (not from the current list) with all those I thought might do Grade 1 in June and have to admit that although the others are all showing signs of readiness, I was way off the mark with one eleven year old girl. I thought she was ready for the challenge but can see now that Grade 1 this year for her would be right down the wrong path.

Grade 1 is actually rather difficult if you analyse what the pupils are expected to do. There are quite complex skills involved plus the ability to commit to practice and to sustain effort.

It's a ptiy the Prep Test (in my opinion) is not a very good "exam" and expensive for what it is.

I've had pupils like this come to me - I have one in particular at the moment who had just failed Grade 1 dismally with another teacher and I took her over. She really was only at beginner level - she played her pieces to me and there's absolutely no way she could have passed. However, if she doesn't feel she's progressing towards finally achieving this Grade 1 (she would have liked Grade 2 but I've persuaded her to do Grade 1 on different music) I know she'll give up.

I have given her beginner books (which is what she needs, really) on the pretext that it is working towards Grade 1 sight reading. I write it in her little practice book under the heading "Grade 1 Sight Reading". We do that alongside learning the Grade pieces. So she is happy and Mum is happy. And slowly but surely, she's improving and we're covering some of the basics she obviously never did when she should have done.

If you need more reinforcement of basics this can be a good way round it.