Ah, May! The weather is getting nice outside, the school year is winding down, and we are all anxiously looking forward to summer break.
As lovely as the month of May is, it can also be a month when motivation is lacking in our studios! How do we keep our students motivated at the piano as the school year comes to a close?
Keep reading to see my top tips for keeping your students motivated this month...
As lovely as the month of May is, it can also be a month when motivation is lacking in our studios! How do we keep our students motivated at the piano as the school year comes to a close?
Keep reading to see my top tips for keeping your students motivated this month...
5 ways to keep students motivated at the end of the school year:
1. Help students review their favorite repertoire from the past year.
Want a great way to both keep students motivated and help them to see what they have accomplished this year? Help them compile a list of their favorite repertoire pieces to practice all month long!
These 2 FREE summer-themed repertoire lists make this process easy and fun. Click on the images below to download your free PDFs.
1. Help students review their favorite repertoire from the past year.
Want a great way to both keep students motivated and help them to see what they have accomplished this year? Help them compile a list of their favorite repertoire pieces to practice all month long!
These 2 FREE summer-themed repertoire lists make this process easy and fun. Click on the images below to download your free PDFs.
 |  |
2. Assign students a few "easy win" pieces to work on this month.
"Easy wins" are what I call pieces that are just a smidge beyond sight-reading level. These are pieces that students can learn more or less independently and polish in just a week or two.
Not only are "easy wins" great motivation, they are also wonderful ways to help your students learn to practice independently and to review the concepts they have learned in their method books over the past year.
A few sources for "easy wins" at a variety of levels can be found below:
3. Choose a "wish list" piece to focus on for this month.
Is there a special piece that your student has been itching to play all year? Harness that motivation and spend this month focusing on a special piece of your student's choosing!
Need help finding a piece from your student's wish list? Check out my catalog site HERE, where you can browse over 1,000 popular arrangements and search by title, artist, genre, level, and more!
4. Focus on music history.
How about spending this month learning about a famous composer or a period of music history?
Below are a few examples of the resources I have shared here on my own website--Click HERE to see all of my blog posts on historical composers and music history--including links to FREE biographies, worksheets, listening activities, and sheet music!
"Easy wins" are what I call pieces that are just a smidge beyond sight-reading level. These are pieces that students can learn more or less independently and polish in just a week or two.
Not only are "easy wins" great motivation, they are also wonderful ways to help your students learn to practice independently and to review the concepts they have learned in their method books over the past year.
A few sources for "easy wins" at a variety of levels can be found below:
- Check out the free sheet music on my "Free Stuff" page HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page).
- Gilbert DeBenedetti has generously shared many free piano pieces organized by level on his G Major Music Theory website HERE.
- IMSLP, found HERE, is a great resource for more advanced pieces that are in the public domain. This database is vast, so you might find it helpful to narrow down your search by looking for pieces by specific composers that you would like to teach this month.
3. Choose a "wish list" piece to focus on for this month.
Is there a special piece that your student has been itching to play all year? Harness that motivation and spend this month focusing on a special piece of your student's choosing!
Need help finding a piece from your student's wish list? Check out my catalog site HERE, where you can browse over 1,000 popular arrangements and search by title, artist, genre, level, and more!
4. Focus on music history.
How about spending this month learning about a famous composer or a period of music history?
Below are a few examples of the resources I have shared here on my own website--Click HERE to see all of my blog posts on historical composers and music history--including links to FREE biographies, worksheets, listening activities, and sheet music!
 |  |  |
Another free music history resource that I find to be extremely helpful can be found at the Classics for Kids website HERE. This website is an outreach program for Cincinatti Public Radio, and it features a wealth of information about classical music and composers including podcasts, biographies, worksheets, and games. Choose a favorite composer to focus on for the month, or explore a different composer every week using the many resources available on this site!
5. Do a composing project.
If you have a few weeks of lessons left before the end of the school year, a composing project is a great option! Below are a few of my favorite projects that can be completed bit-by-bit over the course of a few lessons.
Click on the images to download your free PDF.
If you have a few weeks of lessons left before the end of the school year, a composing project is a great option! Below are a few of my favorite projects that can be completed bit-by-bit over the course of a few lessons.
Click on the images to download your free PDF.
 |  |  |
What do you think? How do you keep your students motivated at the end of the school year? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments!
RSS Feed