I have a four year-old student who has only had two lessons
with me and they have now left for a two-week vacation. Her mom asked me what
they could do during their trip to keep the excitement high but most important,
to make sure what she learned during our two lessons was retained.
I suggested some apps and worksheets but felt inspired to
write a post because this is a question I receive frequently from parents.
First of all, if you feel the student can handle some new
pieces and concepts with their parents’ guidance, go ahead and give them
instructions on what to practice every week. For example:
Week 1 - Lesson book page X, theory book page X, technique
book page X
Week 2 - Lesson book page Y, theory book page Y, technique
book page Y
Don’t forget to remind the parents that almost every lesson
book page has a corresponding theory, technique, performance, etc page and they
will be able to find those at the bottom of either the lesson book pages or the
complementary book’s pages.
Supplementary Materials
If your student has a particular weak point, you could explore some of the worksheets available for download or purchase at lesson
plan marketplaces like
Teachers Pay Teachers or
Lesson Plan Pro.
I have also created a set of
flashcards to practice finger number
recognition and placement on the keyboard.
Free iPad Apps
I own and iPad and and iPhone so I haven’t been able to try
out the apps available for the Android platform.
Rhythm Cat
This is great for beginners to feel the beat internally.
Students have to wait for the count off and tap the green button for the
necessary duration. Each level has an accompaniment to make the exercises more
interesting.
StoryBots: Tap & Sing
This app includes a few free songs and you can buy some more
through the app. There are 15 “bots” and they each play a different pitch. When
the player is ready to play the song, one bot will light up and raise its hand
to let him know to touch it. It’s a fun version of a light up keyboard. The app
offers the option of having the bots sing the pitches on “la”, note names or
solfege syllables.
The Blob Choir
This is a bonus one. It’s a silly ear-training app to
introduce tonal memory. There are three “blobs” and their “king blob”. The
three blobs sing three different pitches and then the king blob will sing a
pitch that matches one of the blobs’; choose the correct one and move to the
next exercise.
