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Do you ever cringe when your students forget their bags at home? Sometimes parents are running from A to B and forget the bag at home. Or the student brings the bag, but all of the books were left on the piano at home!
You probably have a copy of their music in your library, but then you’ll waste lesson time finding it all.
When a student forgets their music bag, just change gears. Work on skills that are often neglected. One of my favorites to work on is functional keyboard skills – using chords to create accompaniment.
Intermediate students who have been taking classical piano lessons often lack basic, functional keyboard skills.
So if a student forgets their music, have fun showing them various chord patterns for melodies. You can show the student how to accompany you while you play the melody or sing. Then you’ll be making music together, which is a lot of fun!
Once a student masters one accompaniment pattern, teach them a different pattern. Students LOVE this! In just one lesson they can master something and advance it. It is very encouraging for the student.
What materials can you use to do this?
Have a few lead sheets or arrangements at hand. My favorites:
- Your First Fake Book
This is a great fake book to keep in your library. Everything is in C, so you can easily show students how to accompany you. It has a nice variety of songs.
- Are you Sleeping?
This is written for piano ensemble of various levels, but it can be easily adapted for piano duet. Check out other piano ensemble music that you can use as duets.
- Happy Birthday – 10 Arrangements
Every student should be able to play Happy Birthday! I’ve arranged it 10 different ways so that students of any level can play it.
You can also find free lead sheets all over the internet. I find that it does help the student to see various accompaniment patterns printed.
Let me know how you handle this situation in the comments below!
Lauren teaches piano to students of all ages in New Orleans, LA. Teaching is her passion. She enjoys creating resources for her students and is the author of Ready for Theory®.
