We’ve all been there: Students rush into the studio fresh out of swim practice, bursting with energy and bouncing off the walls (or from school, or a birthday party, or…) You can spend the first 15 minutes of the lesson trying to force this bundle of energy to calm down so that progress can be…
Early advanced
Online from the Outset
The idea of teaching piano lessons to newbies online from the very beginning can be intimidating. But with Online from the Outset, you’ll be excited to tackle the challenge. This resource contains 4 weeks of no-book, step-by-step lesson plans complete with brand new rote pieces to teach. You’ll even have listening tracks to assign as…
Random Reminders
“I really want to play with a round hand shape all the time, but I don’t notice if my hands go flat!” Sometimes students are motivated to change something about their playing, but they simply keep forgetting. You can nag them about it, but that drone often goes in one ear and out the other….
Transposing Challenges
These 5 levels of transposing challenges are a systematised way to work on transposing by ear with piano students. They will give a clear structure for teaching how to play 12 common melodies, each one in all 12 major keys. The 5 challenge levels provide a sense of accomplishment and landmarks along the way to…
Rainbow Race
When we say “start at bar 7” and but our student instead at the beginning of the 7th line (or on the 7th note, etc.), it can be frustrating. But students can’t know how to navigate their music if we don’t teach them. What better way than with Rainbow Race? Students will surely absorb the…
Gelato
Sometimes students can be a bit reluctant to participate in a group lesson, especially if they don’t know the other students. Group activities can be intimidating if you’re nervous about making a mistake. If you need to break through the tension, try Gelato! This non-competitive board game helps students get to know each other, while…
Lesson Planning Level-Up
Whether you’re new to the planning process or just need a fresh approach, starting with a piano lesson plan template can be a big help. A great planning structure can allow you to see things from a new perspective and better understand your students’ learning journeys. In this piano lesson plan template, we start with…
Minterval Challenges
It’s one thing to recognise an interval on the page, but students need to be able to translate that to the keyboard. With the Minterval Challenges, the race is on to not only name the interval, but to play it anywhere on the piano. Who can work their way through all the interval cards in…
Simple Sparks
Simple Sparks are little creative nuggets that you can use to get your students improvising in online or in-person lessons. All of these prompts are independent improvisations so they do not require a teacher to play a duet to make them sound rich and full. How to USE Keep the Simple Sparks page on Vibrant…
Cake of Chaos
Feeling a little chaos coming on? Make a cake out of it with Cake of Chaos! The cards in this game interject a little musical silliness into lessons just when things feel like they’re getting out of control. Use this game year-round, or make it a fun tradition for celebrating your students’ birthdays! How to…