A warm, lighthearted attitude AND music that speaks to the student’s interest! These can dissolve even challenging concepts and passages.
Watch student Serena’s eyes light up in this teaching demonstration by Theresa Cheng. She is using sharable slides from the Disney KIT, a simple but powerful digital bundle for the nine songs of PreTime Disney. Great for private lessons, online class, or summer camp! Available in the Piano Adventures Teacher Atlas.
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5 replies on “Watch a Video Demonstration of our Disney KIT”
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Great! I would have incorporated staccato LIFT! It is especially effective after the lovely hand shaping awareness exercise. Technique is challenged when playing non acoustic instruments. Emphasizing tap and hand and arm weight is one of my favorite parts of the Faber methodology. The keys are a “No stabbing zone”. Wonderful pattern approach to the song. Thank you.
A big pet peeve of mine is piano teachers who play like a child – instead of modeling musicality.
Thanks for this perspective, Phyllis! A longer clip from this lesson could reveal more teaching strategies on display. In this brief demonstration, the model is in the context of getting the student to recognize the tune. Interestingly, limiting the technical expectations of a Primer Level performance has positive implications for relaxation. As Randall Faber writes in a pedagogy article, “We commonly hear young primer-level students play all notes detached, poking at each key with a pump of the wrist or a stab with the elbow. While we want to minimize (but not necessarily eliminate) the wrist pumping, this non-legato touch inserts a relaxation between each note, which can be beneficial. The student is naturally building coordination by practicing a relaxation response after each finger plays. Granted, it doesn’t sound good to a musician’s ear, but it does seem to improve coordination (and rhythm as well).”
I have been a professional piano teacher for over fourty years. Recently and unfortunately, most young kids I have taught are not familiar with classic Disney songs.
Congratulations on your years of experience, Daniel! One nice aspect of the PreTime to BigTime Disney books is that they include a mix of classic and contemporary Disney songs that appeal across generations. Plus, Disney itself regular renews interest in its evergreen catalog through remakes, spin-offs, and theme park experiences. Have you seen the new Cruella film yet?