Pedagogy Books: The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher

This topic came up on our Facebook Page recently, and one of our readers had a great suggestion. Here is what she said:

“One thing you mentioned is to ‘learn advanced music’ to be more aware of what’s needed in students’ pieces and to teach more effectively. I agree with your statement completely but take it to the maximum and usually don’t teach a piece that I haven’t pre-tested for my student first. I actually do written analysis of complex pieces and prepare written lesson plans. This was a new habit when I began 39 years ago and it has really helped me be secure in my teaching. Going the extra mile on all pieces just exercises your brain so much that you could eventually teach a new piece in your sleep just from observation…”

Skills of Advanced Piano Study

Scott McBride Smith talks about the different skills needed for intermediate study vs. advanced study. I thought this was a great list to get us thinking about what we need to teach our advanced students.

Intermediate Skills:

• accurate note learning and rhythm
• wide-ranging dynamics
• good tone
• appropriate balance between the hands and between voices
• basic projection of form and harmony

Advanced Skills: (“…a higher level of artistry is needed for these challenging works.”)

• phrasing
• rubato
• accent
• tone color
• pedal
• sophisticated practice techniques (lots of slow, super-accurate repetitions, work at different tempos, practice in rhythms and shifting accents, etc.)
• public performances

So many great books out there, so much to learn! What are some of your favorite pedagogy or music books?