A Word About Piano Worksheets

I have been teaching a really long time. And I’ve taught music to all kinds of students in many different situations. I’ve taught my own children and grandchildren and I’ve been a music Mom and Grandma while they studied with some excellent teachers. I’ve also been a classroom music teacher, choir director, special education, and early childhood music teacher. I don’t think of myself as an expert giving advice to teachers on this website. Rather I think of myself as a music teacher friend sharing what I know has worked with different kinds of students.

I say that because it has me thinking about one of my younger students many years back. I gave him a worksheet and he dramatically put his head on the table and groaned loudly, “Not another worksheet!” What had I done wrong? I knew immediately.

It was a long piano worksheet and he knew it was going to take a long time. It was just too much for the little guy. I was quickly able to turn things around and explain it was a game, because it could be used either way. That made all the difference with this particular student and he was happy again.

But it reminded me of something that I have always shared with teachers. If we as music teachers teach theory, we are going to need material, probably more than is in a theory book. And since music students don’t come every day, they need to review the material or they will forget everything we have carefully taught them. Worksheets can be very helpful as teaching material as long as we use them wisely.

Young students sign up for piano lessons to play music. They don’t sign up for music theory and they are too young to understand how it will help them be better musicians. Our material should be educational, attractive, age appropriate, and not too long and involved. Theory is in addition to learning how to play their instrument, not the other way around. Of course, sometimes we want to give our students something just for fun, and that can be valuable in a different way.

Lucky you if you are able to schedule weekly group theory classes. However, most teachers teach theory during the lesson, so we have to watch our time and make every activity worthwhile!