June 2, 2025 • 22 mins
Struggling to connect with students who have speech and language difficulties? You're not alone. In this illuminating episode of the Creative Piano Pedagogy Podcast, Dr. Elizabeth Davis Everhart launches a summer series, "So, I Have This Student..." dedicated to creative, out-of-the-box solutions for students who don't fit traditional teaching approaches.
We dive deep into practical strategies for teaching music to students with speech and language challenges, exploring both sides of lesson communication. The podcast introduces differentiated instruction as a game-changer, and Dr. Everhart shares innovative ways to let students respond without speaking, from using the piano itself to communicate choices to implementing simple hand signals and written responses.
At the heart of these strategies lies a profound respect for student dignity and a commitment to making music lessons about music—not extended conversation. By creating comfortable spaces where students can be themselves, teachers unlock genuine learning potential. Have questions about creative teaching strategies? Reach out through Instagram @creativepianopedagogy or email creativepianopedagogy@gmail.com to be featured in upcoming summer series episodes.
Find the full transcript, show notes or links mentioned in the episode here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everh (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the summer
series for the Creative PianoPedagogy Podcast! I am your host
, Dr.
Elizabeth Davis- Everhart, andit is such a joy to be starting
this new series today.
I am so excited for the thingswe're going to cover in the next
several episodes and over thenext couple of months- all of
(00:23):
the really interesting questionswe're going to go over, maybe
share some hopefully helpfultips with you, some different
approaches, and just have agreat time thinking about
teaching over the summer, butnot in a stressful kind of way.
That's our hope.
So this new series has beeninspired by a lot of questions I
(00:45):
have received from otherteachers, pedagogy students,
university professors, MTNAorganizations, asking "hey, I
have these really interestingstudents.
Do you have any creative or outof thebox solutions or
approaches that might work forthem?
(01:06):
Because typical approaches arenot working.
And that is what this podcastis all about out-of-the-box
solutions and approaches forkids who are not in-the-box kids
.
So we're all about creativeideas and different approaches
to help students grow and learnand really thrive in their music
(01:28):
endeavors.
So, without further ado, here'sthe first episode of our summer
series.
So I have this Student.
Today's question is a reallygood one from a teacher in
Greenville, South Carolina, inthe U.
S.
, and it is (01:44):
"What strategies would you use when teaching
students with speech andlanguage difficulties?
What a great question, and I'msure this is going to apply to a
lot of teachers who havestudents who they've noticed
struggle in communication,whether that be verbal
communication.
(02:04):
Maybe even just understandingone another in the communication
process during the lesson couldbe a challenge.
So I want to talk about acouple of different ways that we
communicate with students inlessons, and I'm talking
specifically about piano lessonstoday, but this could really
(02:25):
apply to any music educationsetting, whether that be a group
or one-on-one, and it could not, doesn't have to be piano, it
could be guitar or clarinet or avoice lesson.
All of us, when we are teaching,we are engaging with students
in communication, and there aretwo ways we primarily do that:
(02:49):
through the giving ofcommunication and the receiving
of it.
So first, in thinking about ourquestion today- students with
speech or language difficulties-when we as teachers are giving
instructions, that iscommunicating with our students,
and if you think ofinstructions as a basis for
(03:11):
communication in the lesson orin your classroom- that is the
bulk of the lesson communication.
This is when we giveinstructions, when we tell the
students what to play next, whenwe're in conversation with them
, when we're asking for theirfeedback or maybe even just
their opinion on what they wouldlike to do next.
(03:32):
All of that conversing iscommunication.
There are things we can doduring that giving of the
communication to help, and oneof those is very simple, and it
is simply not to speak loudly orextra loud.
This is also really importantwhen you're teaching students
(03:53):
who have hearing loss.
We think we have to speak veryloudly and kind of scream, but
we really don't.
So if you're dealing withsomeone who may have a learning
disability or a speech orlanguage delay, do not speak
over top of them or yell at them.
(04:14):
We want to also assume that theperson we're talking to is very
competent, that they'reintelligent and they're able to
understand everything we'resaying, they're able to know
what we're talking about andfollow through.
Don't over explain or talk downto them, even accidentally.
(04:35):
With over explaining, that cancome across a bit demeaning for
individuals with speech andlanguage delays and we always
want to be careful of that.
A really easy way to avoiddoing that is to let the student
show you what they know first,and then observe them and step
(04:57):
in and teach as needed.
We love to learn from ourstudents and I've talked about
this on a couple of pastepisodes as well that our
students are truly our greatestresources.
They are wonderful teachers ifwe're willing to observe and
learn from them, and this is oneof those instances where I
(05:17):
might let the student take thelead and I will observe them,
and then we'll engage and I'lltalk them through the process or
learn from them about whatthey're doing.
That works so well.
This is another great point- ofnot being afraid to let your
students take the lead.
I think as teachers, we oftenthink we have to be the one to
(05:39):
initiate each part of thelearning process as it goes in
succession throughout the lesson, throughout the sequencing, and
we do not have to do that.
It's okay if our students jumpahead to the next thing because
they're already there, there orthey already know what it is and
they may not be able toverbalize- verbalize"hey, I
(05:59):
already know what that is.
Can we skip over that?
" It might be communicated to usas them just playing while
we're talking.
That very well could be thecase, and we don't want to miss
those opportunities of reallyhelping our students take some
autonomy there, and that's okay.
(06:20):
It's great to learn from them.
I love to ask my students howdid you figure that out?
If they jump ahead a couple ofsteps, or if they go ahead
without me, I love to ask themhow did you figure that out?
That was so good.
Your problem solving skills arereally on track today.
Give them a really good,precise, genuine compliment and
(06:43):
then ask how did you get there?
You might be surprised what youlearn and then ask how did you
get there?
You might be surprised what youlearn.
Something else to keep in mindand this really applies to all
lessons, I believe, not justneurodivergent students or folks
with disabilities- but we wantto keep a very calm, kind, open
demeanor while we're teachingand keep a very consistent
(07:04):
presence.
That way, we're welcoming andwarm and since we're dealing
with individuals who may haveanxiety about the things that
make them unique, like speech orlanguage delays, we don't want
to add to that anxiety by beingtense or coming across like we
(07:25):
have certain expectations orthat we're disappointed in how
they're communicating with us.
I just want to be very calm andsort of take it as it comes and
go with the flow.
Something else we can do thatwill really, really help is to
really get to know our students.
This is a very common, sensething, it's not very profound.
(07:47):
But really ask your students-"Do you have any things you do
at school or at work or whateverthat might really help you in
piano?
Do you have any strategies youuse that we could use?
Or, when this happens, doesthis work for you?
Ask your students what works.
(08:08):
Feel free to ask their parentsas well.
It's never a bad thing to reachout to parents and say, hey,
so-and-so is doing great inpiano, but I'm noticing that
we're having a little trouble inthis area.
Is there anything that is beingdone at school or at home that
maybe we could do at piano?
That would also help.
What a great thing to haveconsistency in communication and
(08:30):
express that you care aboutthat.
We also want to be reallymindful of this giving of
communication and giving ofinstructions, making sure that
we are only saying what we needto say, which is very hard.
As musicians, we're not veryconcise people most of the time.
We want to say what we mean,mean what we say and use very
(08:53):
concrete language, telling ourstudents what to do with their
hands, like "put your left handthumb on middle C, that's it.
Or whatever the case might befor the music that you are
teaching, put right hand fingerthree on B flat.
(09:13):
Just use very clear language.
That way you don't have toover- explain, you don't have to
get into a lot of wordyanalogies.
Again, we just want to keep itto the point and tell them what
to do.
This is less for them toprocess.
This is less for them to feelanxious about, because they're
not going to have to filterthrough all of our analogies and
(09:35):
our beautifully eloquent words.
We're just telling them what tothink about right in that
moment, and that is what theyneed.
This goes hand in hand withthat, but But if you're dealing
with an individual and trying tohelp them in music, you don't
want to give them too much to doat one time, especially if they
have a speech or languagedeficiency or delay, and this is
(09:58):
something they are alreadymaybe a bit anxious and
self-conscious about.
We don't want to make thatworsened by giving them too much
on the front end.
So I like to teach in littlebite-sized pieces.
Give them one thing to do, orteach them one thing and then
allow them to experience it.
Allow them to repeat it as manytimes as they want and when
(10:21):
they're comfortable, we go on tothe next thing, and sort of let
them set the pace for thelesson.
This will allow for a moreorganically flowing lesson.
We want to use our students asthe litmus for how quickly to
move throughout the lesson andpacing.
That was actually the topic ofour episode number two of the
(10:43):
podcast- using our knowledgeabout lesson pacing and really
honing this idea ofindividualized teaching for our
students.
So this really comes into playin this situation for
individuals with language orspeech difficulties, giving them
just what they need to know,allowing them to experience and
(11:04):
replicate it before we move onand then taking it as it goes
for the next thing.
One of my favorite ways to teachis to use something called
differentiated instruction, andthis term has lots of synonyms.
There are lots of differentways to say this, but
essentially it's using multipledifferent styles of
(11:27):
communication and teachingthroughout your lesson or your
class.
So instead of me simplylecturing for an entire class, I
might have my students doing ahand signals, like giving me a
thumbs up or making up a song,using improvisation-
(12:01):
differentiated instruction.
This really, really is helpfulfor individuals who struggle
with communication andprocessing language and all of
those things that we're tryingto communicate.
We want to think aboutkinesthetic learning, like using
very tactile things, usingsinging to give our instructions
(12:23):
.
This is a wonderful way to helpyour students audiate and
experience music.
It's a great way to communicatewith individuals who have any
kind of learning disability, andit's a wonderful way to teach-
it really, really is.
And use the piano! If you canplay what you want your student
(12:43):
to replicate, rather than givethem a long string of words and
verbal instructions, just usethe instrument.
Don't go through all of theexplanations.
Think about different ways youcan teach throughout your
lesson, and I would encourageyou to do this for all students,
not just those withdisabilities.
This is a wonderful way totruly engage your students'
(13:07):
whole brain and their whole bodyin the learning process and
keep them truly engagedthroughout the entirety of the
lesson, and really help themexperience music very thoroughly
.
And it's really terrificallyfun as a teacher as well,
because it can get old saying,"okay, turn to the next page in
(13:28):
your book and just sort of goingthrough the motions like that,
it can get dull for us as well.
Something else we want to do forall of our students- I keep
saying that, but it's so true-This is so applicable to all
students.
But before we move on from anew concept or something new
we're doing in the lesson, wewant to make sure we give the
(13:49):
students multiple ways ofdemonstrating that they've got
it, so allowing them to repeatit as it's written in the music
and then changing it.
Have them play the same pattern, but at a different , on the
piano or using a different hand.
Use the opposite hand.
Change the tonality- if If it'swritten in major, then change
(14:11):
it to minor- have Have themtranspose it.
That's a great way to do it.
Have them change thearticulation or dynamics, maybe
do an improvisation using it,perhaps create an on-the-spot
game where you can make surethey really understand and can
repeat it in multiple ways.
That's a great way for studentsto have intentional repetition
(14:34):
of a concept without feelinglike, okay, we're going to play
it 27 more times.
That's so boring for teachersand students and we really can
be a lot more fun with this,can't we?
So that's sort of the giving ofinformation.
That's that giving ofcommunication, if you will.
The other aspect is receiving.
(14:55):
This is how students willreciprocate and communicate with
us.
So this is them followingdirections or answering our
questions we might ask duringthe lesson.
Even fun questions like "wouldyou rather do this or this?
That still needs a response.
So that's going to be usreceiving communication from
them.
This can also be things likefacial expressions.
(15:19):
That can be a way of giving andreceiving communication, even
follow through.
Are they able to follow throughand give that communication
back to us?
So this is something that wehave to really do differently
for individuals with speech andlanguage difficulties, because
we don't want to becomeimpatient and increase their
(15:40):
anxiety.
So do your best to understandwhat they're saying.
If they might have a speechimpediment or you're having
difficulty understanding them,think of different ways to
communicate with them so youdon't have to constantly say
(16:02):
"sorry, what was that or whatdid you say, or I didn't quite
catch that.
That can be so frustrating forstudents with speech and
language difficulties and it canmake them really have a drop in
confidence because they knowthey're not doing a great job of
communicating and maybe theycan't think of another way to
say it right then.
(16:22):
So thinking of ways tocommunicate with them and
receive communication that don'tput extra stress on the
individual in this receiving ofcommunication.
We always want to keep a senseof respect for the individual
we're receiving it from- with alot of dignity and kindness for
(16:44):
them, because it is a veryvulnerable thing to communicate
with someone when that is notyour strength.
I remember when I have traveledto other countries outside of
the U.
S.
and I've had to try to speakthe language of wherever I'm
going, and it's not my firstlanguage or one that I feel
confident in- makes me verynervous, even though I love the
(17:05):
experience.
And that's a very differentexplanation, but think of it in
that term of somebody beingvulnerable and communicating
with you when speech andlanguage are not their strengths
.
You also want to allow formultiple ways of communicating
with someone.
So, rather than always asking astudent questions during the
(17:27):
lesson that require a verbalresponse, give them
opportunities to answer you inother ways, like playing
something on the piano.
Like, "if you want to do this,play a third If you want to do
this game, instead play a sixth,something like that.
Use the piano to communicate.
Use hand gestures like thumbsup, thumbs down, sideways One of
(17:50):
my students loves to do thesideways thumb for like a maybe
response, even facial gesturesand funny things.
Get funny about it.
I had a student that if he didnot want to do something, he
would put his finger on his noseand kind of give me a very
sarcastic look.
So get really fun about it andask your student what they want
(18:11):
to do.
You can also give them thingslike a whiteboard so they can
write responses to you.
But this is a great way to kindof lessen the anxiety so the
student doesn't have to betalking during the whole lesson.
This is the other thing aboutspeech and language delays or
difficulties, is that speech andlanguage is so tied in to how
(18:34):
we learn music.
Music is a language and so manythings like dyslexia and
dysgraphia can really impact howa person is able to absorb and
replicate, ingest and digestmusic and replicate it on their
own.
And so we need to make surethat our lesson is not just full
(18:56):
of a lot of words, that it'sfull of music, because we want
the student to feel like this isa music lesson, not a just 30
or 45 minute or 60 minuteconversation where they have to
talk the entire time.
That's not what we want.
So we want to make them feelcomfortable and, above all, we
want them to feel likethemselves when they're with us
(19:16):
in that lesson, because ourstudents are not going to be
able to truly engage in thelearning process if they're not
comfortable.
All of the things I've sharedtoday are things that I do with
my students regularly.
Even if I don't know or haven'tknown that they have a speech
or language delay or deficiencyor struggle, it's just a good
(19:40):
practice to shake things up abit, communicate a little
differently with your studentsand allow them to communicate
differently to you.
Thank you to the teacher whosubmitted this question! I feel
like these principles are soapplicable for all of our
students and I look forward tohearing how you are going to use
(20:02):
some of these, or maybe some ofyour own ways of
differentiating your instructionin your own lessons.
And this is just a really funthing to think about- how can I
take my lessons and just throw alittle pizzazz in there in the
communication department.
It's something that can beactually really fun if we let it
(20:23):
.
I hope you've enjoyed this firstepisode of our summer series
and let me know your thoughts.
I would love to hear from youIf you have a question or topic
you would like to submit for theseries- You are most welcome
and I would love to hear fromyou.
You can always send thatthrough a DM on Creative Piano
(20:45):
Pedagogy, and you're alsowelcome to send it by email to
creativepianopedagogy@ gmailcom.
Thank you so much for tuning inand I will look forward to
chatting with you
Hello and welcome to the summer
series for the Creative PianoPedagogy Podcast! I am your host
, Dr.
Elizabeth Davis- Everhart, andit is such a joy to be starting
this new series today.
I am so excited for the thingswe're going to cover in the next
several episodes and over thenext couple of months- all of
(00:23):
the really interesting questionswe're going to go over, maybe
share some hopefully helpfultips with you, some different
approaches, and just have agreat time thinking about
teaching over the summer, butnot in a stressful kind of way.
That's our hope.
So this new series has beeninspired by a lot of questions I
(00:45):
have received from otherteachers, pedagogy students,
university professors, MTNAorganizations, asking "hey, I
have these really interestingstudents.
Do you have any creative or outof thebox solutions or
approaches that might work forthem?
(01:06):
Because typical approaches arenot working.
And that is what this podcastis all about out-of-the-box
solutions and approaches forkids who are not in-the-box kids
.
So we're all about creativeideas and different approaches
to help students grow and learnand really thrive in their music
(01:28):
endeavors.
So, without further ado, here'sthe first episode of our summer
series.
So I have this Student.
Today's question is a reallygood one from a teacher in
Greenville, South Carolina, inthe U.
S.
, and it is (01:44):
"What strategies would you use when teaching
students with speech andlanguage difficulties?
What a great question, and I'msure this is going to apply to a
lot of teachers who havestudents who they've noticed
struggle in communication,whether that be verbal
communication.
(02:04):
Maybe even just understandingone another in the communication
process during the lesson couldbe a challenge.
So I want to talk about acouple of different ways that we
communicate with students inlessons, and I'm talking
specifically about piano lessonstoday, but this could really
(02:25):
apply to any music educationsetting, whether that be a group
or one-on-one, and it could not, doesn't have to be piano, it
could be guitar or clarinet or avoice lesson.
All of us, when we are teaching,we are engaging with students
in communication, and there aretwo ways we primarily do that:
(02:49):
through the giving ofcommunication and the receiving
of it.
So first, in thinking about ourquestion today- students with
speech or language difficulties-when we as teachers are giving
instructions, that iscommunicating with our students,
and if you think ofinstructions as a basis for
(03:11):
communication in the lesson orin your classroom- that is the
bulk of the lesson communication.
This is when we giveinstructions, when we tell the
students what to play next, whenwe're in conversation with them
, when we're asking for theirfeedback or maybe even just
their opinion on what they wouldlike to do next.
(03:32):
All of that conversing iscommunication.
There are things we can doduring that giving of the
communication to help, and oneof those is very simple, and it
is simply not to speak loudly orextra loud.
This is also really importantwhen you're teaching students
(03:53):
who have hearing loss.
We think we have to speak veryloudly and kind of scream, but
we really don't.
So if you're dealing withsomeone who may have a learning
disability or a speech orlanguage delay, do not speak
over top of them or yell at them.
(04:14):
We want to also assume that theperson we're talking to is very
competent, that they'reintelligent and they're able to
understand everything we'resaying, they're able to know
what we're talking about andfollow through.
Don't over explain or talk downto them, even accidentally.
(04:35):
With over explaining, that cancome across a bit demeaning for
individuals with speech andlanguage delays and we always
want to be careful of that.
A really easy way to avoiddoing that is to let the student
show you what they know first,and then observe them and step
(04:57):
in and teach as needed.
We love to learn from ourstudents and I've talked about
this on a couple of pastepisodes as well that our
students are truly our greatestresources.
They are wonderful teachers ifwe're willing to observe and
learn from them, and this is oneof those instances where I
(05:17):
might let the student take thelead and I will observe them,
and then we'll engage and I'lltalk them through the process or
learn from them about whatthey're doing.
That works so well.
This is another great point- ofnot being afraid to let your
students take the lead.
I think as teachers, we oftenthink we have to be the one to
(05:39):
initiate each part of thelearning process as it goes in
succession throughout the lesson, throughout the sequencing, and
we do not have to do that.
It's okay if our students jumpahead to the next thing because
they're already there, there orthey already know what it is and
they may not be able toverbalize- verbalize"hey, I
(05:59):
already know what that is.
Can we skip over that?
" It might be communicated to usas them just playing while
we're talking.
That very well could be thecase, and we don't want to miss
those opportunities of reallyhelping our students take some
autonomy there, and that's okay.
(06:20):
It's great to learn from them.
I love to ask my students howdid you figure that out?
If they jump ahead a couple ofsteps, or if they go ahead
without me, I love to ask themhow did you figure that out?
That was so good.
Your problem solving skills arereally on track today.
Give them a really good,precise, genuine compliment and
(06:43):
then ask how did you get there?
You might be surprised what youlearn and then ask how did you
get there?
You might be surprised what youlearn.
Something else to keep in mindand this really applies to all
lessons, I believe, not justneurodivergent students or folks
with disabilities- but we wantto keep a very calm, kind, open
demeanor while we're teachingand keep a very consistent
(07:04):
presence.
That way, we're welcoming andwarm and since we're dealing
with individuals who may haveanxiety about the things that
make them unique, like speech orlanguage delays, we don't want
to add to that anxiety by beingtense or coming across like we
(07:25):
have certain expectations orthat we're disappointed in how
they're communicating with us.
I just want to be very calm andsort of take it as it comes and
go with the flow.
Something else we can do thatwill really, really help is to
really get to know our students.
This is a very common, sensething, it's not very profound.
(07:47):
But really ask your students-"Do you have any things you do
at school or at work or whateverthat might really help you in
piano?
Do you have any strategies youuse that we could use?
Or, when this happens, doesthis work for you?
Ask your students what works.
(08:08):
Feel free to ask their parentsas well.
It's never a bad thing to reachout to parents and say, hey,
so-and-so is doing great inpiano, but I'm noticing that
we're having a little trouble inthis area.
Is there anything that is beingdone at school or at home that
maybe we could do at piano?
That would also help.
What a great thing to haveconsistency in communication and
(08:30):
express that you care aboutthat.
We also want to be reallymindful of this giving of
communication and giving ofinstructions, making sure that
we are only saying what we needto say, which is very hard.
As musicians, we're not veryconcise people most of the time.
We want to say what we mean,mean what we say and use very
(08:53):
concrete language, telling ourstudents what to do with their
hands, like "put your left handthumb on middle C, that's it.
Or whatever the case might befor the music that you are
teaching, put right hand fingerthree on B flat.
(09:13):
Just use very clear language.
That way you don't have toover- explain, you don't have to
get into a lot of wordyanalogies.
Again, we just want to keep itto the point and tell them what
to do.
This is less for them toprocess.
This is less for them to feelanxious about, because they're
not going to have to filterthrough all of our analogies and
(09:35):
our beautifully eloquent words.
We're just telling them what tothink about right in that
moment, and that is what theyneed.
This goes hand in hand withthat, but But if you're dealing
with an individual and trying tohelp them in music, you don't
want to give them too much to doat one time, especially if they
have a speech or languagedeficiency or delay, and this is
(09:58):
something they are alreadymaybe a bit anxious and
self-conscious about.
We don't want to make thatworsened by giving them too much
on the front end.
So I like to teach in littlebite-sized pieces.
Give them one thing to do, orteach them one thing and then
allow them to experience it.
Allow them to repeat it as manytimes as they want and when
(10:21):
they're comfortable, we go on tothe next thing, and sort of let
them set the pace for thelesson.
This will allow for a moreorganically flowing lesson.
We want to use our students asthe litmus for how quickly to
move throughout the lesson andpacing.
That was actually the topic ofour episode number two of the
(10:43):
podcast- using our knowledgeabout lesson pacing and really
honing this idea ofindividualized teaching for our
students.
So this really comes into playin this situation for
individuals with language orspeech difficulties, giving them
just what they need to know,allowing them to experience and
(11:04):
replicate it before we move onand then taking it as it goes
for the next thing.
One of my favorite ways to teachis to use something called
differentiated instruction, andthis term has lots of synonyms.
There are lots of differentways to say this, but
essentially it's using multipledifferent styles of
(11:27):
communication and teachingthroughout your lesson or your
class.
So instead of me simplylecturing for an entire class, I
might have my students doing ahand signals, like giving me a
thumbs up or making up a song,using improvisation-
(12:01):
differentiated instruction.
This really, really is helpfulfor individuals who struggle
with communication andprocessing language and all of
those things that we're tryingto communicate.
We want to think aboutkinesthetic learning, like using
very tactile things, usingsinging to give our instructions
(12:23):
.
This is a wonderful way to helpyour students audiate and
experience music.
It's a great way to communicatewith individuals who have any
kind of learning disability, andit's a wonderful way to teach-
it really, really is.
And use the piano! If you canplay what you want your student
(12:43):
to replicate, rather than givethem a long string of words and
verbal instructions, just usethe instrument.
Don't go through all of theexplanations.
Think about different ways youcan teach throughout your
lesson, and I would encourageyou to do this for all students,
not just those withdisabilities.
This is a wonderful way totruly engage your students'
(13:07):
whole brain and their whole bodyin the learning process and
keep them truly engagedthroughout the entirety of the
lesson, and really help themexperience music very thoroughly
.
And it's really terrificallyfun as a teacher as well,
because it can get old saying,"okay, turn to the next page in
(13:28):
your book and just sort of goingthrough the motions like that,
it can get dull for us as well.
Something else we want to do forall of our students- I keep
saying that, but it's so true-This is so applicable to all
students.
But before we move on from anew concept or something new
we're doing in the lesson, wewant to make sure we give the
(13:49):
students multiple ways ofdemonstrating that they've got
it, so allowing them to repeatit as it's written in the music
and then changing it.
Have them play the same pattern, but at a different , on the
piano or using a different hand.
Use the opposite hand.
Change the tonality- if If it'swritten in major, then change
(14:11):
it to minor- have Have themtranspose it.
That's a great way to do it.
Have them change thearticulation or dynamics, maybe
do an improvisation using it,perhaps create an on-the-spot
game where you can make surethey really understand and can
repeat it in multiple ways.
That's a great way for studentsto have intentional repetition
(14:34):
of a concept without feelinglike, okay, we're going to play
it 27 more times.
That's so boring for teachersand students and we really can
be a lot more fun with this,can't we?
So that's sort of the giving ofinformation.
That's that giving ofcommunication, if you will.
The other aspect is receiving.
(14:55):
This is how students willreciprocate and communicate with
us.
So this is them followingdirections or answering our
questions we might ask duringthe lesson.
Even fun questions like "wouldyou rather do this or this?
That still needs a response.
So that's going to be usreceiving communication from
them.
This can also be things likefacial expressions.
(15:19):
That can be a way of giving andreceiving communication, even
follow through.
Are they able to follow throughand give that communication
back to us?
So this is something that wehave to really do differently
for individuals with speech andlanguage difficulties, because
we don't want to becomeimpatient and increase their
(15:40):
anxiety.
So do your best to understandwhat they're saying.
If they might have a speechimpediment or you're having
difficulty understanding them,think of different ways to
communicate with them so youdon't have to constantly say
(16:02):
"sorry, what was that or whatdid you say, or I didn't quite
catch that.
That can be so frustrating forstudents with speech and
language difficulties and it canmake them really have a drop in
confidence because they knowthey're not doing a great job of
communicating and maybe theycan't think of another way to
say it right then.
(16:22):
So thinking of ways tocommunicate with them and
receive communication that don'tput extra stress on the
individual in this receiving ofcommunication.
We always want to keep a senseof respect for the individual
we're receiving it from- with alot of dignity and kindness for
(16:44):
them, because it is a veryvulnerable thing to communicate
with someone when that is notyour strength.
I remember when I have traveledto other countries outside of
the U.
S.
and I've had to try to speakthe language of wherever I'm
going, and it's not my firstlanguage or one that I feel
confident in- makes me verynervous, even though I love the
(17:05):
experience.
And that's a very differentexplanation, but think of it in
that term of somebody beingvulnerable and communicating
with you when speech andlanguage are not their strengths
.
You also want to allow formultiple ways of communicating
with someone.
So, rather than always asking astudent questions during the
(17:27):
lesson that require a verbalresponse, give them
opportunities to answer you inother ways, like playing
something on the piano.
Like, "if you want to do this,play a third If you want to do
this game, instead play a sixth,something like that.
Use the piano to communicate.
Use hand gestures like thumbsup, thumbs down, sideways One of
(17:50):
my students loves to do thesideways thumb for like a maybe
response, even facial gesturesand funny things.
Get funny about it.
I had a student that if he didnot want to do something, he
would put his finger on his noseand kind of give me a very
sarcastic look.
So get really fun about it andask your student what they want
(18:11):
to do.
You can also give them thingslike a whiteboard so they can
write responses to you.
But this is a great way to kindof lessen the anxiety so the
student doesn't have to betalking during the whole lesson.
This is the other thing aboutspeech and language delays or
difficulties, is that speech andlanguage is so tied in to how
(18:34):
we learn music.
Music is a language and so manythings like dyslexia and
dysgraphia can really impact howa person is able to absorb and
replicate, ingest and digestmusic and replicate it on their
own.
And so we need to make surethat our lesson is not just full
(18:56):
of a lot of words, that it'sfull of music, because we want
the student to feel like this isa music lesson, not a just 30
or 45 minute or 60 minuteconversation where they have to
talk the entire time.
That's not what we want.
So we want to make them feelcomfortable and, above all, we
want them to feel likethemselves when they're with us
(19:16):
in that lesson, because ourstudents are not going to be
able to truly engage in thelearning process if they're not
comfortable.
All of the things I've sharedtoday are things that I do with
my students regularly.
Even if I don't know or haven'tknown that they have a speech
or language delay or deficiencyor struggle, it's just a good
(19:40):
practice to shake things up abit, communicate a little
differently with your studentsand allow them to communicate
differently to you.
Thank you to the teacher whosubmitted this question! I feel
like these principles are soapplicable for all of our
students and I look forward tohearing how you are going to use
(20:02):
some of these, or maybe some ofyour own ways of
differentiating your instructionin your own lessons.
And this is just a really funthing to think about- how can I
take my lessons and just throw alittle pizzazz in there in the
communication department.
It's something that can beactually really fun if we let it
(20:23):
.
I hope you've enjoyed this firstepisode of our summer series
and let me know your thoughts.
I would love to hear from youIf you have a question or topic
you would like to submit for theseries- You are most welcome
and I would love to hear fromyou.
You can always send thatthrough a DM on Creative Piano
(20:45):
Pedagogy, and you're alsowelcome to send it by email to
creativepianopedagogy@ gmailcom.
Thank you so much for tuning inand I will look forward to
chatting with you
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