Teaching Piano Technique Motions Creatively: Caterpillar Crawl

Teaching Piano Technique Motions with the Caterpillar Crawl Video

I'm fortunate to have a houseful of children that I can try out my new piano teaching ideas on.  Although that can pose a challenge at times when I'm trying to provide motivation for 5 kids to  practice regularly or keep a quiet professional lesson environment, I love "playing" piano games with my children. I created this musical movement activity to practice wrist movements with my preschooler.  The video is a shortened version of Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca.

Piano Technique and Artistry: Group Lesson Activities

For the month of March in my studio, since the focus is on playing more artistically with proper technique as students work toward their Technique Wizard Challenges, I've rounded up and created some group activities to introduce and reinforce these concepts in a memorable way.

Hear See and Feel the Fun- Music Games and Activities

I put together this handout full of fun game ideas for a Round Table presentation I did at a UVMTA event for the music teachers in my area.  With so many fun game and activity resources, it was difficult to choose which ones to highlight.  But fortunately, the links at the bottom can take you to my organized games list so you can pick your favorites for yourself or add a note in the comments to share your favorite off the bench activities!

Why Games and Activities?

·         Engage – Games appeal to visual, tactile auditory and kinesthetic learning styles.

·         Solidify – Repetition with appealing adaptations solidifies learning without boredom.

·         Assess Mastery – Games provide a non-threatening avenue to “test” skills without the fear of failure.

·         Isolate Concepts – Gradually introducing isolated ideas prepares for mastery without frustration and is a useful tool in tuning up trouble spots.

Sample Music Games & Activities

Summer Piano Group Synergy

Group lessons are one of my favorite aspects of piano teaching!  I love the synergy of gaming and the sense of accomplishment students exhibit as they perform for each other on a regular basis.

This month our group lesson included Caterpillar Crawl, Music Candyland, Music Jenga,  Toss Note and Technique Pattern Bingo.  Following are some at home activities that students can try to extend the learning of the concepts we introduced or reviewed at group lessons.

Piano Technique Warmups Caterpillar Crawl Video

How do you prepare beginning piano students to play with proper technique?

Teaching proper piano technique is not a "one and done" activity, but instead something that requires repetition and frequent reminders to master.  

I posted this unique piano warm-up exercise a few years ago that introduces the various movements necessary to play the piano with proper technique as students listen to excerpts from a Mozart favorite, Rondo alla Turca. Written directions and lyrics are included on this post, and the video also includes lyrics .

 I have used it periodically at group lessons, but with this new video, students can also warm up regularly at home as they follow along with the motions demonstrated in the video.  

Frequent repetition prepares students to use the motions with automaticity early on as the brain pathways are already paved before they actually encounter frequent scale thumb tucks, phrase end float-offs and other technical motions in their music. After a brief explanation, the exercise begins at 1:06.

This Free Printable Caterpillar Crawl Music Map can help students visualize the form of the music with it's repeating patterns.

More Tips for Teaching Piano Technique

Proper Hand Position with Nile the Crocodile

Piano Technique Wizard Challenges

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson

New Tool for Teaching Piano Wrist Movements

PA Primer: Black Ants/Black Birds Hand Position and Finger #s

This post includes activities that correlate with "Black Ants" and "Black Birds" in Piano Adventures Primer.

Music Sample

Click the links below to watch the Adventure Learning Videos in Unit 1 or try the super student challenges. 

Piano Scale Thumb Tuck Challenge

Last week I introduced the "Can Can" to one of my piano students with a focus on playing even one-octave scales without a wrist bump.  I started with a daring challenge that really intrigued him.

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 3

Teaching One Octave Scales on the Piano

The transition from pentascales to one octave scales is a big leap that is more successfully taught with some preparatory activities.

Motivating Beginning Piano Technique Mastery with Wizard Challenges

In order to earn the "Technique Wizard Challenge" on my piano student leaderboard, students complete the following technique challenges that correspond with their current level.

Elementary Piano Teaching Videos for Flipped Learning

After teaching piano lessons for over 15 years I've compiled a list of my favorite short videos for introducing beginning music concepts to piano students.

These brief videos are a great way to introduce or review musical concepts during piano lab and at group lessons.

To make the concepts stick even more, I invite students to engage by doing motions, creating artwork or singing along as appropriate. This multi-sensory approach reinforces the ideas more deeply.

Creative Activities for Beginning Level Piano Lessons

After over 5 years of blogging, the posts are beginning to pile up and some ideas tend to get "lost in the crowd".  So today I organized my previous posts that pertain to beginning piano teaching ideas.  They are listed in the approximate order that I introduce the concepts in lessons.

High/Low Sounds
  Mason Jar Melodies
  Teaching Ear Training Through Song

Right/Left
  Piano Pokey
Piano Technique/Position Concepts
  Song: "At the Piano sit straight and tall.. "
  Caterpillar Crawl  (Firm Fingers, Flexible Wrist, Float-offs)
  Finger Trampoline (Firm Fingers)
  Nile the Crocodile (Level Wrist, Thumb Slide, Rounded Hand)
 1st Piano Adventures Wrist Forearm Fingertips, Cat-Backs, Hangin' on a Fence Post
  Rainbow Wrist Ribbons
Finger Numbers
  Where is One?
  Cookie Dough
Steady Beat
  Steady Beat Elephants, Woodpeckers, etc.
  Trepak Baseball

New Tool for Teaching Wrist Movements

Today my daughter was struggling to catch on to the concept of wrist rotation in her "Airplane Pilot" song which involves a lot of rotating back and forth from C to G w/ fingers 1 &5. But when we added some "wings" to her airplane with this simple tongue depressor the improvement was dramatic . The "wings" made her subtle movements much more obvious so she could easily visualize the rotation. I'm happy to be adding one more whimsy tool to my bag of piano tricks!
Next up might be a mini "wrist skirt" for her to wear while she dances her fingers on the keys...............anything "princess" is sure to win her heart!

More Tips for Teaching Piano Technique

Proper Hand Position with Nile the Crocodile

Piano Technique Wizard Challenges

Teaching Technique Motions Creatively - Caterpillar Crawl Video

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson

Technique Warmups

How to Maximize Learning in Music Lessons

The time at music lessons just seems to fly by each week because time flies when you are having fun!   Following are some ideas and links to resources I shared at the UVMTA Workshop: Spicing up Music Lessons-Using Creative Activities to Maximize Learning  At the end of the post is a youtube video recording of the entire workshop.

7 Principles to Make the Most of Music Lesson Minutes

12+ Months of Free Music Group Lesson Plans

Planning Piano Group Lessons

Choosing a monthly focus topic for piano lesson not only simplifies lesson planning, but it also helps me ensure that students are getting a well-rounded exposure to musical concepts that can easily be overlooked like composition and ear training.

Piano Lab Activities Prep Level

Choose from the online activities below for young beginner piano students to use for flipped learning or reinforcement of piano teaching concepts. 

Technique (Flexible Wrist, Firm Fingers, Wrist Float-offs)
  Caterpillar Crawl
Left/Right & Finger Numbers
  Tonic Tutor Finger Puppets 

Online Piano Learning Activities Organized by Concept and Level

The online piano activity list includes a variety of links to online games, listening activities, theory/technique videos,

Piano Adventures 2A: My Daydream and G Pentascale, Ritardando

 This post includes lesson plans for "My Daydream" in Piano Adventures 2A.

Music Sample

Tap the rhythm as you listen to My Daydream.