A Primer to Primers: Selecting a Method
Welcome to Part II of A Primer to Primers: Practical Approaches to Method Selection. In the previous article, I gave an overview of the four basic approaches to reading that method books tend to use. In this installment, we’ll figure out how to take that knowledge and use it to help us select a method for use with our students. Just like in the first article, I’ve included a suggested resource at the end for more in-depth reading.
So, now you know about the basic reading approaches, and you may have even decided that you like one in particular. If you’re an experienced teacher, you are likely already experienced with one or more of the reading approaches we discussed and you may want to branch out. Regardless of what your preferences are, my recommendation is the same:
Start with an Eclectic method
Play through the first two to three levels
Why an Eclectic method over all the others we discussed?
If you’re a newer teacher without many materials at your disposal, you’ll be exposed to elements from all reading approaches, and you’ll avoid some of the pitfalls associated with methods that use a single reading approach. Teachers who primarily teach out of a method using a single approach often supplement heavily from outside of the series to address some of the shortcomings of that particular approach. Additionally, most popular Eclectic methods already have several volumes of supplemental materials, thus avoiding the need to translate the equivalent difficulty from one series to another. For both new and veteran teachers, an Eclectic method is going to expose you to the best elements from all reading approaches so that you can see what elements of a reading approach blend well with others, and when they are introduced.
Regardless of your level of experience, Eclectic methods actually make supplementing from outside of the series easier because you can base your supplementation around the reading approach in that particular unit of study. Is your student really enjoying repertoire in the “five-finger” position and you want to give them more time before moving on? You can then pull repertoire from a Multikey method like Bastien Piano Basics. Does your student need to spend more time in the early portion of a Primer level learning how to read directionality and intervals? Supplement a few extra pieces from an Intervallic approach like The Music Tree or from the first level of another Eclectic method. Is your student not quite grasping the coordination of arm weight necessary for the five-finger position? Middle C approaches like John Thompson’s Modern Piano Course typically avoid the fourth and fifth fingers until more pitches are introduced, and may have repertoire you can use to continue improving their reading until you are satisfied that they are ready to move on.
In essence, rather than trying to anticipate what your student needs to improve, an eclectic method both exposes and addresses those lagging aspects of development through a varied approach, signaling clearly when a student needs further reinforcement of specific concepts, and teaching you how to supplement in the process. While you don’t need to supplement outside of the series, this can be incredibly helpfully when your student needs more reinforcement than what is available to you in the materials within the series.
Why should you play through the first few levels of a method?
As a rule of thumb, if you don’t enjoy the music, you’re not going to enjoy teaching it and that will come through in how you introduce it to students. Consequently, they’re not going to enjoy learning those pieces very much. Most importantly, especially for these first few levels, be sure to take the time to play through the accompaniments written for each piece. While many methods may incorporate identical (or nearly identical) tunes in their early levels, their accompaniments are usually quite different and can dramatically affect how a piece sounds when both the student and teacher parts are put together. A well written accompaniment can easily elevate an otherwise boring melody.
Beyond the raw appeal of the music, playing through these levels will expose you to the structural learning elements of the method. When I teach Undergraduate and Graduate courses in Piano Pedagogy, one of the texts we use is Jeanine Jacobson’s Professional Piano Teaching Vol. 1. In Chapter 3 (Beginning Methods) she offers an extremely thorough process for evaluating piano methods. This is, in many ways, a moment of reckoning for my pedagogy students (as it was for me during my doctoral studies at the University of Oklahoma!) because it forces them to engage with seemingly “simple” material with a high degree of critical thinking. Some of the key points include evaluating how different concepts are introduced, the pacing of new material, and the appearance of each page. I highly recommend that all teachers attempt this level of evaluation on a method series at least once, and then feel free to reduce the process from there. It will help hone your evaluative process, but – more importantly – it will reveal the amount of work that goes into composing and publishing a method, and perhaps instill a new level of appreciation for the teaching tools we have at our disposal.
If you are a new teacher, you may be wondering how many methods you should select for your studio. I almost always recommend that new teachers start by selecting a single method as there are enough issues to tackle as a new teacher without having to teach from multiple series. Starting with a single method allows you to develop a high degree of confidence as you develop and refine teaching plans for each new concept and piece of repertoire. The skill and confidence that you build by refining your teaching plans will naturally lend itself well to teaching from other methods as you begin to expand your teaching library. This, in turn, gives you the ability to assign different methods to avoid duplication when multiple students from the same family start lessons simultaneously. Additionally, knowing a single method thoroughly will make it much easier to discern the subtle differences between different series, allowing you to assign methods based on the needs of the individual student once you’ve gained experience teaching out of a number of different methods.
To conclude, regardless of your level of experience, I highly suggest turning to an Eclectic method if you are unsure of what method to choose and playing through a few levels to evaluate its appeal. If you are a newer teacher, you may want to try this process with a few methods until you find one that you find sufficiently appealing. Once you’ve found a method that you like, build experience and confidence by designing thorough teaching plans before branching out to other methods. This is an extremely practical and efficient approach, but also one that is relatively safe in that it avoids immersing yourself in too much information too soon.
In the final article of this series, we’ll discuss selecting supplemental materials within a method series and how to incorporate them into the lesson. In the meantime, do you have a favorite method series? Let me know in the comments below!
Suggested Reading
Jacobson, Jeanine. Professional Piano Teaching: A Comprehensive Piano Pedagogy Textbook. Edited by E.L. Lancaster and Albert Mendoza. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. USA: Alfred, 2015.
