This is a question which for too many pianists leads to such answers as:
What a pity!
The reality is that too many of us can’t sit down at the piano – without notice, without notation, and without embarrassment – and simply play something!
Many of my students and teacher colleagues will no doubt be breathing tired sighs of relief at the prospect that they will soon be “on holiday” … a time not just for sandy beaches, but for taking a break from the routines and responsibilities that can crowd our lives throughout most of the year.
Even those of us who continue teaching in some capacity throughout July and August will no doubt enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere and warm evenings over the coming weeks, and hopefully be able to catch ourselves at least some time away from the job!
But I noticed early in my teaching career that, come September, my returning students had often all but forgotten how to play the piano! So that’s a concern…
The relaxation of August can give way to a rather depressing start to the Autumn Term. Is there any way that as teachers (and parents) we can address this common problem?
One common approach is for teachers to set students a summer challenge of one sort or another – and for those students who haven’t yet developed an Active Repertoire this might be the ideal moment to introduce the idea…
With preparations for Christmas concerts, shows and services under way for many piano players, it is tempting to leave our Active Repertoire to one side while we focus on festive favourites.
If you would like to read about some of the best new Christmas sheet music, do check out my recent round up review here.
So here is a special gift to help balance our musical goals over the next few weeks, in the run up to Christmas itself.
Christmas Repertoire Sheet DOWNLOAD
The Christmas Repertoire sheet can of course be used how you like, but personally I advise my students to use it exactly as we use our standard Active Repertoire sheets throughout the rest of the year.
For now, why not just copy over the three pieces from your current Active Repertoire sheet, but as we approach Christmas, look to replace or supplement those pieces with your Seasonal choices?
Alternatively, some will want to focus solely on Christmas Carols and songs, revising those already learnt in previous years as repertoire to play from memory over the coming weeks.
As always, the choice is with each player. And however you use the Christmas Repertoire sheets, I hope that it will make a positive contribution to your piano journey over the next two months!
Guest Post by Joni Hawkes
The recent articles on Active Repertoire on Pianodao have struck a chord with me … quite literally.
As an adult beginner into my third year of lessons, I have often found myself avoiding situations where I might be asked to play something, because I simply couldn’t play anything spontaneously without my trusty sheet music to hand.
The more pieces that I learned, the more they were becoming just a growing collection of stuff I couldn’t play.
The concept of Active Repertoire (always having 3 pieces that I enjoy playing, without notice, without embarrassment and without notation) has completely changed my approach to playing.
I now start every practice session by playing my 3 favourite pieces, and whilst I still have the book in front of me, I’m finding that with each session I’m increasingly looking away from the music as I play.
Continue reading Active Repertoire: An Adult Student’s Perspective
Since writing my article What can you play? readers have shown quite an interest in my concept of Active Repertoire.
Now I am going to explain a little more about how Active Repertoire fits into the wider picture of your piano journey.
One of the major stumbling blocks for players is that we too often feel that we are struggling, making little progress, and perhaps just haven’t got what it takes to become a “good player” (however we define what that even is!).
To enjoy playing an instrument, we need to move beyond this negative self-talk. And I suggest that one of the most easy and powerful ways we can all achieve this is to adjust the balance between working and playing during our personal piano time.
