Sight read.
Have a 30-minute theory lesson.
Work on scales/technique.
Try some fakebook playing/harmonization exercises!
Transpose a hymn.
Teach them about your favorite composer and listen to a piece.
Show them a YouTube video of one of the GREATS performing a piece the student is working on.
Play duets.
Talk about how to accompany.
Teach them how to conduct music.
Listen to music from your iTunes and practice finding the underlying beat.
Using their knowledge of primary chords, help them figure out how to play "Happy Birthday to You!"
Get out a piece from your own library and have an entire lesson on how to learn a new piece.
Teach them about good practicing tips.
Show them the inside of your piano and teach them how it works.
Teach them about the damper pedal and let them play simple arpeggios while holding down the pedal.
Do some ear training.
Make up some musical question and answer phrases.
Teach them about major & minor, then have them listen to excerpts of pieces and identify if it is major or minor (or sounds "happy" or "sad").
Teach them about simple transposition by changing from one five-finger position to another.
Improvise a song about a thunderstorm. Or a train. Or Halloween.
Have a lesson on a new technique, such as staccato or legato.
Teach them the blues scale. Improvise some blues riffs!
Have a few music theory games on hand to pull out in situations such as this.
Quiz them on flashcards.
Have a flashcard "spelling bee" and see how quickly they can spell words with their flashcards (cage, face, age, facade, ace, etc.)Have confidence in your experience, your training, and your musical knowledge, and don't even flinch - teach them a stellar lesson on something you usually don't have much time for during the lesson! After all, are we not trying to produce well-rounded musicians? Use this opportunity to round out their music education a bit and focus on something other than their repertoire for one week.
Labels: Jenny Boster, Teaching with Confidence, When students forget books