Back in September I had an inkling that maybe I should try teaching piano lessons. The next day in a catch-up conversation with a former colleague I mentioned my idea, and she immediately volunteered her daughter to be my first student. A little caught off guard, I tried to buy myself a little more time to figure out HOW to teach piano lessons.. what books to buy? how to start? what to do? I contacted an old teacher for advice, and then nervously agreed to start.
Over the last 5 months I've added students one by one, mostly by referral, and have become increasingly comfortable in my teacher role. My students and their pianos come in all shapes and sizes--from electric keyboards propped on kitchen tables to baby grands in bay windows.
This morning, however, lest things become dull, I got an email from one student's mother announcing that her daughter had broken her right pinky finger. She can't write or do sports, her mother informed me, but she really wants to continue piano. Can you focus on the left hand?
My go-getter spirit chimed in and I figured I would rise to the challenge. Probably her fingers were splinted together, but the piece we had been working on actually only used her first 3 fingers in the right hand. When I got to her house this afternoon, however, her entire right hand up to her elbow was in a soft cast! Her babysitter matter-of-factly reassured me that it will probably only be about a month. That's 2 hours of piano lesson time. With one hand.
So this is a new challenge indeed. I have a one-handed piano student. Suggestions welcome.
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