Everyone learns differently, and learning piano is no exception to this rule.
There are three basic learning styles widely recognized in education–visual, auditory, and kinaestetic.
In piano teaching, visual learners will likely respond well to reading music, while auditory students will learn better by hearing music, and kinaestetic learners will learn best by active application.
Recently, I’ve discovered that one of my students is an auditory learner. My typical “visual” approach to teaching hasn’t been as successful with her as with other students. This has led me on a quest to learn how to best teach an auditory student.
In my research I came across this wonderful article by Susanna Garcia on effectively recognizing and teaching to our student’s learning styles:
Learning Styles and Piano Teaching
If you don’t mind a “technical” read, then I would suggest the entire article. But if you simply want the “synopsis,” then skim along to the summary table later in the article, followed by some smart tips for teaching students with different learning styles.
Understanding our student’s learning style can eliminate the confusion when our teaching method isn’t working. And it can help us shape their musical education in a way that encourages them to excel.
I’d love to hear from you…What type of learning style do you typically teach? What has been your experience with teaching a students that learns differently than you?
Piano with Joy 
As a piano teacher who’s very visual, I came across learning styles about 30 years ago and it was a real challenge. I was attending teaching-training courses and the tutors didn’t know about it! I had a frustrating student who came along each week with different mistakes in the same piece. Convinced he was more intelligent than that, in desperation one day I snatched away his music book and said “Ben, play it!” He played it perfectly. Then I started looking for more Aural/Kinaesthetic learners — and found them easily. Start with the ones who frustrate you!
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Thank you so much for your comment and advice! I really appreciated it, and enjoyed hearing your story of learning to teach students with varying learning styles. Have a blessed day! 🙂
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