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Hyperactivity and Kid's Piano
Hyperactive kids are very difficult to teach piano, especially using the standard methods. You will find very few piano teachers willing to take on such a challenge. They almost always refuse to teach such kids. But some piano teachers like the challenge of teaching a kid who bounces off the walls with energy.
Stay at least ten steps ahead of such a child, or you will be left in the dust. Some parents warn me that their child is on medication, or is in therapy, and is very hyperactive. Some are called ADHD. I have taught them all and had fun at the same time. You just have to listen to the kid.
How Hyper Is The Kid?
First I observe to what degree they are hyperactive. Are they just fidgety or are they bouncing off the walls? I had one ADHD kid with a wonderful mom who put the piano in the basement, with about three soft sofas and lots of big fluffy pillows. The kid would bounce off the sofas onto the floor, luckily carpeted.
Your first observation should be their attention span. If it is 12 seconds, you will have to devise games that are 12 seconds long, strung together into a half hour lesson. It can be done.
Piano Is Easy
Hyperactivity Is Really Tremendous Energy
Many piano teachers interpret hyperactivity as "bad behavior" but it is not. A hyperactive kid does not know where to put their tremendous energy, and the piano is a perfect tool for them. Try the following activities, each 12 seconds long, each followed by a "game." Not a musical game, but a game like throwing a ball, or something that expends the child's physical energy. Play a single line of a song on our online piano:
Have the child play the above, then quickly start playing ball for a few seconds, keeping a fake "score." Then back to another song or musical game. As long as there is a non-musical game in between, they will do this activity endlessly.
Memory Games Promote Attention
Another game is seeing if the child remembers what they have just played. Play Mary Had A Little Lamb and then come back to it later and see what notes they remember. Give a hint if they falter. This repetition game builds their memory, which is very necessary since their minds move so fast that they might not even remember what happened 12 seconds ago.
Create Theatrical Scenarios
Hyperactive and ADHD kids hate to repeat things which seem pointless, so you need to create scenarios which allow their imaginations to go to work:
- Pretend they are on a television show. They must play for you, the camera
- They are in the circus and must enter from backstage to play a song for the ringmaster, you.
- Suppose they are a scientist and the numbers on the piano actually enter numbers into a secret computer.
- Pretend they are on the space station and must enter the numbers to upload chocolate chip cookies to the space station.
- Don't call it a piano. Call it a Vorplexatronic Floogelator and command them to enter the code 5 3 1 3 5 8 10 9 8 3 #4 5 immediately. (It's the Star Spangled Banner.)
In between each musical game should be a physical game, throwing a ball, throwing a pillow, running around the room. Find what the child likes. That's their reward for working at the piano. It also expends excess energy. I had one kid who rolled a baseball into a shoe every time he got something right. That was his reward!
The conclusion is that hyperactive kids can learn piano, but you have to bend over backwards to create an atmosphere that they do not find stuffy. They have to have action, fun and games. My experience is that these kids are smart, maybe even smarter than most kids. But the wiring of their brain is different, faster, and you, the teacher, have to accommodate it.
REFERENCES:
PIANO BY NUMBER AND DOWN'S SYNDROME
PIANO BOOKS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
PIANO BY NUMBER FOR A SEVERELY DISABLED CHILD
HYPERACTIVE CHILDREN AND THE PIANO
BRAIN HEMISPHERE COORDINATION AND CHILDREN’S PIANO
BRAIN CHEMISTRY AND EMOTIONS IN CHILDREN’S PIANO
BRAINS, CHILDREN AND PIANO
THE PIANIST WITH TWO BRAINS
ENDORPHINS, CHILDREN AND PIANO
WHY KIDS DISLIKE PLAYING WITH THEIR LEFT HAND
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDREN, PIANO, MUSIC AND MATH
EINSTEIN’S PIANO
EINSTEIN’S VIOLIN IMPROVISATIONS IN GYPSY STYLE
PIANO BRAIN CHEMISTRY FOR KIDS
BRAIN HEMISPHERES AND KID’S PIANO
MATH, PIANO AND KIDS
NEUROTRANSMITTERS, CHILDREN AND PIANO
BRAIN STRUCTURE AND KID’S PIANO
