Ideas for teaching a NINETY TWO!!! year old

[elisa-thorn]

I’ve just started teaching a 92 year old woman. She’s sharp as a tack still but lacks refined motor skills in her hands…she’s had a harp for a little while and has already developed some bad habits, but also I am just unsure of how much ‘technique’ I’m going to be able to teach her because of the condition of her hands…I want to make this a really positive experience for her because she hasn’t got much to keep her stimulated in the senior home she’s at-

[sherry-lenox]

Does she read music? If so, there are lots of very simple things that will be stimulating for her to figure out, like the melody line of many of the Sylvia Wood

books. If she doesn’t read, ask her what she’d like to play, and see if she can play follow the leader by ear while you play for her.

Ask her what she’d like to do, and what she’d like to set as musical goals for herself. Does she want to play for friends, or is she playing mostly to listen to herself? Hopefully she’ll want to play for others in her facility, and the feedback from others is wonderful!

If her hand position may cause her physical pain or damage, show her how to play more comfortably. If not, ask if she’d like you to show her a way to sound better, then alter her position accordingly.

I’m guessing that she loves the sound of the harp, and having a teacher/mentor is a wonderful bonus. Don’t let yourself get too frustrated by what you have to do until you have a clearer idea of what she’s thinking about her playing.

Although I’m not 92, I am an old beginner, and those are the kinds of things my teacher did when I began, and i’ve loved every minute. I’m sure both you and she will be enriched by what you do together.

[Dwyn .]

Maybe when she’s ready to start two-handed playing, simply have her duplicate what her right hand has been doing, with the left playing an octave lower.

[patricia-jaeger]

Take a look at the well-known piano books: A Dozen a Day”, by Edna Mae Burnham. They are published in at least 5 levels, from Primer to Level Four.These are short, tuneful exercises, sometimes two or three to a page, with clever titles like Fit as a Fiddle and Ready to Go, Shivering in the Shower, Up and Down Stairs, and so on. The charm of the exercises, which build technique on either piano or harp, is enhanced by the fanciful stick-figures, which illustrate each exercise and relate to everyday life. Adapt the printed fingering as needed. Give “stickers” for even moderate performance; she is in lessons with you for enjoyment, not to endure an ordeal

[janelle-lake]

One of my elderly students loves the Phyllis Schlomovitz “Beginner’s Harp Book”.

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

If stiffness of hands is an issue, then running warm water over them before playing can be helpful for various issues. Playing with finger two alone and focusing on maintaining a relaxed hand can help. A surprising amount of music can be played using just fingers 2 and also 1-2.

For students that have physical limitations, I have them do various improvisations in which there are no “wrong” notes. In this way they can focus on the sound of the harp and on a relaxed body. Setting levers/pedals to pentatonic scales is one such pattern as well as using the medieval modes. Having basic layers in the music like a low drone pitch, a slower moving middle layer, and then a faster moving melodic layer can produce a pleasing sound even when the notes are somewhat random. This is most true when you use scales without the leading tone. Focusing on phrasing, tone, and the expression of different moods can teach a great deal of musicality in a free and open manner that maximizes a healthy posture and minimal muscle tension.

[Julietta Anne Rabens]

One more thought – since she is from a different generation she may have songs from the past that she loves. If she has some favorite tunes from the past, you could help her work those out by ear or find music or notate them for her. If her love is for folk or popular music of the past, then some basic chord progressions can be learned which can be re-used in most tunes. The advantage of this is that with a small amount of information a large amount of music can be played. This provides a feeling of progress and mastery over a specific domain in music. Students love that feeling of accomplishment even if they don’t have opportunity to develop into an advanced, classical harpist.

[Anonymous]

Susanna Lowy’s beginner music has big notes, clear fingerings and brackets, and is really beginner friendly.

[patricia-jaeger]

Willis Music Co. has a book for elementary pianists, available from Hal Leonard Corp. by catalog number HL00415613: I KNOW THAT THEME. There are fourteen themes from classic composers that your student has probably heard during her life: Brahms’ Lullaby, Grieg’s Morning, Haydn’s Surprise Symphony, Mendelssohn’s On Wings of Song, and ten more. The arranger of this collection is Edna Mae Burnam (1907-2007!!) and the notation is large size, to suit young or older eyes. Adapt the fingering, and your ninety-two-old harp student should be able to play and enjoy them all.

[kent-vogel]

My very humble two cents worth would be to have someone tune her harp well,several times to get a tolerable pitch, and then have her use her thumbs to gently create fairly well defined descending glisses, with the right and left hands alternating on the same note, played slowly, and then descend to the next string, and repeat the same, so R234,L234,R234,L234,etc., and concentrate on the fulfillment of the beautiful sounds of the four strings played in a descending gliss, and then come up from where she descended to with perhaps a combination of the third and fourth fingers, or all four fingers of each hand depending on

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