​Joyce Cameron is nationally certified in piano and piano pedagogy by the Music Teachers National Association. She is best known for her work with KEYBOARD COMPANION, for her published descriptions of the demonstration teaching at the 1988 and 1990 meetings of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy, and for coordinating the NCPP Learni...

The two contributors to this issue were asked to answer the same question-How do you motivate the MTV lover to be a serious piano student? However, having spent some time with their responses, it seems clear that they have answered two different questions. Thus, before you read what they have written, I invite you to consider the nature of this kin...

In the last issue, students and parents responded to the question, What makes piano study a positive experience for you or your child?, and I invited readers to read the comments and to form their own conceptualization of recurrent theme(s). As I searched for common themes, it seemed to me that the major one was that the teachers of these children ...

The feeling engendered by teaching can span the full range of human emotion-stimulating, routine, exciting, boring, satisfying, frustrating, fulfilling, discouraging, and so on. In fact, using the language of today's bumper stickers, these feelings can range from "I " teaching" to "I'd rather be _____," filling in the blank with any activity t...

Piano teachers have to make dozens, perhaps hundreds, of decisions during each teaching day. But, have you ever really thought about how you make all of those decisions? Do you just say the first thing that comes to mind? Do you have a particular procedure for deciding? In the Autumn 1993 issue of KEYBOARD COMPANION, Alana and Richard Kennell ...

Improvisation, in the sense of the simultaneous composition and performance of music, or in the sense of using available musical materials to fulfill an immediate need, has been a part of keyboard music making for centuries. Yet, many current piano students have not had the opportunity to explore this dimension of music making. ...

​​by Joyce Cameron with the help of seven students and parents Imagine. You have engaged in some activity for a number of weeks- or months- or years. Now you sit back and think about what you have been doing. How do you go about evaluating your participation in this activity?​ It is likely that you find yourself grouping qualities of...

Fun, a simple three letter word which is probably a part of every young child's vocabulary, can be used to communicate two very different kinds of meaning. One meaning is pejorative in nature; the other is associated with the experience of pleasure. The resulting potential for confusion can be seen in the following pairs of sentences:  Do...

How Do You Decide What to Say After Your Student Finishes Playing? In any teaching/learning situation, a teacher's behavior is the result of decisions made before, during, and after a particular teaching/learning transaction. The difficulty for piano teachers who would like to improve their teaching is that rarely do we get an opportunity to observ...

For the rare student, motivation just seems to take care of itself, but with many teens, the problem of motivation can seem to be beyond the reach of a teacher's best efforts. Yet, both of the contributors to this issue of KEYBOARD COMPANION have had notable success in their work with students of this age. Despite...

The task of responding to this question is daunting, especially if one considers that musicians and philosophers have argued about the nature of music, and of musical communication, for centuries. Yet, I do not believe that the task is impossible. Certainly one way to find the musical messages in a piece of music is by careful, theoretical analysis...

Movement in music occurs on many levels. It can be felt in one's body as a conscious - or unconscious - physical response to a vibrant march, a soothing lullaby, or some other sort of music. It can be studied through a consideration of issues related to pulse, rhythm, phrase structure, phrase shape, and musical form. And, in teaching, physical move...

Joyce Cameron, Assistant Professor of Music at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, teaches piano performance, piano pedagogy, and functional keyboard skills.  For over 25 years, she has searched for answers to two questions: "How can I help piano students become independent learners?" and "How can I help students cultivate the creative...