Creative Piano Pedagogy
This podcast is an enriching resource designed specifically for piano teachers and music educators working with out-of-the-box students: students with disabilities, physical or learning differences, gifted and 2-E learners and neurodivergent students. Each episode delves into innovative teaching strategies, offering insights and practical solutions that promote creativity, inclusivity, and approaches teaching from a positive and student-first environment.
Pedagogue, researcher and music educator Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart will demystify topics such as technique, communication, piano methods, understanding behaviors, autism, ADHD, dyslexia and much more- all with a focus on encouraging teachers to meet the diverse needs of their students and inspiring them to embrace new ideas and cultivate the musical potential of every learner.
Creative Piano Pedagogy
06- Summer Series: Creative Communication for Students with Speech/Language Delays
Struggling to connect with students who have speech and language difficulties? You're not alone. In this illuminating episode of the Creative Piano Pedagogy Podcast, Dr. Elizabeth Davis Everhart launches a summer series, "So, I Have This Student..." dedicated to creative, out-of-the-box solutions for students who don't fit traditional teaching approaches.
We dive deep into practical strategies for teaching music to students with speech and language challenges, exploring both sides of lesson communication. The podcast introduces differentiated instruction as a game-changer, and Dr. Everhart shares innovative ways to let students respond without speaking, from using the piano itself to communicate choices to implementing simple hand signals and written responses.
At the heart of these strategies lies a profound respect for student dignity and a commitment to making music lessons about music—not extended conversation. By creating comfortable spaces where students can be themselves, teachers unlock genuine learning potential. Have questions about creative teaching strategies? Reach out through Instagram @creativepianopedagogy or email creativepianopedagogy@gmail.com to be featured in upcoming summer series episodes.
Find the full transcript, show notes or links mentioned in the episode here!
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Hello and welcome to the summer series for the Creative Piano Pedagogy Podcast! I am your host, Dr. Elizabeth Davis- Everhart, and it is such a joy to be starting this new series today. I am so excited for the things we're going to cover in the next several episodes and over the next couple of months- all of the really interesting questions we're going to go over, maybe share some hopefully helpful tips with you, some different approaches, and just have a great time thinking about teaching over the summer, but not in a stressful kind of way. That's our hope.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:So this new series has been inspired by a lot of questions I have received from other teachers, pedagogy students, university professors, MTNA organizations, asking "hey, I have these really interesting students. Do you have any creative or out of thebox solutions or approaches that might work for them? Because typical approaches are not working. And that is what this podcast is all about out-of-the-box solutions and approaches for kids who are not in-the-box kids. So we're all about creative ideas and different approaches to help students grow and learn and really thrive in their music endeavors. So, without further ado, here's the first episode of our summer series. So I have this Student.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:Today's question is a really good one from a teacher in Greenville, South Carolina, in the U. S., and it is: "What strategies would you use when teaching students with speech and language difficulties? What a great question, and I'm sure this is going to apply to a lot of teachers who have students who they've noticed struggle in communication, whether that be verbal communication. Maybe even just understanding one another in the communication process during the lesson could be a challenge. So I want to talk about a couple of different ways that we communicate with students in lessons, and I'm talking specifically about piano lessons today, but this could really apply to any music education setting, whether that be a group or one-on-one, and it could not, doesn't have to be piano, it could be guitar or clarinet or a voice lesson.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:All of us, when we are teaching, we are engaging with students in communication, and there are two ways we primarily do that: through the giving of communication and the receiving of it. So first, in thinking about our question today- students with speech or language difficulties- when we as teachers are giving instructions, that is communicating with our students, and if you think of instructions as a basis for communication in the lesson or in your classroom- that is the bulk of the lesson communication. This is when we give instructions, when we tell the students what to play next, when we're in conversation with them, when we're asking for their feedback or maybe even just their opinion on what they would like to do next. All of that conversing is communication.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:There are things we can do during that giving of the communication to help, and one of those is very simple, and it is simply not to speak loudly or extra loud. This is also really important when you're teaching students who have hearing loss. We think we have to speak very loudly and kind of scream, but we really don't. So if you're dealing with someone who may have a learning disability or a speech or language delay, do not speak over top of them or yell at them.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:We want to also assume that the person we're talking to is very competent, that they're intelligent and they're able to understand everything we're saying, they're able to know what we're talking about and follow through. Don't over explain or talk down to them, even accidentally. With over explaining, that can come across a bit demeaning for individuals with speech and language delays and we always want to be careful of that. A really easy way to avoid doing that is to let the student show you what they know first, and then observe them and step in and teach as needed. We love to learn from our students and I've talked about this on a couple of past episodes as well that our students are truly our greatest resources. They are wonderful teachers if we're willing to observe and learn from them, and this is one of those instances where I might let the student take the lead and I will observe them, and then we'll engage and I'll talk them through the process or learn from them about what they're doing. That works so well.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:This is another great point- of not being afraid to let your students take the lead. I think as teachers, we often think we have to be the one to initiate each part of the learning process as it goes in succession throughout the lesson, throughout the sequencing, and we do not have to do that. It's okay if our students jump ahead to the next thing because they're already there, there or they already know what it is and they may not be able to verbalize- verbalize"hey, I already know what that is. Can we skip over that?" It might be communicated to us as them just playing while we're talking. That very well could be the case, and we don't want to miss those opportunities of really helping our students take some autonomy there, and that's okay. It's great to learn from them. I love to ask my students how did you figure that out? If they jump ahead a couple of steps, or if they go ahead without me, I love to ask them how did you figure that out? That was so good. Your problem solving skills are really on track today. Give them a really good, precise, genuine compliment and then ask how did you get there? You might be surprised what you learn and then ask how did you get there? You might be surprised what you learn.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:Something else to keep in mind and this really applies to all lessons, I believe, not just neurodivergent students or folks with disabilities- but we want to keep a very calm, kind, open demeanor while we're teaching and keep a very consistent presence. That way, we're welcoming and warm and since we're dealing with individuals who may have anxiety about the things that make them unique, like speech or language delays, we don't want to add to that anxiety by being tense or coming across like we have certain expectations or that we're disappointed in how they're communicating with us. I just want to be very calm and sort of take it as it comes and go with the flow.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:Something else we can do that will really, really help is to really get to know our students. This is a very common, sense thing, it's not very profound. But really ask your students- "Do you have any things you do at school or at work or whatever that might really help you in piano? Do you have any strategies you use that we could use? Or, when this happens, does this work for you? Ask your students what works. Feel free to ask their parents as well. It's never a bad thing to reach out to parents and say, hey, so-and-so is doing great in piano, but I'm noticing that we're having a little trouble in this area. Is there anything that is being done at school or at home that maybe we could do at piano? That would also help. What a great thing to have consistency in communication and express that you care about that.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:We also want to be really mindful of this giving of communication and giving of instructions, making sure that we are only saying what we need to say, which is very hard. As musicians, we're not very concise people most of the time. We want to say what we mean, mean what we say and use very concrete language, telling our students what to do with their hands, like "put your left hand thumb on middle C, that's it. Or whatever the case might be for the music that you are teaching, put right hand finger three on B flat. Just use very clear language. That way you don't have to over- explain, you don't have to get into a lot of wordy analogies. Again, we just want to keep it to the point and tell them what to do. This is less for them to process. This is less for them to feel anxious about, because they're not going to have to filter through all of our analogies and our beautifully eloquent words. We're just telling them what to think about right in that moment, and that is what they need.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:This goes hand in hand with that, but But if you're dealing with an individual and trying to help them in music, you don't want to give them too much to do at one time, especially if they have a speech or language deficiency or delay, and this is something they are already maybe a bit anxious and self-conscious about. We don't want to make that worsened by giving them too much on the front end. So I like to teach in little bite-sized pieces. Give them one thing to do, or teach them one thing and then allow them to experience it. Allow them to repeat it as many times as they want and when they're comfortable, we go on to the next thing, and sort of let them set the pace for the lesson. This will allow for a more organically flowing lesson. We want to use our students as the litmus for how quickly to move throughout the lesson and pacing. That was actually the topic of our episode number two of the podcast- using our knowledge about lesson pacing and really honing this idea of individualized teaching for our students. So this really comes into play in this situation for individuals with language or speech difficulties, giving them just what they need to know, allowing them to experience and replicate it before we move on and then taking it as it goes for the next thing.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:One of my favorite ways to teach is to use something called differentiated instruction, and this term has lots of synonyms. There are lots of different ways to say this, but essentially it's using multiple different styles of communication and teaching throughout your lesson or your class. So instead of me simply lecturing for an entire class, I might have my students doing a hand signals, like giving me a thumbs up or making up a song, using improvisation- differentiated instruction. This really, really is helpful for individuals who struggle with communication and processing language and all of those things that we're trying to communicate. We want to think about kinesthetic learning, like using very tactile things, using singing to give our instructions. This is a wonderful way to help your students audiate and experience music. It's a great way to communicate with individuals who have any kind of learning disability, and it's a wonderful way to teach- it really, really is.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:And use the piano! If you can play what you want your student to replicate, rather than give them a long string of words and verbal instructions, just use the instrument. Don't go through all of the explanations. Think about different ways you can teach throughout your lesson, and I would encourage you to do this for all students, not just those with disabilities. This is a wonderful way to truly engage your students' whole brain and their whole body in the learning process and keep them truly engaged throughout the entirety of the lesson, and really help them experience music very thoroughly. And it's really terrifically fun as a teacher as well, because it can get old saying, "okay, turn to the next page in your book and just sort of going through the motions like that, it can get dull for us as well.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:Something else we want to do for all of our students- I keep saying that, but it's so true- This is so applicable to all students. But before we move on from a new concept or something new we're doing in the lesson, we want to make sure we give the students multiple ways of demonstrating that they've got it, so allowing them to repeat it as it's written in the music and then changing it. Have them play the same pattern, but at a different , on the piano or using a different hand. Use the opposite hand. Change the tonality- if If it's written in major, then change it to minor- have Have them transpose it. That's a great way to do it. Have them change the articulation or dynamics, maybe do an improvisation using it, perhaps create an on-the-spot game where you can make sure they really understand and can repeat it in multiple ways. That's a great way for students to have intentional repetition of a concept without feeling like, okay, we're going to play it 27 more times. That's so boring for teachers and students and we really can be a lot more fun with this, can't we? So that's sort of the giving of information. That's that giving of communication, if you will.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:The other aspect is receiving. This is how students will reciprocate and communicate with us. So this is them following directions or answering our questions we might ask during the lesson. Even fun questions like "would you rather do this or this? That still needs a response. So that's going to be us receiving communication from them. This can also be things like facial expressions. That can be a way of giving and receiving communication, even follow through. Are they able to follow through and give that communication back to us? So this is something that we have to really do differently for individuals with speech and language difficulties, because we don't want to become impatient and increase their anxiety. So do your best to understand what they're saying.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:If they might have a speech impediment or you're having difficulty understanding them, think of different ways to communicate with them so you don't have to constantly say "sorry, what was that or what did you say, or I didn't quite catch that. That can be so frustrating for students with speech and language difficulties and it can make them really have a drop in confidence because they know they're not doing a great job of communicating and maybe they can't think of another way to say it right then. So thinking of ways to communicate with them and receive communication that don't put extra stress on the individual in this receiving of communication. We always want to keep a sense of respect for the individual we're receiving it from- with a lot of dignity and kindness for them, because it is a very vulnerable thing to communicate with someone when that is not your strength. I remember when I have traveled to other countries outside of the U. S. and I've had to try to speak the language of wherever I'm going, and it's not my first language or one that I feel confident in- makes me very nervous, even though I love the experience. And that's a very different explanation, but think of it in that term of somebody being vulnerable and communicating with you when speech and language are not their strengths.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:You also want to allow for multiple ways of communicating with someone. So, rather than always asking a student questions during the lesson that require a verbal response, give them opportunities to answer you in other ways, like playing something on the piano. Like, "if you want to do this, play a third If you want to do this game, instead play a sixth, something like that. Use the piano to communicate. Use hand gestures like thumbs up, thumbs down, sideways One of my students loves to do the sideways thumb for like a maybe response, even facial gestures and funny things. Get funny about it. I had a student that if he did not want to do something, he would put his finger on his nose and kind of give me a very sarcastic look. So get really fun about it and ask your student what they want to do. You can also give them things like a whiteboard so they can write responses to you. But this is a great way to kind of lessen the anxiety so the student doesn't have to be talking during the whole lesson.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:This is the other thing about speech and language delays or difficulties, is that speech and language is so tied in to how we learn music. Music is a language and so many things like dyslexia and dysgraphia can really impact how a person is able to absorb and replicate, ingest and digest music and replicate it on their own. And so we need to make sure that our lesson is not just full of a lot of words, that it's full of music, because we want the student to feel like this is a music lesson, not a just 30 or 45 minute or 60 minute conversation where they have to talk the entire time. That's not what we want. So we want to make them feel comfortable and, above all, we want them to feel like themselves when they're with us in that lesson, because our students are not going to be able to truly engage in the learning process if they're not comfortable.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:All of the things I've shared today are things that I do with my students regularly. Even if I don't know or haven't known that they have a speech or language delay or deficiency or struggle, it's just a good practice to shake things up a bit, communicate a little differently with your students and allow them to communicate differently to you.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:Thank you to the teacher who submitted this question! I feel like these principles are so applicable for all of our students and I look forward to hearing how you are going to use some of these, or maybe some of your own ways of differentiating your instruction in your own lessons. And this is just a really fun thing to think about- how can I take my lessons and just throw a little pizzazz in there in the communication department. It's something that can be actually really fun if we let it.
Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart:I hope you've enjoyed this first episode of our summer series and let me know your thoughts. I would love to hear from you If you have a question or topic you would like to submit for the series- You are most welcome and I would love to hear from you. You can always send that through a DM on Creative Piano Pedagogy, and you're also welcome to send it by email to creativepianopedagogy@ gmailcom. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will look forward to chatting with you
