Do you ever have a season where piano lessons seem to be going well… then suddenly, your piano student is stuck?

For no reason at all, they suddenly come to a screeching halt in learning, music is a struggle for them, and you go weeks without making any progress.

Metaphorical “brick walls” in piano lessons are a weird thing and often unpredictable.

If you’re like me, you want to get your piano student out of their “stuck” zone as soon as possible.

I have some piano teaching ideas for you today especially for when your piano student is stuck. 

However, before I give you the ideas, you have to consider an important first step.

Find the root for why your piano student is stuck

Before you can work on solutions to getting a student “unstuck,” you have to figure out the root: why your piano student is stuck.

There are so many possible causes, but here are a few to consider so you can best help when your piano student is stuck.

Possible Root: Lack of piano practice

The most common root I’ve found when my piano student is stuck is a lack of practice. 

It’s often this vicious cycle: the student doesn’t practice, then struggles to understand music (or remember concepts), then gets stuck, then decides they hate piano so they don’t practice, and the cycle continues.

If you can help them break free from the cycle they’re stuck in, they will get out of their rut and begin enjoying music again.

Possible Root: Emotional trauma

Sometimes, events are happening at home or school that are completely unrelated to piano, yet they affect the student’s musical concentration and ability.

You cannot legally counsel your student through their trauma, but if you detect there is something under the surface, you can offer an element of stability and extend grace during lessons.

Possible Root: Learning disabilities

We all have students we suspect have ADHD or other learning obstructions, some of which are undiagnosed.

It isn’t our place to diagnose our students’ learning disabilities; however, we can research new teaching methods for students who need a little extra attention and creativity.

Possible Root: Health problems

I can speak from experience here as I struggle with several chronic illnesses that can be debilitating and therefore affect my piano playing.

I knew the importance of communicating how health issues limited my piano playing with my teacher.

By having those discussions, when I was in a health flare (symptoms got worse), my teacher was able to initiate good conversations about music even though I was physically unable to practice or even play in lessons.

Not all students are that open about their health struggles.

Your student might not have chronic health issues, but things like stomach aches, headaches, PMS/menstrual cycles, and seasonal allergies are common health ailments with which most students suffer and it can affect their concentration and ability to be at their best.

Sometimes it just takes a touch of discernment.

Possible Root: Boredom

Sometimes, when a piano student is stuck, they’re really just bored with their music.

It could be boredom from music that is too easy and they need a challenge.

Or, they’re bored because they aren’t interested in the genre of music you’re assigning.

Possible Root: Confusion

If your student doesn’t understand the assignment, the music, or the theory concept, it could bring them to an abrupt halt in learning.

They might not even realize they’re confused or they might be too shy to ask questions.

Possible Root: It’s too hard

Some students genuinely reach the point where the music advances too quickly for them to keep up.

I have found this to be true for many of my Level 1 students.

They soar through the Primer book and then some method books introduce too many new concepts too quickly and they get stuck.

8 ideas for when your piano student is stuck

Once you discover (or suspect) your students’ potential root problems, the next step is to work on a solution.

The main goal is to get a student engaged in lessons again because they feel accomplishment instead of failure.

1) Communicate with piano student or parents

Sometimes, the easiest step is to openly talk to the parent and student in a way that communicates that you want to help the piano student in the best way possible.

For example, you can tell the student, “I’ve noticed you’ve not seemed as excited about piano lately. What do you think about your pieces? Is there a piece you really want to learn? What ideas do you have?”

Or you can say, “Remember last year, you were obsessed with piano! What do you think will help you become obsessed with it again?”

Maybe the student has preferences but is too shy to ask you about them. 

Or maybe the student will admit that their new school year is really stressing them out and they can’t handle the music load they used to be able to.

If the student is willing to talk to you, you can work with them to find a good solution to the problem when the piano student is stuck.

You can also ask the parents if they have ideas to engage their child’s interest in piano lessons again.

If you think the root problem is lack of practice, you can ask the parent to help their child practice better.

You definitely want to talk to both student and parent in a non-threatening way.

It is common for piano students to be stuck throughout their musical journey.

Be sure you communicate this if you invite the parent or student to help you find a satisfactory solution.

2) Get out of the lesson book with other repertoire

Sometimes, the piano student is stuck because of their lesson book.

Maybe it moved too quickly for them.

Maybe it moved too slowly for them.

Or maybe the student just doesn’t find the tunes to be catchy enough.

There are many books with fun music out there.

I’ve got a list to get you started, but this is by no means an exhaustive list and I might not have mentioned your favorite (if so, feel free to make even more suggestions in the comments!).

• Piano Adventures: PreTime, PlayTime, ShowTime, ChordTime, FunTime, BigTime
• Chrissy Ricker (Let’s Quest series, Rock On series)
• Daniel McFarlane (Supersonics, Castle Escape, Groovy Beats)
• Trevor and Andrea Dow (Wunderkeys, Performance Companion, Pop Companion)
• Melody Bober (Grand Piano Solos, Solo XTremes)
• Jon George
• Martha Mier (Jazz, Rags, & Blues)
• Piano Pronto
• Little Gems for Piano
• FJH In Recital
• Piano Safari
• Kevin Olson (Imaginations, My Kind of Music)
• William Gillock
• Wynn-Anne Rossi (Musica Latina, Jazzin Americana)
• Mike Springer
• Kristen Allred (Jungle Beat)
• Christopher Goldston (Fantastic Fingers)
• Kevin Costley (“Portrait” books)
• Dennis Alexander
• Robert D. Vandall
• Sam Wedgwood
• David Carr Glover
• Helen Marlais
• Mona Rejino
• Elizabeth Swift
• Amanda Tero (hymn arrangements)

3) Get out of the lesson book with piano improvisation

If the student is burnt out with note-reading, do some improvisation.

This works for all levels of musicians.

Very beginning piano students can do black note improvisation.

More advanced students can use chords (including jazz chords).

Part of teaching piano is to help the student feel a thrill of creativity with music.

There is no greater way to attain this than to teach improvisation.

And just maybe, it will be the thing to get the piano student out of their rut.

4) Have general music conversations

It’s easy to think that teaching piano means actively helping the student learn music all the time.

However, you can give your student a well-rounded musical education by having conversations that are not piano-exclusive.

You can dig up YouTube videos with famous orchestral pieces.

You can talk about the different historical elements of composers.

Chart a popular song.

There are endless options to get your student interested in various aspects of music.

5) Assign multiple pieces with similar concepts

If your piano student is stuck because of difficulty understanding new concepts, find several pieces that review similar concepts. 

Additionally, you can assign these pieces with the intention of the student understanding the basic elements, but not mastering the piece before they move to a new piece. 

This helps the student gain confidence and also gives them a morale boost because they are not staying on the same piece for months.

6) Assign shorter pieces

Maybe your piano student is stuck because they are overwhelmed. If such is the case, then assign shorter pieces that they can master in a shorter amount of time.

An alternative to this is to print sheet music (legally) and cut it into sections and only send a small section home at a time for a student to learn. 

7) Try sightreading challenges

No one likes to feel stuck; so if your student is struggling to master new pieces, consider having a sightreading challenge.

It doesn’t matter what they read (you can even lend them books well under their level).

It just matters that they’re on the piano reviewing something.

8) Play games to give the student a break & refresh them emotionally

And yes, we have to bring music games into the picture!

There are no limits to the music games you can play in your piano studio.

If you need a quick game, read our blog post 5 LOW-PREP MUSIC GAMES.

If a piano student is having an emotionally difficult time, can’t practice, or doesn’t understand a new concept, playing games instead of doing normal lesson activities might be a good solution.

Depending on the student’s emotional state, you might want to choose a music game that is easy for them to master.

Pick a game that covers concepts they probably know well and have an award at the end.

If the student is just not practicing, you can pick a game that will teach and challenge them a little.

Use lesson time for your non-practicer to teach new theory concepts that will benefit them in the long run.

Keep the ideas coming for when your piano student is stuck!

Can you think of other possible root causes for when your piano student is stuck? 

What about solutions?

Please join the conversation so we can all learn and grow as piano teachers.

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