Resources for Impaired Piano Students and Their Teachers

by John M. Zeigler, Ph.D. and Nancy L. Ostromencki
Rio Rancho, NM USA

hile we have had limited experience teaching severely impaired students, we often get requests for information about how such students can be taught to play the piano, both from concerned parents and teachers. We strongly believe that people should be given the opportunity to experience the joys of music, even if their pathways to those joys have been made more difficult due to physical impairments. To that end, we have assembled this page of resources and suggestions for teachers and parents who have impaired students. Note that we neither offer medical advice here nor imply that we are qualified to offer such advice.

We hope to add to this page as we learn more. If you have experience teaching impaired students or know of valuable sources of information for impaired students of the piano, please let us know by e-mail so that we can add that information. For those who would like to explore some links to pages relevant to this topic, please see our Music-Related Links page.

Repertoire for Piano One Hand | The Teaching Studio | Piano Education Home

Preliminaries for Student and Teacher

Even with extensive experience, such questions are difficult to answer in a generally useful way. The number of impairments is large, ranging from visual impairments to blindness to hearing problems to impairment of one or both hands to neurological problems like cerebral palsy, which can affect a number of the necessary motor skills involved in playing the piano. Moreover, their manifestations are so varied that there are no simple or quick answers for any individual.

Impaired individuals should always consult their physicians and/or physical therapists before undertaking any activity which could affect their impairment or which their impairment could affect. Ideally, you should get a written statement from the physician which verifies that you are able to undertake study of the piano and lists any particular limitations that should be observed, if any, in order to practice or take lessons safely. This kind of statement is standard for non-impaired individuals participating in school sports activities, so your doctor should have little problem in preparing one for you.

Once you've consulted your physician and been informed that it is medically feasible for you to undertake learning to play the piano, make sure that you inform a prospective teacher about the type and level of your impairment, preferably by giving the teacher a copy of the physician's statement. That way, the teacher can help you compensate for, or at least take into account, the effects of the impairment. We don't intend to imply that playing the piano is particularly dangerous; it just makes good sense to get sound medical advice before undertaking any new physical activity.

Teachers should probably insist upon having a copy of the medical statement described above. Ideally, that statement should include information about any special precautions or limitations that should be exercised when giving lessons to or preparing assignments for the impaired student. This approach not only provides some legal protection for the teacher, but also helps in tailoring lessons to fit the needs of the individual.

Repertoire for Students with Hand Impairments

Questions about suitable repertoire for students with impairments in the functioning of one hand or the other constitute another area of interest indicated in our e-mail. Fortunately, there are a number of choices for repertoire which can be played mostly or entirely in one hand or the other. Our list is extensive and is found on a separate page, Repertoire for Piano One Hand. We acknowledge gratefully the assistance of Dr. Theodore Edel in compiling that list.
 

Additional Information

Reproduced below is our list of links to information dealing with piano and the impaired.

• Teaching Learning-Disabled Students - A private teacher's reflections on her experiences teaching piano to students with a variety of impairments, both cognitive and physical
• Braille Music FAQ - A great resource for those who want to learn about Braille music and related resources
• BrailleM - the Braille Music email list
• Braille Books and Braille Music - a listing of resources for blind musicians
• The Braille Forum, July 1998 - An issue of the American Council for the Blind newsletter in ZIP form which has information on piano lesson programs and piano tuning courses for the visually impaired.
• Piano Tuning School - A non-profit school which teaches piano tuning and maintenance to the visually impaired. Lots of links to other visual impairment resources
• Interview with Dr. Theodore Edel - our own interview with the author of Piano Music for One Hand. The interview has numerous helpful suggestions for teachers and pianists alike.