When a student begins piano lessons, The Entertainer by Scott Joplin is a popular piece many students want to learn how to play. Rhythmically, it’s an intermediate piece. Even when you can find it arranged for a lower level, it’s still rhythmically challenging. Beginners struggle with it. Oftentimes they rely on their ear, rather than count it aloud. This is the pitfall, especially when trying to coordinate the left hand with the right hand. Without a conscious decision about how to count the rhythm, the piece will not work. Counting aloud is a requirement, and beginners are just starting to get that skill.
Recently, I had an upper intermediate level student, sight read The Entertainer while counting aloud with impeccable timing and rhythm. It was slow, and it was accurate. I had nothing to say, nothing to correct, other than, “Let’s sight read another Scott Joplin piece.”
Over the course of this student’s seven years of lessons, he had learned the skills necessary to sight read the Entertainer. I had never had a student play that piece with ease until then. I always knew it was not a beginner piece, but I now had a better appreciation of the skills a student must learn to be able to play it well.
This student demonstrated his independence. He didn’t need me to help him with The Entertainer. He just did it, and I sat back and listened, quite happy that he didn’t need me.
If you want to one day be able to play The Entertainer, start counting aloud from the very beginning of lessons and keep going. It’s one foot in front of the other of gaining skills, and the day will come when you will play The Entertainer.
If you would like to start on the path to learning how to play The Entertainer, or any other favorite piece, give us a call at 360-527-9626 to begin your music journey. We look forward to hearing from you.
