In a first quick read I was not that impressed by that article. "Despite traditional instruction" for example, implies a cause and effect between traditional instruction (which by itself is not defined and can be controversial) and the ability to read. Is there a particular section that you find helpful toward the present situation?

I thought it was implying that traditional instruction is not necessarily the solution to helping people with dyslexia.

Thank you, Minniemay. I'd be inclined to agree. How good that private one-on-one instruction potentially has any option a teacher may care to think of.

when i taught my bro (as a child myself).. i sat a couple octaves above him.. played a simple version of a song and he copied me (often at the same time).. We've done hundreds of duets this way.. Once he learned a simple melody/accompaniment I would noodle around in the treble. lots of fun. He is pretty high functioning. We still do this.

I think I have a mild form of the dyslexia described here. [other problems include confusing d and k when touch typing (though strangely not other letters), confusing 5 and 7 on analogue clocks (though again, strangely, not other times)] At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you know what number your fingers are, it just matters if you can use them in a sensible way to play the right notes. I can more or less follow the numbers on my right hand, but I get my left hand backwards often. I guess when I'm playing I just use logic: the lowest note on my LH is likely to be my pinky, so I don't need to process whether the 5 written there is my pinky or thumb.

The fact that my hands are mirror symmetric and the keyboard is repetitive in a non-mirror symmetric way completely does my head in. I have to not think about it, or I just can't cope. Right now I'm learning Musette. There's a bit where the left hand and right hand are playing the same notes an octave apart, but of course, except for finger 3 (ha!), different fingers are playing the notes. I am struggling mightily with this. Nevermind the octaves, or my right hand jumping all over the keyboard. I can't play this simple little melody on both hands at the same time :-(

I'm an adult and have had a lifetime to learn how to cope with my mild problems. I pity the children dealing with more extreme dyslexia. Good luck with the student! I'll bet it's especially rewarding for him when he gets it!

Thankyou for posting your experience Mary Ann. I also teach the father (also imo dyslexic) and he has the same difficulties as you with hands together. I'm in a bind - at some point I have to teach hands together. I can't have him doing HS for two years and then he comes to me and asks why he can't play! I have started him out on some unison tunes (first HS, then HT) and he does struggle, especially at finger 3.

What can I do to help him? How can I make this easier? I would do anything to ease his progress. He is absolutely determined to learn, and to learn the regular, classical way, learning to read. What element of HT is easier for someone with this kind of problem?

Derive exercises from the piece you are working on. The trick is to help him perceive that that the hands are together; as one, not two hands.

Work on 1 bar at a time, cover the other bars (the visual cortex will take over otherwise).

Exercise:
Alberti bass in LH, scales/arpeggios i RH.
etc

This student is a long way from alberti bass. I do use postits sometimes, but could use them more. Sometimes I even turn the music over completely to stop him looking at it.

My lesson book had those sorts of pieces too when I first started playing HT. I think my teacher saw that I was struggling with them and moved me quickly on to the next exercises which were playing single note chords (I guess not really chords, but I hope you know what I mean) on the left hand to accompany the melody on the right hand. This turned into two notes, then proper chords, then broken chords. I've struggled with these the way any beginner would, but it's much easier for me than the hands playing the same thing. I guess it's pretty rare to have both hands playing the same thing at the same time in "real" music.

I'm finding it easier (perhaps more enjoyable is a better word) to play Bach than the things in the lesson book which have really repetitive left hand work. I'm not sure if that's related to the dyslexia. When I'm playing these more complicated pieces, I do write the fingering in (and often get it backwards haha) because I think it's important to do the fingering the same way every time. I use it while I memorize it, but then I ignore it.

Thanks Mary Ann, that's incredibly helpful. Will try single notes.

What makes it tricky is that everything he struggles with, is what any regular beginner would struggle with. There are just certain things he struggles with *way* more.

Update: Just back from the day's teaching, lessons with father and son both went well!

Lesson plan for child: Start out singing London's Burning to guitars (I have in standard tuning, kid gets one tuned to a C chord - so he strums rhythmically and we sing together). We have done this before and he likes it. I put down guitar, and start playing C chord on piano. Then I teach him the C chord on the piano. Teach him to 'strum' it (as he did on guitar) and sing at the same time. Nothing ever goes to plan with this kid - but this did. He had trouble getting 3 notes down at once, but I showed him he could use both hands, and he was happy with this.

Lesson for adult: simple HT tune, one-note-per-bar LH accompaniment. He struggles so bad both with note-reading and with co-ordination, however he takes real joy in his achievements, it's really quite humbling.

Next steps: Now for the kid I need to come up with more C-chord activities. That shouldn't be too hard.

Many thanks for the help and insights offered here!

TLT: you really are a sincere and dedicated teacher!

Why, thankyou. Thanks again for your input.

I'm glad the lessons went well, ten left thumbs. You are indeed dedicated!

I think all adult learners have to learn to be happy with small achievements.

I have found from teaching people with dyslexia and aspurgers that the best method of teaching is to show them by memory and use visual exercises. I find if I try to co-ordinate too many things i.e musical score/fingering and playing hands together then it gets too much.

Obviously everybody is different but from my experience the visual and by ear methods work best.

Why with Aspergers?

Thankyou Mary Ann. Samasap and Keystring - maybe the aspergers is not relevant in my situation.

My adult student is determined to read from sheet. When he reads, and it turns into a tune he knows, it is hard to describe how happy he gets. It's like it demystifies for him how a tune can be communicated on paper, broken down into notes and note values, and there was this world that he could not understand for his whole life, and now he is beginning to understand it.

My child learner would be happy if books did not exist and there was not reading and writing. He will have a hard time in the world. However his parents are paying me for one to one tuition and I see this as a chance to help him indirectly with reading also. If I give him a line from a song, and sing it with him, reading from the paper, and he joins in, then this in itself may help with reading. And that will be good whether he learns piano or not.

Your approach is great - it also follows how research into music pedagogy has shown.

Adults want to know why and how, children want to do.

As for reading, we learn as an infant to speak by imitation and listening, not by reading a book.