Qfyilyi

I’m teaching piano. So far all scales have been covered and soon all family chords will also be done. I’m not trained in reading sheet music and so can’t teach that. So what else to teach now...?

If you've taught scales and chords the next natural step is progressions and song structure, resolution and how chords naturally move from one to another. If you don't read music how do you teach songs if at all? By ear. If your student has a specific goal then focus on lessons that lead to that goal. Although in my opinion lessons in an instrument should be general and broad for well rounded development. Last but not least when about technique? Based on your post it almost sounds like you gave your student a list of scales, then a list of chords and not much else. I would imagine that there are many voicings of chords possible on the piano, have you covered these?

All scales? Majors, minors (x3), pentatonics, blues, modes, chromatics, whole tone, diminished?!!

In reality, now's a good time to learn how to read yourself. Being serious - one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. At the level of your student, you'll be ahead of him, and while you're learning about it yourself, showing him will help you. What better incentive?

On to what next. Being able to play one tune in several keys (scale usefulness) - there has to be a tangible point to learning scales. Just for their own sake is boring. Listening to you play a couple of bars then repeating them. (rhythm and melody). Harmonising a melody. (Happy B'day is a good start). Learning the national anthem (depending where you are!). Just a few ideas.

Put the scales and chords into context to give meaning and purpose to it all. Your students must have a purpose in music (and in life, but that's a slightly more advanced topic). Make the students play actual songs that they like, try to learn to hear melodies and chords by ear, and do performances for an audience, no matter how small. In my opinion, it is extremely important to play for someone and with someone, and perform as often as possible. Performing has to be a completely natural thing, just like talking and other kinds of human interactions. Being in touch with people and having a meaningful, successful role in those interactions gives you perspective and purposeful orientation, which is important for motivation. Make the steps of progress the right size for each student, so they achieve things, without being put down and without feeling that the obstacles are beyond their capacity.

With all due respect, you are doing your students a grave disservice by not having them read sheet music from the start. Yes, chords and finger patterns are very important, but nobody can become a skilled pianist without being able to read the charts. Not all music is simple folk tunes! Beyond just learning to read notes and chord groups, there's rhythm, dynamics, pedal applications, and more. There is zero chance of anyone less talented than, say, Felix Mendelssohn, being able to play a Beethoven Concerto just by listening to it.