My First Piano Adventures

[olan719]

I am looking to find an interesting program to start my girls (age 5) with an introduction to the piano. I really like what I see with this Faber program. I have some basic piano skills and I'd like to teach them myself for a year or two until I have to start paying for formal lessons.

 

I'd like to hear from parents that use this, especially if you are doing it yourself at home. And I also would like to know if I need to order separate materials for the girls, or can they be shared? It comes with one book plus a CD, and a writing book. What is the writing book? I wish I could see inside some of the pages, but I haven't found that option on any site online.

 

Thanks so much for any opinions. I am excited to have a piano in our home now, and am anxious to improve my playing as well!

[East Coast Sue]

We love the piano series. It is fabulous! I think there is a series before primer- but I am not sure what it is called or how many books are involved. My 6 yr old finished the primer series (4 books: theory, lesson, performance, technique) in September. Next she completed the Gold Star Performance book (1 book w/ CD). She is now beginning the Level 1 series (again, 4 books). My 8 yr old is just about finished with the Level 1 series. The kids complete several assignments per week. At first, the piano instruction focuses on basic instruction, ear training, rhythm, hand coordination- Not reading music. This really surprised me but it makes a lot of sense as I watch my kids learn. They can play music easily with both hands. I learned with just my right hand and then tried to "add" my left hand after a year or so. I never really was very successful at it, but for my kids it is natural. I give credit to the Faber model of instruction.

 

We do use a piano teacher- this is the only thing I outsource even though I took several years of piano as a child. Our piano teacher is way more thorough and she moves at a slower pace than I would. I am thankful for that b/c I can see complete mastery of the material by my kids. They are required to memorize pieces with all the mechanics. I don't know that I could insist upon that level of mastery, but I do recognize that it has benefited my kids.

 

I would suggest visiting a music store that sells the music books. Not all stores carry the Faber books but you'll have a better idea of what is involved if you see it first.

 

Sue

[MeganW]

I have heard wonderful things about the Music for Little Mozarts piano program.

[chanda7]

I have been using this with my 4-year-old (almost 5), and she loves it! I didn't get the writing book because I thought it might be overwhelming for her, so I can't help you there. Your girls should be able to share the main book as long as they aren't practicing on two different pianos at the same time.

[diaperjoys]

Hi! I've been teaching piano for almost 20 years now, and I've used the program you're looking at. For the primer/early level it's fine. Not my first pick, but fine. You asked about having the kids share books - I always put siblings in separate programs. The reason? If they use the same books and play the same music there is a huge tendancy for one child to rely over much on playing by ear & not learn to be a good note reader. Similar to what would happen if a child heard his first readers read to him over and over, and then was asked to "read" them by himself.

[olan719]

Thanks so far for all the responses. I'm pleased to hear most of you are finding success with this program. The girls are very excited about learning to play. Diaperjoys, thank you for that insight. I will definitely take that into consideration, for now and when we begin using a piano teacher. I relied too much on "playing by ear" and as a result, was not the best note reader myself. I'd like to avoid this as much as possible for the girls. Thanks so much for mentioning that!