Help me find a piano program PLEASE!

[Aludlam]

I don't even know where to begin! HELP!!! I know my dd8 needs and wants to take piano lessons. I took lessons for a few years as a kid. I don't even know where to start looking for a program ... and what about theory??? I would like to find something that would easily transition into actual lessons with a teacher if she chooses to go on. We will be using a keyboard (already have one). Please give us suggestions along with what all we need to purchase (ie extra theory books, etc).

 

Thank you so much

Angela

[Whereneverever]

Do you play at all? We're using the Hal Leonard books, but I can play piano.

[musicianmom]

I recommend http://pianoadventures.com

[sbaloue]

You might want to check out www.learnandmaster.com. We are using the guitar program and really like it. You can also find reviews of this at http://www.amazon.com.;)

[robsiew]

My kids use Piano Adventures by Faber and Faber. I've been pleased with it. It has a theory book that goes with it. My kids use the following from each level...

 

Lesson Book

Technique and Artistry

Performance

Theory

 

The piano teacher started them at Primer level.

[LimitBreak]

I don't even know where to begin! HELP!!! I know my dd8 needs and wants to take piano lessons. I took lessons for a few years as a kid. I don't even know where to start looking for a program ... and what about theory??? I would like to find something that would easily transition into actual lessons with a teacher if she chooses to go on. We will be using a keyboard (already have one). Please give us suggestions along with what all we need to purchase (ie extra theory books, etc).

 

Thank you so much

Angela

 

If this is her first time trying to learn piano, my suggestion is to start her at the Beginning levels, this way you can help her explain the staff, notes, etc. I suggest that you go to a music store and browse the different methods. Try to go to a store that has their inventory accessible on the floor. Some stores aren't very consumer friendly because you have to ask the person behind the counter to fetch you the book in order to browse through it. I think that this is crucial because there are many to choose from and you have to decide which method you think will work for your dd.

 

For Theory, I think any method you choose will transition well with a teacher. All the methods cover mostly the same topics but each presents them in their own unique way. I think any piano teacher will appreciate students who know some theory. And if there are some differences with what your dd has learned versus the teacher's methods, it is something that can be tweaked easily since she is still so young.

 

My son started lessons at 5yo. His piano teacher started him with:

 

*Piano Adventures by Faber Level 1 (Lesson book)

*Fingerpower by Schaum Primer Level (Technic)

*Select pieces that she chose for him for his Repertoire

 

She doesn't require that he learn theory, so I tutor that myself. I am using Playing With Sound by Noona.

 

After my son finished Fingerpower Level 1, she switched methods. She now uses A Dozen a Day by Burnam. Both my son and I love this!

 

She suggested that we buy a metronome, so we did. It is very helpful for me but my son hates it.

[IsabelC]

. She now uses A Dozen a Day by Burnam. Both my son and I love this!

I used that when I started piano lessons in about 1982 :D

 

My 6yo is just starting piano and uses the John Thompson books. He loves the monster pictures :) but probably not suitable for your slightly older beginner.

[Dmmetler]

I would not try Piano adventures as a home school curriculum without a teacher unless you're a pretty fluent pianist and remember a lot of how your early lessons were taught. It's an awesome curriculum, but it's definitely not a self-teaching curriculum. Check the books and see what you think. Piano books written for children tend to be designed to be led by a teacher, and tend not to give teaching instructions in the book (and most piano methods do NOT have teacher's editions.), so this is going to be a problem with any of the major publishers.

 

I have two recommendations. The first is Simply Music, with DVD. This is not a classic piano method-it focuses more on playing by ear, chord playing, and playing with two hands, and children typically have a lot of success with it fairly soon. The downside is that, if your child finishes the DVD class, they may have trouble finding a teacher to transition to, because Simply Music uses such a different sequence than traditional curricula.

 

The other recommendation is the Alfred All in One adult piano method. This is written for adults who want to teach themselves, and has everything (theory, technique, and performance pieces) in one book. It comes with a CD for listening to the piano music. It's probably going to be a bit dry for an 8 yr old, and the songs tend to be designed to appeal more to adults, so I'd supplement with music of your child's choosing at their level, but I recommend that anyway. Adult piano methods in general tend to give more guidance and instruction, so check out multiples here and see what appeals, but Alfred is nice because you buy one book and you have everything you need to get started.

[Aludlam]

These are all great suggestions! How about Pianimals? I've looked at it a little. It seems kind of cutesy, which my kids would really like .... but is it a sound (:lol:) piano program?

 

thanks

 

Angela

[Jen in PA]

:lurk5: Looking here, too.

[amtmcm]

As a supplement to the music program you choose, Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory is awesome software! I've used it with both of my DD's and it's fun and educational. They use(d) it easily and without complaint.

[Aurelia]

Rocket Piano might work if you are willing to take it slow. It has practice tracks (so you can hear what the song should sound like), books and online video lessons to show you correct technique. There are also computer games to work on theory and time keeping. I have been using it myself, and I think it's a good program, it just ramps up quickly, so you have to be willing to let her practice quite a bit, but it's designed for ages 8 and up.

 

My daughter (almost 6) is using Bastien's Piano Primer with CD which is what her first piano teacher used, as well as Hal Leonard because her second teacher required those books. She really enjoys being able to play with the accompaniment. I much prefer Bastien to Hal Leonard.

[momee]

http://www.musikgarten.org/

 

If you can find a teacher in your area using this, do it!!!!

 

My 8 year old is learning more about theory and notes and composing and improvising and of course playing than I ever dreamed. She loves it too and will do fantastically when she transitions to individual lessons next year or so.

[Dmmetler]

I'm not fond of pianimals, personally, but I know teachers who find it works for them for young children. Having said that, I tend to wait to start kids on piano in individual lessons until age 6-7, at which time we can go right into Piano adventures and the kids tend to thrive on it.

 

However, if you think your kids might like Pianimals, you might want to look at Music for Little Mozarts. My DD is largely self-teaching herself using this method, and while it's not my favorite, it's what she picked (I let her look through the various books we had in the college music library, and that's the series she liked).

 

The pluses of MLM-

Complete music course, including listening, theory, and performance, at a pace that provides enough repetition for little fingers to learn skills, but by changing the lyrics of the songs and weaving them into the story, it keeps it interesting. It's working well for my DD, who needs the repetition but doesn't think she does.

 

Designed for the parent to be the primary teacher. If it's used for lessons, it's used mostly in a group setting focusing on the literature and theory, with the piano skills introduced to the parent, and the books are written with all the instructions the parent (or a child, if they read fairly well) need to self teach and work through the books. Most piano methods don't do that. The expectation is one parent/adult directed lesson a week going over the theory and literature, and then listening, individual practice and theory book activities during the week for 15 or so minutes a day. If your child wants to go faster, it's very easy to do so. I have trouble imagining going slower, but I guess that's possible, too.

 

 

 

Everything is on CD or MIDI disc (if you have a keyboard with a 3 1/2 in drive, I recommend the MIDI, because then you can speed up and slow down the accompaniment to fit your child.). Accompaniments are also in the book for parents to play if they play piano. Supplemental books (Little Mozarts go to Church, go to the movies, play the Nutcracker) do NOT have CDs, so I wouldn't recommend getting them unless you play piano, especially not the level 1/2 books.

 

Downsides-

Talk about cutesy! I've heard people on music teaching boards say that they've had 5 yr olds insulted by the little animal characters who introduce the songs. This is a YMMV.

 

If your child doesn't read yet, you will be reading quite a bit of text to them, because each song falls into a storyline. However, the practice sequence is constant, so once the kids learn it, they can still largely do it on their own.

 

Slow paced, intentionally. Again, it's a YMMV, but it's good for children with little hands who want to play piano NOW, which is my DD to a T.

 

CDs are the same as the MIDI discs, so I suggest supplementing the discovery book, especially, with real instrument versions of at least some of the songs. While MIDI works for the piano songs, orchestral music loses a lot in translation.

 

EXPENSIVE-this is perhaps the biggest downside. With a Lesson, theory, and discovery book and two CDs or MIDI discs per level for the core program alone, it's about $40 a level, and since all three books have pages where the children are expected to mark, they're not likely to be reusable or available used. It's still cheaper than piano lessons if you have a young child who wants to try and you're not sure they're really ready, though.

[diaperjoys]

I've been teaching piano for ~20 years now, and I've used most of the materials that others have mentioned. It think each of them would be good resources. However, my all time favorite is the Alfred's Basic Piano Library. My students tend to do better when they use these materials. Clear, thorough, fun. There are Theory & Activity books offered for each level, and they are really helpful as well.

[Aludlam]

I do know how to read music. I can play just fine for my own enjoyment ... other people's enjoyment is another matter entirely. My main problem, always has been, I have no sense of timing - none - nada - neltch. Would not even know how to play with a metronome. My piano teacher used to set one on top of the piano and I loved to watch it tick back and forth --- but that was about it. Any suggestions as how to address this? Any programs that will help me with this?

 

You are all so awesome to take your time helping with this!

 

Angela

[robsiew]

I think most of the piano courses will address rhythm. It's a pretty important part of learning music. Pay attention to time signatures (tells you how many beats in a measure and what note gets one count) and then you have to know your types of notes and the count they receive. As your children progress they will get to more complicated rhythms, but in the beginning they will be pretty straight forward. I try right away to catch my kids not holding notes long enough (or two long) so that they don't get into bad habits. I think any piano curriculum you choose will guide you through that.

 

Another idea (kind of combining above ideas) is to get an adult beginner guide for you and something more kid orientated for your children. That way they can have something more geared to them and you have a resource in which to stay a little ahead of them in skills.

 

Ultimately, you are going to want a teacher. Your kids will out pace you pretty quickly and you'll not want to hold them back. My oldest takes lessons (has from the beginning). I am teaching my next two until we get to the point where we can afford lessons for them. My dd will start this summer. I'm a violinist so I have pretty extensive knowledge of music, but not piano training. My oldest ds is already beyond my piano skills in Book 3 of Piano Adventures.

[Aludlam]

I think most of the piano courses will address rhythm. It's a pretty important part of learning music. Pay attention to time signatures (tells you how many beats in a measure and what note gets one count) and then you have to know your types of notes and the count they receive. As your children progress they will get to more complicated rhythms, but in the beginning they will be pretty straight forward. I try right away to catch my kids not holding notes long enough (or two long) so that they don't get into bad habits. I think any piano curriculum you choose will guide you through that.

 

Another idea (kind of combining above ideas) is to get an adult beginner guide for you and something more kid orientated for your children. That way they can have something more geared to them and you have a resource in which to stay a little ahead of them in skills.

 

Ultimately, you are going to want a teacher. Your kids will out pace you pretty quickly and you'll not want to hold them back. My oldest takes lessons (has from the beginning). I am teaching my next two until we get to the point where we can afford lessons for them. My dd will start this summer. I'm a violinist so I have pretty extensive knowledge of music, but not piano training. My oldest ds is already beyond my piano skills in Book 3 of Piano Adventures.

 

 

The thing is ... I understand it all on paper -- the notes, how long to hold them, etc - but I've never been able to tell that info to my fingers! We will be getting professional lessons in the future, but I wanted to do some home learning first.:001_smile:

 

thanks

 

Angela

[diaperjoys]

The thing is ... I understand it all on paper -- the notes, how long to hold them, etc - but I've never been able to tell that info to my fingers! We will be getting professional lessons in the future, but I wanted to do some home learning first.:001_smile:

 

thanks

 

Angela

 

Correct timing and correct rhythm is central to playing the piano. And, it is often one of the most difficult things to teach. As you mention, it is entirely possible for a student to understand, or seem to understand the value of the notes. However, when it comes time to apply that to the music being played, it is pretty common to find errors. Teaching the child to correct those errors is a central part of every lesson I teach. And, I can tell you this: the longer those errors are engrained, the more difficult they are to fix. Even a week or two of skipped lessons will commonly result in mistakes that take 3-4 weeks to correct. If a child came to me after a couple years of home lessons where timing was not corrected in each piece, I would anticipate a very frustrating start to lessons. Much that the child thought he was doing right would probably need fixing. It would be a slow road, and it would probably be necessary to begin again near the beginning.

 

I wouldn't recommend that kind of a start to music training. Better to wait a couple years until outside lessons could be afforded. Or perhaps you can go through some kind of a music course (local college, perhaps) first. Only after the Mother could accurately and consistently do timing correctly would it be my recommendation that home lessons be started. Oh, here's another idea - what about a few months of professional lessons for you, with an emphasis on timing (ask for this), and then turn around and teach what you've learned to your child. An adult can often cover more material faster than a young child...

 

Others may have some good ideas for correcting timing issues apart from formal lessons, so hopefully others will chime in. My experience is limited to my 20 years of teaching private lessons. I know that there are other resources now available, and others may well be able to give you info on those.

[Aludlam]

Correct timing and correct rhythm is central to playing the piano. And, it is often one of the most difficult things to teach. As you mention, it is entirely possible for a student to understand, or seem to understand the value of the notes. However, when it comes time to apply that to the music being played, it is pretty common to find errors. Teaching the child to correct those errors is a central part of every lesson I teach. And, I can tell you this: the longer those errors are engrained, the more difficult they are to fix. Even a week or two of skipped lessons will commonly result in mistakes that take 3-4 weeks to correct. If a child came to me after a couple years of home lessons where timing was not corrected in each piece, I would anticipate a very frustrating start to lessons. Much that the child thought he was doing right would probably need fixing. It would be a slow road, and it would probably be necessary to begin again near the beginning.

 

I wouldn't recommend that kind of a start to music training. Better to wait a couple years until outside lessons could be afforded. Or perhaps you can go through some kind of a music course (local college, perhaps) first. Only after the Mother could accurately and consistently do timing correctly would it be my recommendation that home lessons be started. Oh, here's another idea - what about a few months of professional lessons for you, with an emphasis on timing (ask for this), and then turn around and teach what you've learned to your child. An adult can often cover more material faster than a young child...

 

Others may have some good ideas for correcting timing issues apart from formal lessons, so hopefully others will chime in. My experience is limited to my 20 years of teaching private lessons. I know that there are other resources now available, and others may well be able to give you info on those.

 

 

So do you think it would be better for me to just take some time with her now and teach her the notes, etc instead of the actual playing? We would probably be looking at lessons for next spring. I may not be making too much sense b/c I'm holding a sleeping sickie in one hand and typing with the other.

[Lady Q]

My oldest (5 yo) and I both take piano lessons. He uses The Music Tree and A Dozen a Day (he's using the pink book, but there are others that Amazon carries) and and I started with Piano Adventures. I was using the Alfred's Beginner Adult book to teach myself the piano before taking lessons, and I have to say that it got too difficult too quickly.

 

Personally, I think the best thing I've done for our musical education is to for us to take lessons. It's good to have a teacher catch mistakes before they're ingrained. I had no musical training before I started piano last year and I couldn't get what "legato" meant until my teacher showed me what it was supposed to sound like. Also, my teacher will pull material from various sources to work on our weaknesses and give us songs that we're interested in learning.

 

Plus, it's one subject I have to do zero prep for. :D

 

HTH.

 

~Rabia

[Dmmetler]

You might want to look at "The complete music reading activities kit". It's a music theory class that uses a keyboard as the instrument for playing melodies, but does NOT try to teach piano technique. And it begins with feeling and finding steady beat. It would give your daughter some piano exposure and some early theory skills. There is an accompaniment CD which provides backgrounds for many of the pieces that helps to reinforce good counting and rhythm.

 

It's about a $30 book, but is reproducible, and you may be able to find it used. The older edition doesn't have the CD, but is otherwise the same content.

[diaperjoys]

So do you think it would be better for me to just take some time with her now and teach her the notes, etc instead of the actual playing? We would probably be looking at lessons for next spring. I may not be making too much sense b/c I'm holding a sleeping sickie in one hand and typing with the other.

 

Learning note names, key names, and basic vocabulary (treble clef, sharp, flat, quarter note, half rest, etc.) would all be a boost for her onece she started taking lessons. :)

[FO4UR]

The thing is ... I understand it all on paper -- the notes, how long to hold them, etc - but I've never been able to tell that info to my fingers! We will be getting professional lessons in the future, but I wanted to do some home learning first.:001_smile:

 

thanks

 

Angela

 

 

I had to use a book in college called Basic Timing. (voice major...working to pass piano proficiency LOL) You will HATE it:tongue_smilie:, but it WILL give you an inner metronome.;) It's for you, not your dd. She could probably do it, but it's SO VERY tedious that I would NEVER EVER recommend it as a child's 1st exposure to piano. (tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.....:001_huh:)