Tardis Girl Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 My head is spinning from all the choices! I need to choose something for teaching my almost 7yo, plus her 5yo and 2yo siblings will learn down the road. I had 5 years of traditional lessons growing up and play and read comfortably enough to accompany at church playing just about anything from the hymn book -- although my piano theory is totally pathetic. Pretty much I can read it and play it. That's it. Don't really *understand* the why. So... can you guys help me think this through... please??! I don't have any musically-inclined friends IRL to talk this through with me. Simply Music - love the DVD component, I admit it. I think it would make it more interesting to DD and the younger ones would no doubt watch it a bit too. From what I've heard, I think it teaches a lot with recognizing patterns, which I like. However, very concerned about transitioning from the at-home DVDs to traditional approach as lessons with a SM-trained teacher would be hundreds of miles away. Also, not sure that I like delaying reading musics THAT much. Can this be combined with some traditional? And what will happen to the student after the 2 levels of DVDs? The Music Tree - someone here mentioned this at one point. Never heard of it before, but sounds intriguing. Sounds like it includes more moving around the keyboard and creative expression than a more traditional approach, but still introduces note reading, etc. More of a Suzuki-type approach?? Will this be hard for me to teach on my own, even with being musically "fluent"? Piano Adventures (Faber) - Well respected by others, I know. Feels "safe" to me, lol. OK, and maybe just a little boring. (Sorry!) Bastien is in this category too. Not sure how the two differ from one another. Play Piano in a Flash - Again, nontraditional. Like the idea of getting the kids to play, seeing patterns, chords, etc. I love the idea of some of the non-traditional approaches, but worry if they'll work, how to transition to some more traditional aspects (and when). I am so horribly undecided. I don't have oodles of time to devote to lessons, particularly with the toddler always underfoot. So I don't want something that is hugely teacher-intensive, but regular daily practice is not a problem. (Should I have posted this on the K-8 board?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 My son has a wonderful piano instructor and I have been blown away by the musical choices in the books she uses. There are many good arrangements of important and popular pieces so the music is relevant and interesting from the very beginning (unlike when I took lessons in my youth). I have also been surprised by how "boy friendly" the music is! In starting out, she used Alfred's Premier Piano Course, by Dennis Alexander, Gayle Kowalchyk, E. L. Lancaster, Victoria McArthur, and Martha Mier. She used their level 1A, 1B, and 2A, then she typically switches them over, if they are doing well, to the 2B level of Faber (which you mention above). http://premierpianocourse.com/ This course includes CD's at all three of the levels we used, with both practice and performance tempos, so the student can get a better sense of that through accompaniment during practice at home. He is in Faber level 4 now and also uses John Thompson's Course for Modern Piano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 In decades of piano teaching, Faber has always come out on top for me. A nice solid approach, with great supplementary materials to spice it up - many literature book (pop/classical/jazz), plus composition/improv books, theory, technique, etc. It's an extremely well-written method book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Faber has been great for us -- for one thing, there are videos of the author giving the lessons to kids. I would watch the video and then work with my own kids. http://pianoadventures.com/guide/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 We use those Schaum Piano Course books. They're cheap and most music stores carry them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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