nature girl Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Have any of you started teaching an instrument to a child under five? I will be inheriting a piano this month, and as I played and performed throughout childhood I'm excited about the idea of teaching my DD (4 at the end of March) but realize it's probably much too early for her to learn to do more than bang on the keys. I know Suzuki does it, but I know nothing about the Suzuki method, and there are no schools in this area. Is there a method of teaching that really works for children this young, or should I just wait another couple of years? (I'm looking at John Thompson, which is how I first learned.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I have the Suzuki piano books. My boys learn by imitation at that age. My older basically memorise where hubby or me put our fingers as well as the melody. He has perfect pitch though. My younger preferred the Music for Little Mozart books as he like to look at the stories and piano pictures in the books. Both my boys had bang on the piano as toddlers. I have no experience with John Thompson books. I learned piano at four using ABRSM materials at weekly piano lessons at a Yamaha music school. My dad was told the ear training was important at that age so no harm starting young regardless of what musical instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 The Music for Little Mozarts looks fantastic! The samples look so fun...She's addicted to books, so combining story with learning would probably work really well. (Is it all taught off the staff, or do they eventually progress to reading music?) Thanks for the recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
embalee Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 You can get the Suzuki books with CDs of the music on Amazon. I think it's part of that method to become familiar with the music before learning to play, but I also just like the simplicity of the music. I've been playing the CDs and letting my toddler play on our old piano as she feels like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Piano Wizard, Joy Tunes and Soft Mozart are three programs that work very well with young ones to teach piano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teneo Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Try this series from FJH http://pianoadventures.com/myfirst/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillian Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 This is what we use. It has a theory and practice book http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Piano-Library-Course-ebook/dp/B004P5PUL0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I know a lot of moms with pre-k / k kids starting violin or piano lessons. My dd, 6, has shown interest but in all honesty I have decided to wait. I don't see her having the attention span or willingness to practice daily cheerfully. I also don't think she's knowledgable enough yet to make an informed decision in which instrument to play. I am doing a music appreciation / intro to orchestra lesson we began after winter break that'll last the semester and next year we'll do one on Tchaikovsky during the fall term. I think after that point she can make a more informed decision on what she'd like to learn. So we'll probably start her in 2nd or 3rd grade on an instrument. I think at that point she'll be able to better pick up reading music because phonics should be completed so she won't have still learning to read to contend with. IMO, all kids learn between 4-7 in many of the classes for young kids in general can probably be learned in one year for most 7 or 8 year olds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The Music for Little Mozarts looks fantastic! The samples look so fun... (Is it all taught off the clef, or do they eventually progress to reading music?) The note names and where they are on the piano keyboard is taught in book one. They teach the quarter note, half note, quarter rest, forte f, piano p and how many beats in a bar in book one. The treble and bass clef and where the notes are on the stave/staff are taught in book two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Are the Suzuki books written to the adult or the child? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I wouldn't do Suzuki if you are not a trained teacher. It's a pretty specific methodology, and a great deal revolves around teaching form... kids spend basically the first year playing the same song over and over again until it's perfect. The books themselves are just sheet music... it's all up to the teacher to teach using the Suzuki method. I'd look into Pianimals... it's supposed to be really cute and perfect for younger kids. Piano is hard for little kids, because it can be hard for little fingers to span the keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 My kids started at 4. They use Edna Mae Burnam's Step By Step method. It is very simple/gentle, yet the pieces sound more musical than the usual kiddy methods from an early point in the program. They play with 2 hands pretty early on. My kids have never banged on a piano. I wouldn't worry about that. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thank you all so much. So many fun looking choices! Looks like I have some work to do figuring out which to choose! (And now I'm excited...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillian Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The Alfred you could teach yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
embalee Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I agree with points above - I would only approach the Suzuki books after learning with something else that has direct instruction, if you aren't linked up with a Suzuki teacher, and use it as more songs to learn. The Alfred's program looks adorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceyshoe Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I started my son on Pianimals: Phonics 4 Piano just after he turned 5. I was waiting for that "magical" age when some kids are ready, but I honestly think he could have done it earlier. He is *very* motivated by music, which makes a big difference. He learned to read treble and bass clefs, fingerings for C and G positions, and 5 or 6 chords. I've probably spent a total of 15 minutes with him in the 7 months he's been playing. He was able to learn independently despite not reading well because it is so picture-based, and he was able to play a familiar song his first time sitting down at the piano (which helped the motivation factor). I was a little concerned because Pianimals transitions from numbers to letters to letter within notes to notes on a staff. It seemed like a lot of transitions, but he went through them pretty seamlessly. Samples are available online here: http://www.pianimals.com/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 We bought the Pianimals, but didn't use it. It seemed rather gimmicky. We ended up doing Music For Little Mozart and my DD4 LOVES it. Book 1 took us about 1.5-2 months after she was ready. I'd shown it to her before and she listened to the CDs, colored a bit, talked about f & p, etc., but she wasn't ready to sit and play. Once she asked me for lessons, we've been flying through it. We're half-way through Book 2 after 4 weeks. Seriously, she LOVES it so much. She loves the stuffed animals and plays with them all the time. I just got her another stuff animal (Clara Schumann Cat) from the 2nd book, and that's inspired her all over again. We found we mostly use the lesson book. We also got the Halloween and Christmas supplements, which she loved and were exciting for her. She really enjoys the storyline. She's 4, so I'm not requiring practice. She just wants lessons from me, so we sit down and she learns a piece right then and there and we move on. If I ask her to play it again the next time she wants a lesson (1-10 days later), she plays it perfectly, so I'm sticking with 'her method'. She usually learns 1-3 pieces per lesson. I remember reading somewhere, maybe on these boards, how in some villages in Central America where there's only 1 piano in town, the kids do this, where they don't practice during the week, just at the actual lesson, where they master a piece. Works fine for them (at least in the early years), and it's working for us right now. She just started violin, and we're requiring 15 min practice 5 times a week for that. As she progresses in piano, I'll have to reevaluate our approach, but it's working for now. I'd rather keep it fun and on her terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 The Music for Little Mozarts looks fantastic! The samples look so fun...She's addicted to books, so combining story with learning would probably work really well. (Is it all taught off the clef, or do they eventually progress to reading music?) Thanks for the recommendation! My dd4 takes piano lessons and she uses Music for Little Mozarts. My kiddo has had quite a bit of exposure to a couple of other great piano programs for littles like Soft Mozart and Suzuki, but she has soo much fun with the lessons from her teacher. There are some extra books to go a bit deeper, like the theory books. And it is a nice mix in her lesson of work on the piano and in the book. She is progressing nicely, but most importantly, really enjoys doing it! I will say it ha been out experience to progress through the first couple of books very, very quickly. Not sure if this wa because of previous exposure, but we have since supplemented with lots of music and theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicianmom Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 My First Piano Adventures by Faber is fantastic. It also leads directly into Faber's Piano Adventures program, which I think is the best of the traditional method series. In a perfect world, there would be trained Suzuki teachers in every town, but that's my personal bias showing. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabinfl Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 My kids did a Musikgarten program (I _love_ this type of music education for little ones!), church choir, plus my own supplementation starting at age 3, then the Faber My First Piano Adventures sporadically beginning at age 5. I also allowed them to play freely on the piano whenever they wanted, as long as they weren't abusing the instrument. I put colored stars on a couple of octaves and taught them Twinkle, Twinkle and Mary Had a Little Lamb that way. We also watched a lot of Little Einsteins (Disney), which taught them a lot of terms, sounds, rhythm, etc. as we all "played along" with the show. Just last fall (ages 6, 6, 5) I felt they were mature enough to begin formal piano lessons, continuing with the Faber books but skipping ahead a lot. We're about done with the B books now. Their teacher is our church organist, which is a really nice arrangement as they are comfortabale with him and he knows what areas I can help them with (and not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndGenHomeschooler Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I use John Thompson for the earliest beginner with my kids. I started them somewhere around 4yo but only when they wanted to do it. After we get through the 2nd of those I switch to the traditional 1st grade book. I don't use the 3rd and 4th earliest books. I haven't heard of some of the other books people have recommended. I'll have to look into them myself! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 My boys started that young. They had a ten to 15 lesson once a week. They used the pianimals books and things worked out well. They are still in lessons. I started them that young wine we had just moved into our you and found out the neighbor was a piano teacher and she offered to give my boys lessons. They could walk over by themselves, it was about 10 meters from door to door. She could squeeze us in since they only had in total between them 20 to 30 minutes of lessons. Afterwards we would sit and visit most weeks. It was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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