Easiest Piano Curriculum to Teach for a Novice Teacher?

[Gil]

What is the easiest Piano Curriculum for a Novice Teacher to use? Points if you don't have to be musically literate to understand and follow the Teachers Guide or whathaveyou.

[forty-two]

This situation is what piano apps are made for, I think.  Also, I think the novice teacher really ought to be prepared to learn along the kids - it's really hard to facilitate learning anything without knowing some key basics.

[Clarita]

Alfred's Basic Piano Library is pretty self explanatory and it doesn't have a teacher's guide the lessons are right in the "Lessons" book. The back page of the books kind of explain the sequence of books you do. There are other pieces (books) that come with each level and you can pick an choose which aspects of piano you want to teach. "Theory" is music theory, "Recital" is the fun songs to play, and "Technic" is finger exercises for muscle memory. 

Also, I think pretty soon it'd be worth it to outsource music lessons to someone passionate in the field. Playing musical instrument can be so much fun the knowledgeable passionate person can bring that fun/engagement motivation for the hard work, which brings forth ultimate satisfaction in learning piano. So as a parent who knows how to play the piano (hobbyist) I outsource piano lessons and think it's worth it. 

[Gil]

8 hours ago, forty-two said:

This situation is what piano apps are made for, I think.  Also, I think the novice teacher really ought to be prepared to learn along the kids - it's really hard to facilitate learning anything without knowing some key basics.

We don't have a tablet computer, so is there a particular web-based piano site that you would recommend?

Also, the novice teacher can already play piano, but is self-taught and has never taught anyone Piano, so a more systematic and laid out program would be useful.

[forty-two]

1 hour ago, Gil said:

We don't have a tablet computer, so is there a particular web-based piano site that you would recommend?

Also, the novice teacher can already play piano, but is self-taught and has never taught anyone Piano, so a more systematic and laid out program would be useful.

I have not personally used it, but Hoffman Academy has been mentioned a lot here and I looked into it once, and as best as I can tell, it would work without needing a tablet.  It's not an app but free videos and paid add'l resources, some of which are printable (sheet music and lessons and such) and some of which are web based games and practice helps. A phone might help to have the videos and practice helps right there, but a near enough laptop or desktop ought to do.

However, I was assuming a ground zero novice, no musical experience whatsoever - a novice teacher who can actually play themselves has a lot more options.  If they can read music and can play at an intermediate-ish level (enough to play the teacher's part in beginner books' duets) they could probably use any of the usual programs (Alfred, piano adventures, etc).  Even if they can't sightread the duets, if they can easily sightread the student pieces, they'd be fine teaching early levels.  I've been using my kids' old piano adventures lesson books to self teach, and the what to learn and what to do next are really clear.  (The pace has turned out to be too slow for an adult who already plays another instrument, so I've jumped ship to some reddit recs for adult learners.)

If they can't read music, then it would be good to learn how, but they could probably do that by working through an adult beginner piano self-study book before starting with their kids.  That might not be a bad idea even if they do read music - esp if they use a self study from the same publisher they want to use with their students.  That would give them a refresher and a preview of the scope and sequence and general approach.  Alfred, for one, uses the same basic approach (and even pieces) with most all of their different lesson book series - just expanded or compressed based on the intended audience (Alfred does not believe in reinventing the wheel, lol).  So working through the adult self study would familiarize you with how Alfred teaches piano and some of their standard beginner pieces.  The self study book could also act as a user-friendly teacher's guide to teaching that publisher's lesson books.

If the students are older, they could use a self study book to teach with directly.

Also, if they are good at playing by ear, it's not a bad idea to try to pass on that, too, using whatever methods they self-taught themselves with, in addition to more formal lessons.

Edited July 26 by forty-two

[Gil]

On 7/25/2024 at 11:57 PM, Clarita said:

Alfred's Basic Piano Library is pretty self explanatory and it doesn't have a teacher's guide the lessons are right in the "Lessons" book. The back page of the books kind of explain the sequence of books you do. There are other pieces (books) that come with each level and you can pick an choose which aspects of piano you want to teach. "Theory" is music theory, "Recital" is the fun songs to play, and "Technic" is finger exercises for muscle memory.

Ok, so looking at both Alfred's Piano Prep and Fabers My First Piano Adventure and a dozen other basic Intro to Piano type stuff made us realize that we don't really have an understanding of a piano "scope and sequence", so we've no idea how to look at and evaluate what constitutes basic piano skills or any idea what could be considered comprehensive or thorough

Is there a FAQ or a Big Picture overview of Piano Skills that I could take a look at?

 

[Amoret]

NM

Edited August 6 by Amoret

[Clarita]

4 hours ago, Gil said:

Is there a FAQ or a Big Picture overview of Piano Skills that I could take a look at?

None of the lesson books are that expensive. I'd just pick one that I like and go through it. You don't have to put a lot of thought on it; it's piano if there are "gaps" and your student wants to be a concert pianist, at some point she'll have well trained teachers who will teach her their craft. Certain teachers will be trained in certain pedagogies of piano. 

Piano is more like an apprenticeship when you work with a teacher compared to math, reading or a foreign language. 

Maybe @Dmmetlerwill know more?

[Dmmetler]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:57 PM, Clarita said:

Alfred's Basic Piano Library is pretty self explanatory and it doesn't have a teacher's guide the lessons are right in the "Lessons" book. The back page of the books kind of explain the sequence of books you do. There are other pieces (books) that come with each level and you can pick an choose which aspects of piano you want to teach. "Theory" is music theory, "Recital" is the fun songs to play, and "Technic" is finger exercises for muscle memory. 

Also, I think pretty soon it'd be worth it to outsource music lessons to someone passionate in the field. Playing musical instrument can be so much fun the knowledgeable passionate person can bring that fun/engagement motivation for the hard work, which brings forth ultimate satisfaction in learning piano. So as a parent who knows how to play the piano (hobbyist) I outsource piano lessons and think it's worth it. 

Alfred Premier has more supports than Alfred Basics (and was written to be more parent friendly) , so would likely be easier to use. 

 

Piano Pronto is pretty friendly, too. It is heavily common melodies/folk songs based. 

 

Both are in the Piano Maestro app, which is a useful tool. 

 

My first Piano Adventures is easier than Piano Adventures-it's designed for ages 4-6. Music For Little Mozarts is the Alfred equivalent.  They both go through a whole book+ before even starting staff reading. 

 

All series have an adult/Older beginner book which moves faster. Alfred Adult Piano All in One is commonly used for college piano lab classes. Accelerated Piano Adventures is the PA equivalent. 

 

The Wunderkeys Older Beginner is good for age 10+. It has a FAST learning curve. 

 

FWIW, I get kids who have done Hoffman, Simply Piano, or worked through books at home frequently. They all seem to hit the wall at the same point-when hands start needing to be independent. That's usually about level 2. I'm sure there's some bias there (just like kids who are thriving as homeschoolers usually don't go to public school), but it's consistent enough that my advice is to expect to need to find a teacher at that point if you want to DIY for now. 

[forty-two]

8 hours ago, Gil said:

Is there a FAQ or a Big Picture overview of Piano Skills that I could take a look at?

I just ran across this today: a two page summary of the skills taught in Bartok's Mikrokosmos (153 progressive pieces).  Per Bartok, Mikrokosmos "appears as a synthesis of all the musical and technical problems which were treated and in some cases only partially solved in the previous piano works."  It looks reasonably comprehensive.  I uploaded screenshots of the relevant pages.

[Dmmetler]

This may be helpful. 

 

 https://www.abrsm.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/Piano 2023 %26 2024 Prac syllabus 20230807.pdf

[luuknam]

On 7/27/2024 at 7:36 PM, Dmmetler said:

All series have an adult/Older beginner book which moves faster. Alfred Adult Piano All in One is commonly used for college piano lab classes. Accelerated Piano Adventures is the PA equivalent. 

PA actually also has Adult Piano Adventures, which is what my youngest (12.5yo when we started) and I used this past year (the house we bought came with a piano). I'd dabbled a tiny bit with a keyboard in the past but never gotten very far using some other book (don't recall what, but I got really stuck), and really like Faber's Adult Piano Adventures. I have to admit that we both mostly ignored the theory though (I played violin for many years as a kid - I think my kid (who played violin for one year years ago) read more of the theory than I did, but still could benefit a lot from reading more, but I didn't want to pile mandatory music theory on top of the heavy academic load last year and just leave it fun), and we did some skipping around to songs we were familiar with (especially in the 2nd book and the 3B books, which is as far as we've gotten), and then going back and trying out unfamiliar songs later.

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the amount of progress we made just by fooling around with those books and the piano in 13-14 months time, even if odds are neither of us has great technique. My kid actually has her first piano lesson scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see what the teacher says (she's doing piano for a half credit for 9th grade, so I figured it'd be nice to have someone who knows what they're doing - and yes, there'll be some mandatory theory).

Edited July 29 by luuknam

[Gil]

On 7/27/2024 at 9:36 PM, Dmmetler said:

They all seem to hit the wall at the same point-when hands start needing to be independent

I'm curious, what does this mean?

When in the Piano Adventures Series does this occur?

[Dmmetler]

12 hours ago, Gil said:

I'm curious, what does this mean?

When in the Piano Adventures Series does this occur?

Typically, around the third book level in most series (which may be labeled 2 or 3 depending on whether the series uses the term "Primer"), or about late grade 1/early grade 2 on diploma programs. This is also where standard piano repertoire, vs songs arranged for teaching purposes comes in, and where instruction starts being able to be far more individualized. I will also say that this is about the level most "Easy Piano" arrangements are written for, because it's a common stopping point for hobbyists, and it's often easy for adults who took piano lessons as kids to play. 

 

 

Before that point, usually one hand is playing a melodic line and the other either single notes or chords, and usually at least the LH stays either in one position or moves predictably (I,IV,V chords).  Often you can assume the LH will be playing on beat 1 and 3, or at specific points in a repeated melody line. When you get to that "book 2/3", late beginner stage, you start getting pieces that move out of position in both hands in less predictable ways, and where the hands really need to be independent vs being able to use one to lean on the other, and the coordination is just hard for a lot of students to manage on their own. Counterpoint starts coming in at this point, pieces start using more of the piano, ledger lines come in, internal harmonies begin to be used, pedaling becomes essential (and more than just "hold it down and let it ring") etc. 

 

I'm sure there are people who are able to make that leap on their own, but it seems to be the standard point where highly motivated folks hit a wall and start to go "uh, how..."

 

 

 

 

[Gil]

Ok, so Piano Safari seems to be the best piano curriculum he could find.

It teaches very gradually, utilizes a combination of Rote pieces and Reading Pieces from jump, it teaches reading music very systematically and includes instruction on Technique, has students learning to use both of their hands together pretty early on, the beginning songs are fun and not highly annoying and the student materials are available in Spanish.