I received the comment below on my post “How Young is Too Young?” and as I was emailing back my response, I thought that this could give some inspiration or ideas to others, so I thought I would share it with all of you…
Comment:
Leah,
You mentioned sound recognition games. I wonder if you could go into detail of exactly what you do for those. I have been teaching for 2 years. I am a young teacher, but I love doing it. this year I have my first extremely young child. my rule has always been that the child’s hands be big enough to reach one finger on each key. I have always used Alfred’s Piano Basics, a curriculum which I love and is full of color and activities to keep children interested. I have had as young as a 6 yr. old. this year I am starting with a 4 year old boy. His hands are small, but his mom had seen an article about starting sound recognition early and just familiarize them with music. he shows an interest in the piano so I want to encourage that. I am excited at this new challenge, but would be appreciative of any help I can get. specifically learning new techniques.
Hi Sarah,
I would look into using Music Tree as the method book – it teaches reading by intervals, and explores the whole piano and has an activities book to go with it that is great for young students. I’ve had a 3 year old on this, and it worked wonders. The pieces are also intuitive – if a song is called “Take Off”, the music goes up. It starts on the black keys, and students move up from one set to the next etc. The same applies for “Landing” but this time going down the keys. The pages also have questions to the students in the margins to get them learning to think critically before they play, and has them find answers for themselves instead of just telling them what they need to know.
For sound recognition I generally do opposites such as high and low (because of the horizontal piano and kids are used to up being high and down being low, I find that using snail and bird works at first), slow fast, bouncy smooth etc. I have kids doing movement exercises to my playing to internalise what these feel like before they play on the piano.
Having students make up their own stuff is also great and tells you if they have understood or not – it doesn’t matter what they come up with, but if they say they want to make up a song about a bird and they play it low on the piano, then they have not yet grasped what high is on the piano. You can be as creative as you like, and guaranteed, young students love it – the last thing they want to do is spend 30 minutes straight sitting down in front of the piano. Mixing it up with a variety of activities, including rhythm and clapping/percussion instruments, music activities from the book, playing the piano, movement activities, singing keeps it fun and interesting. Even better if you can have your lesson plan for the day based around one concept so everything is reinforcing that one idea to be learned.
The biggest thing I have learned from having young students is that flexibility and the ability to be spontaneous is a must! If you have a rigid lesson plan and are not willing to adapt, you will end up frustrated, and the child will end up hating the lessons. Saying that, these lessons can also be the most fun, as students this young are willing to try anything and love to explore!
I hope this helps!
If anybody has any other tips for Sarah, feel free to share below, I’m sure we’ll all benefit from them!
I would also like to encourage piano and violin teachers to consider referring very young students to a high quality music and movement class in the area. Many parents are very enthusiastic about starting children in music, and don’t realize that a 30 minute, sit down, lesson might not be the best thing for their 3 or 4 year old. Classes such as Musikgarten (which I teach), on the other hand, are wonderful for children this age. They offer age appropriate activities which help children learn to sing in tune, keep a steady beat, and internalize the music. If you refer someone to a program like this, that child will come back to you at the age of 6 or 7 with the ability to feel and hear the difference between duple and triple, major and minor, and best of all have an overall natural musical sense. Do a little homework before referring someone — so much of the quality of these classes depends on the individual teacher, but if there is sound pedagogy going on, then a very young child benefits tremendously. Whereas in a private lesson they may quickly lose interest and experience frustration!
So true Elizabeth! I did Kindermusik for a year, and I do apply a fair bit of this pedagogy into my private teaching now as well.
I have recently started using the Music Tree for my young students and they are loving it.
I’ve moved right away from the idea of asking tiny fingers to stretch out over a five finger position. (Even most adults’ fingers do not quite sit over five notes when the hand is in a natural position.) This makes playing much less tiring for small fingers/hands.
There is also the Music for Young Children program, which integrates keyboard, creative movement, rhythm, ear training, sight reading, music theory, and composition. It is a small group, with parent participation, and children can start piano as young as age 3. They get to do all the rhythm, movement, etc. that other programs offer while also learning to play the piano. When they graduate from MYC after 3-5 years, they can take their Grade 1 piano exam and are well prepared for intermediate piano study (in private lessons) or study of another instrument. Check it out at http://www.myc.com.
How do you know if a child is ready to take private lessons? My answer after 55 years of teaching is, “Whenever the parent is really ready.”
Piano lesson always used individual approach of teaching. I am impress for your patient specially to the little kids.
My suggestion for toddlers up to teens and adults is the Harmony Road Music Course. http://www.HarmonyRoadMusic.com They have a layered curriculum that is fantastic — especially when you get to start with a toddler and carry on with them through piano. These kids are very ready to start piano at age 4.5. Beginners can enter the program at any age but it’s really a joy to start with a little one, continue with them into beginning and advance piano, and be such an integral part of their growth and education.
recommendations are key in any business, but certainly in the home studio business!