Piano for Kids

The last few days were very exciting for me.  I am seeing some great strides in one of my own students.  He is several years past his beginning days with the Animal Notes, and has struggled learning to play the piano.  He has stuck with it and is now making terrific strides in Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and a couple of his favorite pieces from Phantom of the Opera. Watching and listening to this young man succeed where he felt he never could is a reward of immeasurable value.

Equally as exciting, helpful, and rewarding are the comments and e-letters from my readers and those who have purchased my books.  Thank you so very much.  Hearing from you helps in so many ways, and I appreciate your kind words, questions, and ideas of what might help you in teaching young music students.

My books are a beginning of music education for young children because they make note reading and timing less intimidating.  For the children started with Animal Notes the note names will for a long time be associated with the animals, but it is not too difficult to move from the animal notes to standard notes.  As in all things, some children make the transition more quickly than others. I am working hard at this point to learn a computer program that will enable me to create some fun song books using the Animal Notes, a couple of books that will support the transition period, and special flash cards designed to make the transition easier. Hopefully these projects will progress smoothly and be available before too long.  My partners who know the computer side have some great ideas as well, but programming takes time.  Thanks for being patient with us.

Letting us know your needs and problems will help us know what will be most helpful to you.  Teachers who can, and will work with and educate very young children in piano and music in general are becoming more in demand with each passing day.  Parents are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of music in the total development of their children.  The Animal Notes can do so much to help you have fun and succeed in this important work.   
 

In my last two visits with you I talked about hand position and helping children learn to keep their eyes mainly on the music not on their hands.  Before the creation of the Animal Notes, the main thing my teaching had to be centered on, in the beginning, was learning the notes.  My students often tried everything they could to distract me from the task at hand.  They became frustrated enough with note reading, that it took months to reach the point I could consider working on timing. I found that working with hand position and watching the notes on the music book only added to their frustration.

When the notes became friendly, happy faces of familiar animals, note reading suddenly became less frustrating.  Each animal’s common name starts with the same letter as the standard A through G commonly used.  I know in many parts of the world the musical notes are called by the do, re, mi, etc., we use in singing. Using Animal Notes takes some adjusting, but it can be done.  .

Each Animal Note has a little story connected to it that helps the children remember where that animal is located on the Grand Staff.  When I start a new piece with my young beginning students, I ask the child to name the notes.  I then ask them to tell me the story connected with the location of that animal.  As we progress, I begin associating the first letter of the animal’s name with the standard alphabet name of the note.  The children and I often find fun and laughter as we talk about the animals and where their “picture” hangs on the musical staff. 

Next week I’ll share with you some of my ideas of associating the Animal Notes with the correct keys on the key board.  Until then, have a great day and enjoy the wonderful world of teaching music!

Among the early discoveries a baby makes are the fascinating objects at the end of their arms called hands.  From that point on, most of the training a young child receives encourages them to watch their hands.  They watch their hands when they draw, color, and learn to print.  Even the act of eating requires hand watching.  The list goes on and on.

Changing or adding to a habit is never an easy task.  That is why it takes time and gentle, consistent persistence to teach a young child to look at their music instead of their hands when learning to play the piano. 

I often ask my students if they want their Mom to drive them home from their lesson looking at their hands.  Their expressions are precious as they emphatically tell me NO.  When I ask them “why” they always answer, “She will make the car crash!”  I then tell them that that is what they do with their notes if they do not watch their road as well, which is their music.

To help with this training, I have designed a small keyboard printed on heavy paper that fits behind the keys on the piano.  On each white note of this paper keyboard is a picture of the corresponding animal.  I like this much better than stickers that could be placed on the keys as it helps me train my student’s eyes off the keyboard–by having them check the home of each animal above the keys, not one of the keys.    

Once something becomes a habit in our lives, it is very difficult to change.  Because of this, it is extremely important to help your piano students develop good habits while they learn.  This will take patience and consistency on the teacher’s part.

The hands of 4 to 6 year old children are small and normally not strong.  The child’s normal hand movements are not conducive to good hand position at the piano.  I start by having my children lay their hands flat on the piano bench.  We make a game of finding the finger that is the longest, shortest, funniest looking (thumb usually), etc.  Then I have them curve their fingers in a normal position for playing the piano.  I show them how the fingers are now on a line and about the same length. 

Next lesson I have them again put their hands flat on the piano bench and have them lift each finger individually.  We talk about how stiff the fingers move, and only one of the joints is working.  Again I ask them to curve their fingers into piano position and move their fingers.  Wow, all the joints can now move freely.  I ask them if it is easier to move their fingers.  They almost always tell me yes.

Now I can work on these principals on the keyboard.  It takes patience at this point to keep their little thumbs on the keys, but each time they let their thumbs hang over the edge, I tell them to make their lazy thumbs do their job instead of making the other fingers do it for them. I try to make this fun, not critical.  With the thumb on the keyboard, the other fingers tend to be in a good piano playing position.

This takes time and gentle persuasion, but the effort really pays off in the long run.

Our own musical experiences help shape the type of teacher we might become.  For me, note reading and timing did not come naturally; therefore I struggled with these two concepts for most of my youth.  I think that is why I have tried so hard to find ways to help my students overcome the difficulties I faced in these two areas.  I know when I was trying to get the timing correct, my teacher would keep telling me to count and keep my count even.  Counting was easy if I was not trying so hard to figure out the next note.  I could hang on to any number for as long as it took me to figure out that note.  My counting went something like this:  1 2——–34, not very good for a standard four count measure. 

The creation of the Animal Notes has not only helped my young students learn their notes easier, but by recognizing the notes, they can count evenly.  This enables them to hear the difference between a quarter note, half note, dotted half note and whole note.  I also find that having them say quick for the eight notes is easier for them to understand and get a better sense of its value in proportion to the other notes.  Older students can use the “one and, two and” counting for eight note timing without difficulty, but younger students truly struggle with this standard counting method for the eighth note.

In order to have music flow smoothly with the notes held down the correct amount of time relative to each other, one must be able to hear the difference in each of their values.  To develop that skill the child must be able to recognize the notes and the Animal Notes make that possible.

Many of us were taught in the old fashion style of music and accepting something as different as Animal Notes just does not seem proper, but the real importance in our teaching is doing all we can to make it possible for the students we accept to become good musicians.  To do this we must be willing to consider something different.  I did, and I have found a wonderful helping hand in the Animal Notes when I agree to teach a young child.