Piano for Kids

The ultimate goal in teaching young children music is a sound working knowledge that will be part of their life, not just in the short run, but in the long run.  How fast they learn is not critical, but the support factors used are very important. 

Be PATIENT with them.  They are learning.  Maybe they are not learning as fast as you want them to, but they are learning.  In reality, the Animal Note Method may be much faster and more efficient than the common Standard Note method.  Be patient with yourself as well.  You will need it as you go over the word clues that will be the child’s support system in identifying the notes on the Grand Staff.  To keep the child’s attention to the tasks at hand you will need to be creative and allow yourself to have fun with the child and with what you are teaching.

Be POSITIVE as negativism crushes the child, causing them to put up a shield against what you are trying to teach them.  Our natural response when they make a mistake is “NO, that’s not right.”  No is a negative word.  You might say instead, “Think about that a minute; what is that Animal Note doing?”  The child might want help remembering the correct clue, but when he/she does get it correct, you have a great opportunity to give positive praise.

For efficient learning for young children the ideas must be kept SIMPLE.  The Animal Notes are simple characterizations for that reason.  The word clues must be simple and fit each Animal Note’s task on the Grand Staff.  For all of us it is easier to build from the simplest facts to the more complex, and music certainly can be quite complex.  Having a strong foundation built on the simple basic facts allows for acceptance of more complex information as a new brick of learning is laid. 

These basic principles apply to beginning note reading as well.  Taking time to give the child secure knowledge of the basics will allow for a future love for the many facets of music. 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.