It Takes Patience and a Positive Attitude when Teaching Young Piano Students
A teacher or parent can successfully teach a child as young as four years of age to play the piano, or other instruments for that matter, if the subject is approached with patience and a positive attitude. It is important that the child understand why you ask him/her to do certain things. A very young child often wants to use only one finger when playing the notes. Have fun with this by asking the child what has happened to their other fingers. The child’s reaction to this can be entertaining to you, and you can make a very good point with the child by telling him/her that they must be a good teacher to their fingers. In this approach you are not being critical of their hand position, and are giving them an exciting role of being a teacher to their little fingers.
At this age, practicing on their own is usually “Not going to Happen.” They do not have the self discipline yet, so you must help out. Have the child play the new piece several times at their lesson. To keep this task from become boring and frustrating, mix the activity with other learning activities, like naming the notes in the piece and telling you a word clue that helps them remember the location of that note on the Grand Staff.
When a child makes a mistake a simple “oops” or “think again” is enough, and when the mistake is corrected, a “good job” brings a smile. Save strong praise for special accomplishments so it really means something to the child. Remember sharp criticism can crush a child’s initiative to try.
Using the Animal Note method does make teaching young children much easier and more fun for them, but word clues of the notes location on the Grand Staff must be committed to memory and used with the Flash Cards to transfer the Animal Notes to Standard Notes. With children under seven, be patient and take time with this so the child builds a strong and solid foundation for the all of their music experiences in life.
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