Piano for Kids

I believe every individual on earth has his/her own unique way of learning the many lessons life has for us.  That is why I feel so strongly that it is a teacher’s responsibility to use different teaching techniques to help her/his students learn.  I have taught music, mainly piano, for 40 years.  I love working with young children and want them to learn and succeed.  I know that a good knowledge of music will help them in so many ways.  However, I have found that I must be flexible and willing to use various methods to help each child learn.

One technique that I have found very valuable is “painting word pictures.”  This seems to help my students remember the lessons I am trying to teach.  For example; teaching the principle of playing music loud and soft can be very difficult for some children to understand.  It is just easier to play the notes all the same loudness.  It takes work and control to do anything other than this.  One example of a word picture I paint for them to help them understand the importance of working on this area of there music is this:  “If a canvas is painted all one color, say medium blue, it is really boring to look at, but if black (loud) or white (soft) is added to the blue a lovely picture can emerge on the canvas.  By adding various amounts of black, trees of a forest can emerge, by adding varies amounts of white, a lake can settle among the trees, a moon can shine in the sky, and its light can shimmer on the surface of the lake.”  I them tell them that by using soft tones and loud tones in a piece of music, a lovely picture can emerge from the melody.  Most of the time, the student will begin to work on painting a picture in his/her music.

This is not the normal way to teach this principal of dynamics in music, but it does help some children succeed in this area.  Trying new and different ideas can be very helpful.  The challenge with every student is to help them succeed, not in always staying with the standard way of presenting information.
 

As I have discussed many times in my Blogs; an education in music is of immense value to a young child. It helps greatly in the development of the brain, it strengthens coordination skills, helps lay the “ground work” for self discipline, and gives them a skill that can lead to a life time of pleasure.

However, it does take patience, a calm firm voice, repetition, and persistence on the part of the teacher and the ability to present the knowledge on the child’s level. A baby does not come with an adult operating system pre-installed. Unlike a computer, the basic operating system must be installed by the parent or guardian, teachers, and other influential adults in the child’s life. They are responsible for developing the missing skills that will make this young individual a fully operational, talented, creative, and disciplined adult. Yes, it is a tremendous job, but a valued service to mankind and the world.

Training in music is just a small part of the total training of a child, but it does work on many of the important factors. Note reading and Timing are the foundation skills that must be mastered before almost any instrument can be played well. However, the challenge of learning the standard musical notes is just too difficult for most young children, especially those in the 4 to 8 year age group. There is so little about standard notes that relate to a young child’s knowledge base. By turning the notes into caricatures of familiar animals and creating fun and relative stories about each animal, the child can enjoy learning the notes. The animal notes allow the child to concentrate on timing as the notes are easily read. The Animal Note/Standard Note Flash cards used with word clues makes moving-on to standard music easy. To be honest, the method helps anyone who is having trouble learning to note read (even adults) to conquer the challenge and have fun while doing it.

How many of you hum or sing once in a while as you work?  Or listen to music on your new MP3 player, CD player or the car radio as you travel.  Few of us will insist that music is not part of our lives in someway or another, and that music brings joy to our lives.

It makes me so sad when I am talking to a person about music, and that individual tells me they had tried to learn to play an instrument once in their lives but just did not seem to have what it took to succeed.  When I show them Animal Note music almost all will exclaim; “Wow, why didn’t my teacher have something like this when I started music?”
The caricatures of the animals are friendly and fun, giving joy to learning, and the word clues associated with each animal will allow the child to recognize the standard music note.  The Animal/standard note flash cards will help immensely is this transition.  The younger the child, the more time and patient practice it will take, but a child as young as four is usually able to succeed.  A really great part of this method lies in the child being able to successfully play, enjoy, and grow in music while working on learning standard music notation.  This prevents the frustration of; “I can’t do this, it is too hard.”

Playing an instrument allows an individual to share music with others, work with a group of friends to form a “garage band,.” gain respect from friends and those who hear their music, and most of all find joy and relaxation in music they are able to create.  If at all possible, don’t deny your child, or children this wonderful opportunity.