Piano for Kids

Note reading is the basis of all music education.  The Animal Note method starts from this point.  The first book for piano teaches the first nine notes on both the key board and the staff.  Each note is a caricature of a different animal whose name starts with the letter of the alphabet normally used in American music.  Each letter is introduced with a story that becomes a word clue for that note, like middle C is a cat with whiskers living in a box between the clefs.  At least one song follows each note introduction.  After each note is introduced it is used in all subsequent songs.  Youngsters enjoy this as the notes are easily read, and they are able to play right away.

The Flash Cards should be used as soon as three notes have been introduced.  With the Animal Note side of the card facing the child, remind him/her of the word clue associated with that note; then flip to the standard note side and ask them to play that note.  My students call the standard note the rear side of the animal.  There are lots of fun games that can be played with the cards, and gradually the student becomes as comfortable with the standard notes as the Animal Notes.  The word clues are the secret to the transition.

The timing book is so helpful.  The notes are easily read as the student knows the Animal Notes and can concentrate on learning and listening to the length of the notes and how that makes a special melody.  Again the timing is introduced in stages starting with the whole note, and then the quarter note is added, etc.

The Christmas Song book is the only fun song book on the site at this time.  Another one should be available in the next two weeks.  Children love being able to play a song they have heard before.  These books are written in the Animal Notes, with words for singing along.  When you are working with children between 4 and 8, please consider adding these books to your teaching collections.  Children this young need more time to be comfortable with standard music notation.  Most eight year olds make the transition within a year of starting and move into five finger music books quite easily and love it. 

Following the Animal Note series, select a standard note instructional series you have learned from or like.  There are many good advanced teaching series available.  The Animal Note method is valuable and important as it takes the frustration out of learning to read notes.  So many youngsters quit because they just can’t learn to read notes and hate playing an instrument because of this.  The Animals are friendly and comfortable for the children, which makes learning fun instead of frustrating.  Using the Flash Cards for this instruction is also very important.

With the Animal Notes and their word clues, it is possible for a teacher, parent, grandparent , other relative, or a thoughtful friend to teach piano to a child as young as four and guitar to a seven year old.   The books and learning tools designed by the Noteimals allow young children to take small, steady steps toward learning the location of the notes on their instrument and the Grand Staff.  The word clues for each of the Animal Notes allow the child to have fun with learning the notes and have a way to recognize the note in its standard notation.  The child feels good about what they are accomplishing.  There is very little of the frustration that is encountered when starting a young student in beginning music using standard notation.  The Animals are familiar and friendly.

When teaching any young child, it is very important to put information on their level of understanding.  They have not had time in their short lives to experience all that a teenager or adult has.  I have found that tying new information to something comfortable and familiar helps them understand and learn new information.  For instance:  To help my young guitar students understand why the low E is on the top when the guitar is in playing position, we talked about this note being a Father Note Elephant.  Daddy’s might come home from work and need to sit down in the bass clef for awhile, but they still must be up mentally to help their family and friends below him on the guitar neck to provide them help whenever needed.  This simple idea has helped each of my young guitar students accept the fact the fact that the lowest note in guitar music is closest to their face when the guitar is in playing position.

The Animal Note approach to note reading and learning an instrument at a young age is fun, creative, and, in the majority of situations, very successful.  Music adds so much to any individual’s life.  Why not try it with your new young music student?

In my March 10, 2008 blog, I shared with you that my four year old granddaughter had decided she wanted to play the piano in her church talent contest.  Her mother thought she was comfortable enough with the notes used in the song “Peace like a River” to be able to play it.  I arranged the song using the Animal Notes for her, and she practiced hard.  Yesterday was the big District Competition.  It was held in a large church with many participants. There was a large grand piano at the center of the auditorium stage.  Several children performed before it was her turn.  She watched and listened patiently.  When her turn finally came, her mother went up first to put a pillow on the bench and the keyboard chart behind the keys for her.  My granddaughter then took a copy of her music to the judges’ stand, walked to the stage, took the microphone, and gave the audience her name, the title of the piece, what church she was representing, and her age.  Returning the microphone to its stand, she walked to the piano, climbed up on its bench and the pillow, and played her piece without missing a note. 

To her delight, she was awarded a first place metal.  For weeks she had practiced and dreamed of hanging a ribbon on her bedroom wall in a place where she could see it when she went to bed each night, and when she woke in the morning.

The fact that a four year old child accomplished this is so wonderful.  What a future lies ahead of her.  I am so very proud of her, her mother, and the work and dedication they put into this effort.  I am equally delighted and thankful that there is now a way that a child so young can learn to play an instrument and develop good note reading and timing skills early in life.  The Animal Note method of early music training will open new doors for children, allowing them to develop, enjoy, and share their talent for a life time.

Many times in the last 40 years of teaching, I have been asked by my younger students, especially the boys, to teach them guitar.  I have succeeded with the older children, but for the younger children the guitar is a very confusing instrument.  First of all it is upside down when in playing position; the high notes are on the bottom strings and the low ones are on the top strings.  Even a very young child can tell you that one must go up the hill to get a higher view.  Then there are two E’s among the open notes two octaves apart; the high E is on the bottom string and the low E is on the top string.  For a child, that is just “mind boggling” and crazy.  An adult who has had any musical experience can figure this out, but for a child, it just does not make any sense.

Many times a teacher will approach this problem by teaching chord positions, but a young child wants to play a tune they know and that will impress their friends.  That is something that is not possible with a young child playing just chords. 

I have an eleven year old grandson who tried hard to learn the guitar only to quit in frustration.  His four year old sister is using the Animal Notes to learn piano, and that gave him an idea.  “Why don’t you write a book using the Animal Notes to teach the guitar?  He wants it so badly that I decided to work on it for him.  The new book on this web page is the result of this endeavor.  I am teaching six young people, including my grandson, using this book with good success.  Two of the children are teenagers who are good note readers thanks to band, but told me they just could not seem to understand the makeup of the guitar.   When learning about the Animal Note method from one of my student’s sisters, they asked me to teach them guitar.  They are having a lot of fun, and they tell me that for the first time they understand how the guitar is organized.  They are delighted because at last they feel like they are learning to play it.

If you have a child who wants to learn the guitar, or is having difficulty learning with standard methods, I hope you will give this book a chance.