Piano for Kids

Many teachers do not believe a child as young as five is ready to learn to play the piano.  They will not even consider starting them until they are seven.  Learning to read notes is a difficult task for some adults, not just children.  We have the memory clues of “FACE,” “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” “All Cows Eat, Grass,” and “Good Birds Don’t Fly Away.”  However, these are pretty vague for even a seven year old, let alone a five year old.  It was frustration with this challenge that brought the Animal Note Method of teaching Note Reading into existence.  By making the notes into caricatures of familiar animals whose names start with the seven alphabet letters used by many in music and having little stories that help relate the Animal Notes’ position on the Grand Staff and their place on the keyboard, learning not only become easier, but also fun.  The Animal Note/standard note Flash Card set along with these word clues help the child not only learn the notes and their location on the keyboard, but become familiar with the corresponding standard note.  It is a win - win situation. 

The five year old adapts easily to this method of learning the piano.  Start out with the Note Reading book and a set of Flash Cards.  Each child has their own unique personality, but even the most sensitive child or one with a short attention span can learn and succeed when started with the Animal Note method.  As parents, know your child and work with his/her personality.  Keep the lessons simple and practice time short.  Don’t expect them to practice on their own at first.  Find a moment each day around the same time that works well for you and your child and ask them to play their new piece for you.  It is amazing how well a child progresses if the assignment is played just once a day.  At the next lesson have them play this piece for you and award their efforts with a sticker of their choice and move on to a new piece.  If they have not played the assigned piece once a day, you may need to go over it two or three times before moving on.  Sometimes it is important to have them repeat the piece another week.  Move to the next piece, and go over it at least once; twice is better.  Review with the Flash Cards the notes the child has learned, use the word clues and look at the standard note using the same word clues.  Finish with a couple of old songs and lots of “warm fuzzies”.
  
The Timing Book comes next.  Once your young student has started learning the half notes, add one of the “Fun Song” books as a child loves to play songs they are familiar with and others recognize.  This really encourages them.  At this point you should start using the Flash Card set asking them to identify and play the standard notes first using the word clues to help with the identification.  You will probably need to give them a hint to help them remember.  They can look at the Animal Note on the other side when they need help.  Even five years olds can get this pretty fast by working with the flash cards every lesson. 

After the timing book you are ready to move into a standard primer with this age child.  At first you will need to ask the child, “What is this note doing?” This will help them think of the word clue that will identify the note they are stuck on.  Before long they will be moving forward with ease.  At this level, start introducing new notes beyond the original 9 notes, again using the Animal Note Flash Cards and word clues for them.  Your child is off to a wonderful start in music in a fun way without frustration.

It is so exciting to watch a child that is three or four years of age play the piano.  I actually had a two and half year old play a song at recital this year.  His sister, who is five, takes lessons, and he has watched.  Then he decided he wanted to try.  He learned to find the notes from the keyboard chart I include with the Note Reading Book.  This keyboard chart has pictures of the animals on the appropriate keys.  A child can find the animal on the music, locate it on the chart, and press the appropriate key.  When I am teaching the young children, I ask them to find the animal and then knock on that animal’s door (the key).  For the younger children I may make a sound similar to that of the animal.  The children like this and will try this game time and time again, just to get me to Meow like the Cat with Whiskers.  Yes, this simple and fun way of teaching made it possible for this young boy to play in front of thirty+ people and grin with happiness at his success.  The song was one of the beginning songs in the book, but what a tremendous start.

When you do this with very young children, it is important to be flexible and inventive.  I have had children teach a favorite stuffed animal or toy, even a small Hot Wheel Car.  It is amazing how the child will focus and concentrate to make that toy do the right thing and join you in the praise and applause for a job well done.  What the child does not realize is they are really teaching themselves while they work to help their toy succeed. 

They do respond well to learning if you put that learning in a context they are familiar with.  It is important from the beginning to have them play on their finger tips.  One of my young students told me, “It is like making my hands be spiders on the keys.”  He is right.  Have you ever seen a spider walk on the flat inside of his legs?   It does not work too well.  So my students play like their little hands are spiders walking on their “tip toes”.

Children are wonderful and creative if we do not try to force them into the adult way of thinking about things when they first start learning.  Use associative learning with them.  That is why the Animal Note Method to teach children music is a success.  It allows them to learn from a base they are familiar with.  Try it with your young children and students and see how much fun and how successful it truly is.

The Noteimal  Co. has teaching studios where we use the Animal Note music every teaching day.  This allows us to have a true understanding of what is working for our young students and what needs to be changed, adjusted, and/or corrected.  I also go personally to one of the schools where the music is being used in music classes every teaching day.  I feel honored to be able to do so.  I am given hands on experience that helps me know and understand what would be helpful when teaching more than one student at a time and to try the new classroom teaching tools before we add them to our website.  All this takes time, but we would far rather take that time so we know the materials you buy are going to work for you. 

We also rejoice when we hear from one of you with special requests and suggestions for material that would make the Animal Note method work better for your teaching situations.  Thank you for helping us improve this unique teaching program.

I do want to stress that one of the important key features of this program are the Animal Note/standard note Flash Card set and the associated word clues.  The Animal Notes allow a child as young as three to begin learning music.  The younger the child, the more time will be spent with the Animal Notes before the child is ready to progress to standard music, but the ultimate goal is to have the ability to read notes and understand timing, thus giving the child you are teaching an opportunity to play any instrument they choose as they learn the note placement and technique for playing that instrument.  Therefore using the Flash Card set and word clues at each lesson are a vital element in the total picture. 

This method allows the student to succeed while easily learning the notes, understand timing without having difficulty because they can read the notes, and it gives a fun and proven way to move from the Animal Notes to standard music notation.

For parents, grandparents, and music teachers,  it is a natural desire to want the very best in life for the youngsters in our lives.  At the beginning of each year we make resolutions to better our lives or make a good habit of doing something positive for others.  Why not combine these two drives.  Scientific investigations have presented a strong case that music plays an important, positive role in the mental and educational development of children.  The Noteimals method of teaching note reading and timing using Animal Notes is a successful and fun way to introduce music to the youngsters in your life, and it can be taught by any parent or grandparent who will make a resolution to give fifteen to thirty minutes a week of their time to make a big difference to the children they love.

This method of beginning music education turns the basic note shape into a head or body of animals that are familiar to us all.  The notes grouped in the middle of the Grand Staff are the Mother notes;
 the lower notes are the Father notes; and the high notes the children of the Animal Note family.  This makes note reading easy to understand and playing a piece simple and fun.  At this time, the Note Reading books are written for the piano and guitar.  Books for other instruments are in the planning or creation stage.

Each note has a story that relates the animal to their staff home.  Using the Animal Note/standard note Flash Card set, these stories can be easily learned, and when the card is turned over and the standard note appears, the story can be the “guiding” light” to identifying the Standard Note.  Regular practice with these cards will make moving to standard music much easier.

The Timing book has music arranged in the Animal Notes using Whole, Quarter, Half, Dotted Half, and Eighth Notes.  A child can concentrate on their counting and listen to the length of each note as they play the piece, because they can easily read each note.

Two books of fun and familiar songs are arranged in the Animal Notes to give the children songs they are proud to play for others.  More of these are planned.

Another book, soon to be published, is designed to smooth transition to standard music notation and will introduce some of the important basic elements of music theory.

We are aiming to produce an early music education series that will allow children to enjoy music while learning to read notes and timing, yet has a comfortable way to make a smooth transition to standard music and an enjoyable music future.  Try it; I think you will enjoy teaching the young ones in your life, and it will give them a gift that keeps on giving.