Teaching Music to Very Young Children
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.
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