Piano for Kids

Last August, I was asked to start two home schooled children on Piano and possibly the guitar.  They were 8 and 11 at the time.  When I arrived the 14 year old sister asked if she could take lessons as well.  I explained that we could start in a week, because I only had brought the Animal Note books to start her brothers.  She sat down and looked at the material I had brought and asked if she could please start in the same material; it looked like it would make learning more fun and possibly easier for her to learn the material.  We talked to her mother and it was agreed that she would use the Animal Note method as well.  The next week, her 14 year old friend asked if she could also take lessons using the Animal Note Method. 

The girls went through the books quickly as they practiced and enjoyed what they are learning.  All four children studied the Animal Note Flash Card set at every lesson.  The word clues for each animal note on the grand staff helped make the standard notes familiar and the Moving On book has already helped the girls make the transition  to Standard Music Notation.  Yesterday, eight months after starting piano both the girls started a song from Taylor Swift’s Easy Piano Book “Fearless”.  They will take one page at a time right now, but it is very rewarding for the girls, their parents and for me to have children at this age move to this level without difficulty or frustration.  A child this age wants to play music their friends know.  They never considered the Animal Note Method as anything but a great way to learn to read notes and study timing and theory.  They are so excited to be playing music they love.

I had never tried starting a teenager with the method before, but it was so successful, I will certainly do it again in the future.  The difficult problem of starting an older child is their impatience in wanting to play more advanced music than is appropriate for beginners at any age.  The Animal Note Method allowed them to caught on quicker, advanced faster and to now playing at a level they enjoy and appreciate.  We are all thrilled with their progress.

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