Piano for Kids

The students that take lessons in our Music Studio had their recital in early December.  Thirty-five students played in the program.  Of those thirty-five, twenty –nine started their music training in the Animal Note Method series.  The six who had not used this series from the beginning used it to straighten out their note reading and timing problems.  The program began with our three 3 year old students.  Two played pieces from the Note Reading Book and the third played “Yankee Doodle” and “O Come Little Children” from the “Fun Book” and “Christmas Book” respectfully.  For a child this age to use each finger correctly, find the note to be played in the song, and play the appropriate key in front of about 50 people is amazing and so gratifying.  Our little 4 year old played her two pieces and then looked at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen.  She knew she had done well, and she was so excited.  Five of the students also played melodies on their guitars having learned to play from the “Animal Note Beginning Guitar Book.”  Our older students delighted the audience with songs from the Jonas Brothers, the old - but much loved “Love is Blue,” and Gypsy Ronda by Hayden among others. Our graduating senior, who started music when he was 5 years old, will be the first to tell you when complemented on his keyboard abilities, “I owe it all to the Animals, they taught me the basics.”
Seeing young people not only perform well, but truly enjoy what they are doing is so gratifying.  Yes, it is hard to beat success.

Congratulations on wanting to start your child in music!  The Animal Note method is designed so a parent, even those who do not play the keyboard themselves, can successfully teach their young child.  I would suggest you start by ordering the Note Reading book and a set of the Animal Note/standard note flash cards to start with, and then order other books as your child is ready for them.  The program provides teaching materials to teach the beginning stages of music and to help students transfer to music written in standard music notation, at a Big Note level.

Work slowly with your young child - one song at a time.  A keyboard chart comes with the Note Reading book. The chart fits behind the black notes of the keyboard to help the youngsters find each animal’s home on the keyboard.  Stories about the keyboard locations are in the front part of the book.  Start with Cat (middle C).  Introduce the note by using the flash card and telling the story related to the animal.  Then have your child play the first song, which consists of seven cats.  Point to each note and help him/her find it on the key board.  When he/she is completely comfortable with the song and loves to play it, go to the second song.  Again introduce the animal with the flash card and its story.  Use the stories a lot so they become part of your child’s world.  Try to work with your child a few minutes each day, but keep it fun.

As your child adds more notes to his/her knowledge base let him/her arrange the flash cards to create a song of his/her own.  The children love to do this.  Always have them play the song they have arranged with the cards.  This is another way to reinforce their new knowledge.

A very young child has not gained the coordination skills to use their hands properly, so be patient with this development.  Show them how to use a different finger with each note, but when they forget or have trouble, don’t get upset.  A child that is four will be able to handle this skill without too much difficulty, but until then, they will often look at the note to be played and then look at their hands to decide what finger to play the note with.  I have my very young students play with their hands on a table or chair like their fingers are the legs of a spider.  Spiders do not walk on the flat of their legs, they walk on the tips and the legs curve away from the body.  Have your child look at how a spider walks in nature or find a picture for him/her to look at.

The Note Reading Book does not deal with timing.  After the notes are learned, it will be time to buy the Timing Book, a fun book, or two, from the series we have (more are being developed),  and the Theory book.  The Theory book is great as a teaching tool as it helps you explain the basic principles of music to your child.  It is not a work book, but a much needed teaching aid.

Remember patience and love will help you give your child the beautiful and treasured gift of music.  By the time he/she starts kindergarten he/she will be playing music from standard music books and loving it.  It is truly worth those few minutes a day you will be giving.

Write me any time for more help, advice, and guidance.  It is important to us to not only to provide the best beginning keyboard teaching materials possible, but also to be available as a help for those doing the teaching.

I have written a lot about very young children being able to begin their music education using the Animal Note method.  It is truly such a joy and their success is heartwarming.  I received word just last week from the mother of a five year old girl who was taught at home to play the piano using the Animal Note Method. She will be taking her first lesson from a music teacher tomorrow.  When the mother took the child for an interview she was told that a child under 8 was usually unable to learn to play the piano; it was just too difficult, and the basic knowledge was just not there.  However, this child passed the test.  Her hand position was excellent, she could recognize the beginning standard notes on the Grand Staff, although she called them by their animal names, and she understood basic timing.  Her new teacher was amazed and delighted.
However, I have not written much about how truly great this method is for older children.  Our studio recently accepted a family of home schooled children.  Their ages are 8, 11, and 14.  Originally it was our understanding that only the 8 year old was a beginner.  As it turned out they all were.  We started the 8 year old with the Animal Note Method, and he liked it so much the older two children also wanted to start that with this set of music books.  They are all doing fantastic.  The 8 year old already knows the beginning nine notes, both as animals and standard notes, and he has moved into the “Timing” book,” Fun Songs”, and “Christmas” book.  The 11 year old is about half way through these three books and has started to learn the guitar using the Animal Note Guitar book.  He will be playing standard guitar melodies by Christmas.  The 14 year old was so excited; she brought her 14 year old friend the next week.  These two young teenagers are about to move on to the” Moving On” Book.  All four youngsters have good basic timing techniques, and they are learning basic theory from the “Theory for Young Children.” They also easily identify standard music notation, and most of all, THEY LOVE TO PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS.
Yes, the ovals of the notes are caricature of animals, and the children call the notes by animal names, but what is really important is that they are learning note reading and timing, all with joy, confidence, and a real feeling of accomplishment.
This method is truly a “win-win” approach for beginners in piano and guitar.

The Animal Note method of beginning music education is based on associative learning.  Everyone learns easier and quicker if the new knowledge being acquired can be based on something the individual already knows.  The notes in the music books of this series are caricatures of familiar animal faces.  Each music note has a story about its location on the Grand Staff.  These stories help the individual recognize the corresponding standard music note.
The first music book is a study of the first nine notes in the center of the Grand Staff.  It is written for beginning piano students.  In the front of the book are two keyboard charts with stories that help in learning the notes’ locations.  These are associated with the homes of each of the animal notes.  With this, the beginner learns the set of white notes located around the two black notes on the piano and those located around the three black notes and how this is repeated on the piano keyboard.
As the animal notes are friendly and easily recognized, other important aspects of learning can be emphasized.  Most young beginners want to hit each note with the same finger.  Three year olds have the most trouble with this, but even they can accomplish the task, because they are not struggling with both recognizing the note to be played and what finger to use to play the note.  Children older than three learn correct hand position fairly quickly.  What a joy!
The second book emphasizes timing.  As the notes are familiar, the beginner can concentrate on the count of each note.  The Animal Note/standard note flash card set has the animal note on one side and the comparable standard note on the other.  After reviewing the animal notes with their clue, even a three year old can recognize the standard note by the word clue when it is presented.  By using these cards, the beginning student becomes comfortable with standard music notation as they enjoy learning to play music.
The Fun Song and Christmas music books give the beginning student a chance to enjoy playing songs they know and other people recognize.  The Moving On book has songs written in the animal notes on the front of each page and the same song in standard music notation on the back.  It provides a smooth transition to music written only in standard music.
This beginning music education works well for any age.  An older child enjoys the quick start it gives them into playing, and when they complete the series of books, including study in the Theory Book, they have the ability to play music at the early intermediate music level.  It is a win – win situation for all involved.

I have really encouraged you to begin music training for children as young as 3 with the Animal Note Method of early music education.   Many of you might be wondering how this is possible and what they really do learn. 

If you are honest about it, children this age are very curious about their world and love the fun of exploration and investigation.  If they are in any preschool situation, they are learning many things and even at home they are learning about colors, shapes, and even beginning to count.  They love animals and to hear stories about animals.  What they learn at this age is a foundation for future learning, so why not include music in that foundation.  A small inexpensive keyboard will do just fine or even a xylophone can be used.  You will need the Note Reading for Young Children and a set of the Animal Note/standard note Flash Cards.  It is important to invest in both with this age group.  They need some variety when you work with them.

As each child is so different, it is important to work with your child’s individuality.   I want to tell you about three children in this age group that I am teaching at this time.  We’ll start with a little guy who has just turned three.  He is the youngest of nine children and all his siblings take lessons, so of course he wants to as well.  He is all “boy; ”  full of energy and with a strong personality.  He is a good boy but just a little immature.  His ability to concentrate on one thing is relatively short.  Because of this, I work with him for only five to ten minutes–at the end of one of his sibling’s lessons.  We are using just the flash cards for him.  He recognizes the note and can find it on the key board chart (that comes with every Note Reading Book and sits behind the black keys on the keyboard), follow the key down, and hit it.  I found that I can keep his interest better if I make the animal sound when the key is hit.  He will do this time and time again to hear that sound.  I tell him the word clue with each animal presented and show him the associated standard note, so he becomes comfortable with the story and the standard note.  We have played the cat song a couple of times, but I must point at each cat or he hits cat forever.  He turned three in July, so I feel we are off to a good start considering his age, personality and point of maturity.

I have a little girl, the youngest of four daughters in a family, who turned three early this year.  She loves to make games with the flash cards and play the songs in the Fun Song Book.  The timing is not good, but on the songs she knows and loves to play, she does a relatively good job with them.  We are slowly working through the Note Reading Book, but it is not as much fun as the Fun Song book.  I always do a song in that Note Reading book first before the flash cards.  At each lesson, we review the word clues for the animals and look at the standard note on each card before she starts making up her own songs with the cards.

My last young student actually started working with me occasionally when he was two and a half.  He is mature for his age and a very settled child.  He is actually taking thirty minute lessons now that he is 3 and a half.  He works carefully in the Note Reading book and the flash card set.  He makes up songs with them and wants me to put words with the tune he has created,  then he plays his “new song” and I am suppose to sing the words without any mistakes. 

Each of these children are great kids, but different from each other, and each is successfully learning, enjoying what they are doing, and learning music without the stress that can be associated with first learning standard music notation.   Your young child can be successful as well; just work with him/her as the individual he/she was created to be.

The Animal Note method is so perfect for a five year old, and if you have not already started your five year old learning to play the piano, NOW is the time.  This age child is going into kindergarten and their whole world of learning is going to take on new meaning.  The many pieces of information that they have gained in their young life are going to start fitting together like the pieces of a puzzle.   Music should be an important part of that education.  Many schools do not offer much in the way of music education.  They sing songs, put on wonderful and precious productions, and make all that hear them rejoice, but few have a chance to learn the basics on which music is built; note reading and timing.

With the purchase of three of the Animal Note method books and a set of the Animal Note/standard note flash cards, you can start your kindergarten child on the road to joy, pleasure, and adventure in the wonderful world of music.  The books should include the Note Reading, Timing, and a one of the Fun Music Books.  If you do not have a piano or keyboard available to you, try to use the one at your church, a friend’s home or buy one of the small keyboards at a garage sale, or from an ad in the newspaper. 

And, if you do not have a few minutes a day, or at least every other day, get a teacher to use the books and give your child lessons.  Many teachers say they will not take a student before they are 8 or 9 because they find note reading is somewhat difficult to teach for this age group, but with the Animal Note method, note reading is not only easy, but fun.  The word clues and flash card set make the transition to standard music notation a fun and rewarding game.

A perfect time to start music education is when a child begins his/her formal education in the schools.  It is a time when learning is a true adventure, and life is not too cluttered with outside activities.  Music is an important part of everyone’s life.  Don’t deny this gift to your five year old.

Children that have celebrated their fourth birthday are a lot of fun to work with.  They are so curious about their world and ready to learn.  The Animal Note method of music education is fun and delightful to their little minds.  Most love animals, thus making the music notes easy to recognize and fun to play with, but to recognize standard music notation is simply mind boggling to them.  The Animal Notes allow them to begin music at a point in their lives that is uncluttered by many of the extra activates that fill the lives of older children. 

Each child is an individual, so it is very important to work with your young child’s personality.  Some four year olds are calm and able to concentrate on your teaching; others are so full of energy, while others want to flit like a busy butterfly from one song, idea and even instrument to another. 

The corner stone of music is note reading and timing.  Getting a good foundation in these two important facets of music is the main goal in the beginning.  The Animal Note method allows for the variation necessary to meet the needs of young children.  The Note Reading Book and the Animal Note/standard note flash cards can to used in many ways to help your young student learn the word clues for each note and begin to associate the standard note with its Animal Note and that notes location on the Grand Staff.  Once the basic notes are learned there is the Timing Book and two great “Fun Books” that have songs the children have heard and enjoy playing.  More books are in the works to add variety and additional teaching materials

Lessons should be about 15 to 20 minutes at first, but it does not take long for this age child to stay with the lesson up to 30 minutes.  Vary your approach, let them play games, like making up their own song with the Flash Cards, encourage them to play old songs that you have already worked on and always let them choose at least one of the review pieces.  Corrections must be mixed with words of encouragement and positive, appropriate praise.

Four year olds are usually capable to working on their hand position and not using just one or two fingers play the notes of the piece, but be patient and constant in your efforts to help them develop the correct position.  Using each finger separate from the others is a strange new idea to them and developing a good habit of doing this does not come instantly.

You will truly be giving your child a gift of a life time by introducing them to music and the piano or keyboard at this young age.  It is a rewarding experience for both your child and you

Have you ever observed a very young child gently touch the key of a piano or keyboard; or perhaps bang on a bunch of keys with both hands?    I have been told many times, “I can hardly wait until my child is old enough for lessons.  I know he (or she) has musical ability!  I am just afraid he (or she) is too young. What do you think?”

I suggest you give it a try.  Start with the “Note Reading for Young Children” book and a set of Animal Note/standard note flash cards. I can honestly say, I have taught children as young as three who have successfully transferred their knowledge to standard music notations.  Many have continued lessons through their senior year in high school.   The Animal Note Method has made this possible by making the notes something friendly and familiar.  Their word clues along with the flash cards make transition to standard music notation smooth and without difficulty.  But I do have some strong guide lines I would advise you consider and follow. 

1. Know your child!!!!  Working with the child’s temperament can be the major key to your success.  I have a little boy who will turn three this month.  All of his siblings take music at our studio, and he wants to join them.  Some people would say, “He is certainly all boy,” and they are right.  He likes to growl like a bear, play with cars, and try to toss a football.  However he is also a tender and sweet child.  Last week I finally gave into his begging and gave him a short lesson.  Because he like to play like an animal at times, I would meow like a cat when he had looked at the Cat on the music, found it on the chart above the keys, and hit the keys.  His smile lit up the room, he was so excited.  He followed the instructions several times before he lost interest.  When his parents arrived to pick him and his siblings up, he grabbed his Dad’s hand, pulled him to the piano, and repeated what he had learned in his short lesson with a very loud meow when he successfully hit middle C.  I had managed to work with his personality.
2. The attention span of children three and four is not very long, about 5 to 10 minutes at the most.  If you push them for a longer time you will have frustration and a child that does not want to try again.  If you are a parent or grandparent and can work with the child 5 to 10 minutes at least every other day you will be delighted how fast they learn.
3.  Always go back over work already learned.  The child feels so proud when they are successful.  Pieces already played feel good and are easy.  Learning something new needs to be rewarded by the feeling of success found in playing an old song or two.  Let them choose the song sometimes.  Remember, taking things slow is the key to success at this age.

4. After the second note is learned, introduce the Animal Note/standard note flash cards for those notes.  Repeat the word clue and ask the child to play that note.  Turn the card over to the standard note, repeating the word clue and ask the child to again play the note.  Some of my young students call the standard note “the back side” of the animal.

5. Be positive.  Tell the child when they have made a mistake, but also tell them when they have done a good job.  A little praise when sincerely given goes a long way.

6.   Have fun and enjoy this.  It is so rewarding.
 
If your child continues to enjoy the time spent with you or his teacher at the keyboard, then you will know he/she is ready for musical training.  If not, back off and offer it again in six months or a year.  Your child will not forget what he/she has learned, so your time has not been wasted.  Musical training is an important part of a child’s education, but as in all early childhood education, it must be taken slowly, taught with a positive supportive attitude and have some fun along the way.

Note reading is the foundation knowledge required to play any instrument.  For many people the notes are no more than dots on a sheet of paper; they make no sense, and trying to remember which dot tells you what key to press, what finger position to use, or what string and bow position must be used is enough to blow one’s mind.   Time and practice can conquer this challenge, but far too many get discouraged and quit before they have gained enough proficiency to even begin to receive joy from the creation of music.

Many methods on the market attempt to solve this problem.  As all individuals are created so differently, some of these methods do help the individual succeed.  “Note Reading for Young Children” is the “new kid on the block” in the field of music education.  It uses a little different approach based on the widely accepted fact that many people learn by association with knowledge that they already have acquired.   This is especially true for young children, but it can make the road easier for anyone wanting to learn music; yes, even adults.  The great fact about this method is it works!

In the American system of music education, the seven notes are identified by the first seven letters of the American alphabet.  The Animal Note Method uses the oval shape of each of these seven notes and turns them into caricatures of a familiar animal’s face or body.  These notes are presented in the “Note Reading for Young Children” book with a short story/word clue that helps the child (or individual) associate the animal with its position on the Grand Staff of music.  Thus the spots on the paper become friends that smile back at them from the page.  Since children as young as three can recognize the animals, they can begin to learn the foundation blocks of music before their lives become cluttered with all the other important activities of life.

Music is a job for many talented people and for others it is the source of comfort and enjoyment.  I cannot begin to count the number of people who have told me, “I could never read the notes and quit.  I would love to play an instrument, but I know I would never be able to conquer note reading”.  This statement makes me want to cry, because I know the Animal Note Method of beginning note reading and timing does lead to success and a future filled with music that grows and expands for the individual, bring such joy.  The Animal Notes have made learning the two very essential skills of note reading and timing fun, easy and comfortable.  The word clues for each Animal lead to a successful transfer to standard music notation and a future of joy in the world of music.

The Animal Note Method is presented in such a way that an individual who has never taught music can successfully teach the beginning skills to their own young children, grandchildren or a friend’s child, bring joy and satisfaction to both you and the luck child you teach.  Yet the method can also successfully be used for older children who struggle with note reading and timing and any adult who has had difficulties learning these skills at an earlier time, and are able to overcome their negativity.

I received an e-mail today from a Mom who had recently ordered some of the books.  She wanted me to know that her 4 year old daughter had had her first lesson.  The books had held her attention and she had not only learned the first couple of notes quickly, but had fun doing so.  Over the last three years I have received many wonderful e-mails like this from many different situations.  It always makes me so happy that the wonderful and enchanting world of music has been opened for another individual.  I truly rejoice.