Piano for Kids

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.

Right now I am working with my graduating senior piano student on the music she is preparing for her Senior Recital.  She has selected a wonderful program of music that cares the listener through the historic development of music.  It has given us both a great opportunity to discuss the development of music through time, including changes in music education.

When I started teaching some 40 years ago I used the same beginning books as I used when I started lessons in the third grade twenty years earlier.  I still use some of the Schaum method as my students move from the Animal method into standard notation.  The basic method of this series of music education books has changed little since I studied them as a child.  Historically, changes in music education have evolved slowly.

Because standard notation is difficult to for most students to understand at first, a lot of music teachers do not accept a student until they are 8 and/or in the third grade of school.  The Suzuki method of teaching does work with very young music students by developing their listening skills, but does not start note reading until later in the student’s musical training.  There are so many advantages for children to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument early in life.  However, for most instruments note reading is at the very basis of becoming an accomplished musician.  The Animal Note method is the “new kid on the block” of music education.  It is one of those steps in the history of music education that allows children as young as 3 to become acquainted with music notes, and by 4 years, play simple pieces on the piano.  This is really a new idea, but I have worked with it for 15 years with positive successes.  With the word clues that are fun for the children and the Animal Note/standard note flash cards moving to standard notation is not a problem.  It does take longer for the youngest children to make the transition; that is why I am working on “fun music” similar to the Christmas Book.  This allows a child to have fun playing songs while growing more comfortable with note reading and spending time  reviewing the word clues, and the flash cards.  It is great; give it a try!

Last week I received the following from one of my 8 year old students along with a request that I put his letter in my blog because he wanted to share it with my readers.

“Ms. Glenna is the best piano or guitar teacher that you will ever know, and she has so much patience and she doesn’t just do the normal notes.  She does them as animal notes for better understanding of students and she is very, very nice.” Kyle

Yes, this makes me feel really good and I thank the Animal Note method for making this possible.  Because of them , children can succeed and feel good about themselves and the music they are learning. I can have fun with my students because they are not frustrated and are learning.  I can also be patient and kind for the same reasons.  The flash cards and word clues make the transition to standard notes almost like playing a game that the child feels good about because they know they have won it “fair and square.” 

Note reading and basic timing are the foundation stones for any musical training.  For children 9 and under the Animal Note method makes learning easier and fun.  Because of them, I have a student who wanted to share the good news with you.
 

I started working with a friend’s granddaughter when she was three.  As she only came to Grandma’s house about four times a year, we never made a lot of progress, but we had fun working with the animal notes, and she was always anxious for me to work with her when she was in town.

Three weeks ago the young family moved next door to my friend, and I started working with the child on a weekly basis.  She has just celebrated her fifth birthday.  She is so excited about having a “real piano lesson.”  It amazes me how much she has retained from our previous  work.  She has not forgotten the stories that go with the notes we had studied earlier, and now she has fun identifying the “back side” of the Animal Notes (I.e. the standard notes) that she knows on the flash cards. Last week when she arrived for her lesson she announced, “I learned the next animal and its songs, I hope you don’t mind.”  Of course I didn’t mind, but I wondered how well she had been able to accomplish this task.  To my delight, and hers, she told me the word story for the new animal and played each song perfectly as well as the songs I had assigned her.  Of course her Mom had helped her read about the new note, but the fact that a five year old is comfortable enough with the music she is learning that she would want to move ahead is amazing.  I am thrilled and excited for her and the wonderful Animal Note method of teaching music to young children.

To have a method of music instruction that enables a child of three to learn music notes and retain that information is very special in my opinion.  Then, to have the same system allow a child to work ahead with a little assistance from her Mom makes the system even more “note” worthy.  If you are a teacher that works with children 9 and under, I hope you will give the Animal Notes a try.  They could very easily make the lesson time and achievement of your young students a real joy.

The Animal Notes have made such a tremendous difference to so many of my young beginning piano students over the years; students that today play and enjoy their music to the fullest.  I have been so very thankful to have this unique, yet simple way of introducing the note reading to them when they were young.  I realize it has helped each of them in more ways than just music accomplishment and that brings great joy to my heart.  Animal Notes are not only a fun and easy way for them to learn notes; they are fun to work with as a teacher.  The Animal Notes can elicit some great comments from the children that bring laughter and joy to a simple music lesson.

I have had many requests to teach young children guitar, especially young boys.  Chord positions can be memorized, but they do not help the child play the melody of a song.  I find children are anxious to play a song that they, their family, and their friends recognize.  To do this on a guitar requires learning the note placement and the logic behind it.  Wow, that is not easy for some adults.

To meet the challenge I decided to try the Animal Notes.  It is working!    I have four students who are working with me on this.  We have even gone to my computer together and arranged songs to help them learn.  We are having a great time and most important, the children are successfully learning the note placement on the guitar and are playing simple melodies.  I know, my next book for guitar will need to be simple chords for the 6 to 12 year old age groups using the Animal Notes.  The great part of this new adventure is that the Animal Note Flash Cards, Timing, and fun music books written for the piano work as well for the guitar.

The Note Reading Guitar book is not quite ready, but it should be on this site in a couple of weeks.

Who knows for certain how music got started in the world.  The first was most likely the beating on a hollow log to send messages.  Then someone tried blowing through a hollow reed and found that it created a pretty sound.  Skins were stretched over the end of the hollow log and a better sound was created, sticks were added and a rhythm was created.  The reed was notched and fingers covered the holes to make different tones and sweeter music.  On and on this creation moved over time with new ideas and creations at ever turn.  It brought joy and a festive mood to the humdrum life.

At first children were taught by patient demonstration of techniques developed by an older musician.  Somewhere along the way, the need for written music opened a new chapter in the history of music, creating a path that allowed more people to become personally involved in the musical world.

Teaching music to young children has never been a simple task. It takes patience and understanding of the child’s point of view.  Many ways have been developed over the years, some more successful than others.  The Animal Note method is one of the “newest kids on the block.”  I started playing around with Animal Notes about 20 years ago.  It has been fun for me and the children.  They love learning this way. The method is based on characterization of animals.  Each animal has a family (mother, father and children), and each member of the family has a story that helps the child learn where that animal is pictured on the Grand Staff of music.  These stories help the child learn standard notation.

In the modern world note reading and timing must be learned to be truly “accomplished” with any instrument, or vocally.  If Animal Notes can give that to a child, “more power to them.”  They are giving that individual a gift that will be enjoyed for a life time.

A name for anyone or anything is an identification tag, but it does not completing describe that individual or item.  Other words must come into play to give true identity.  That does not mean that the name is not important, but it is only a part of the process of gaining true knowledge about the person or item behind the name. 

In music the notes are called by different names in various parts of the world.  When I started teaching an international high school exchange student from Brazil, she had to help me understand the nomenclature for the notes that she used in her country.  It was fun and interesting, but when it came down to the “nuts and bolts” of music, the notes were just the same, regardless of what they were called. 

The same is true for Animal Notes.  They have names starting with the letters of the standard notes that are commonly used in the United States.  The Animal Notes are characterizations of each animal to make them more easily recognizable by young children, which allows them to be more comfortable with note reading in general.  Stories can be made up for each animal in relation to its placement on the Grand Staff.  Children can easily remember the stories, thus allowing them to make a smooth transition to standard music notation.  Once note reading is learned, what the notes are called is no longer important. 

As in life, the name of an individual or item helps with initial recognition; but it is fully getting to know that person or item that can make a difference in our life.

Hand position is so very important when playing the piano.  When I was a little girl, my piano teacher corrected me on my hand position at every lesson telling me to curl my fingers and cup my hand at the keyboard. Sometimes when I did not cooperate, I would get a slap across my knuckles with a ruler.  This did nothing to bring my cooperation, only tears of humiliation.  As I teacher I did not want to do this to my students, so I studied the principals behind hand position and its importance to playing the piano.  The fingers have to be curved to allow for the thumb to be an active participant in creating the music and it is of utmost value when it comes to moving the hand up and down on the keyboard.  Flat fingers on the piano bring with them loud and stiff music, it is impossible to play otherwise. 

However, before I developed the Animal Note method of starting my young students, I had little luck helping my students develop a good hand position at the piano; the students were too busy trying to figure out the next note to think about anything else.  Since I started using the Animal Note method, I have been able to help my students develop a good hand position before bad habits became deeply implanted. 

I have my young children lay their hand flat on the piano bench and wiggle each finger, then get up on their finger tips to do the wiggling.  It is easy for them to see how much more flexible their fingers are, and they can also see that the thumb is now among the group of wiggling fingers. 

Two weeks ago I was working with one of my five year old boys on his hand position.  He looked at me with a big smile and said, “I get it, you want my fingers to be spiders.”  We laughed together, but his comment is a terrific idea.  All spiders walk on the tips of their legs, not the long flat part.  Now we have “spider toes” playing the Animal Notes of ever song.  By using the Animal Note clues and the flash cards, students can make a solid transition to standard music notation. With good hand position, the student will play beautiful music, thanks to the “spider” who likes to make music.

I get so excited about teaching music that it spills out all over.  I have a hard time keeping my enthusiasm under control.  Finding a method that works for very young children has opened up a whole new world for me.  It takes dedication, patience, and self discipline to teach music to young children; it is not always an easy job.  However the rewards are so very special.  The smile on a child’s face, when they know they have accomplished a task, successfully completed a new piece, or done a good job performing in front of an audience, is worth a million dollars.  At Christmas time, one of my young students, who had just turned four, played Hot Cross Buns for her families’ Christmas party of about 50 people.  Yes, her mother helped her keep track of where she was in the music, but she did not miss a note.  The Animal Note method allowed her to accomplish this challenge, and her smile at the end lit up the room.

Because of the successes I have had with the Animal Note method of teaching piano to young children, and the many requests by young boys to teach them to play the guitar; I have started working on a book using the Animal Notes to teach the location of the notes on the guitar and their location on the Grand Staff.  I have two young boys who are learning the basics of the guitar and note reading with what I have worked out so far.  They are excited, and so am I.  I hope to have the book ready for this web site soon.  I am emphasizing note reading for the guitar to give the children more options with this delightful instrument.  Both of the boys have had some basic training in piano which really helps, but would not be essential.

I hope you will be willing to give the Animal Note approach to early music education a try.  With the use of the word clues and the Animal Note/Standard Note flash cards for easy transition to standard notes, I think you too will have the joy of teaching music to a young child that will keep on giving for that child’s lifetime.

I believe every individual on earth has his/her own unique way of learning the many lessons life has for us.  That is why I feel so strongly that it is a teacher’s responsibility to use different teaching techniques to help her/his students learn.  I have taught music, mainly piano, for 40 years.  I love working with young children and want them to learn and succeed.  I know that a good knowledge of music will help them in so many ways.  However, I have found that I must be flexible and willing to use various methods to help each child learn.

One technique that I have found very valuable is “painting word pictures.”  This seems to help my students remember the lessons I am trying to teach.  For example; teaching the principle of playing music loud and soft can be very difficult for some children to understand.  It is just easier to play the notes all the same loudness.  It takes work and control to do anything other than this.  One example of a word picture I paint for them to help them understand the importance of working on this area of there music is this:  “If a canvas is painted all one color, say medium blue, it is really boring to look at, but if black (loud) or white (soft) is added to the blue a lovely picture can emerge on the canvas.  By adding various amounts of black, trees of a forest can emerge, by adding varies amounts of white, a lake can settle among the trees, a moon can shine in the sky, and its light can shimmer on the surface of the lake.”  I them tell them that by using soft tones and loud tones in a piece of music, a lovely picture can emerge from the melody.  Most of the time, the student will begin to work on painting a picture in his/her music.

This is not the normal way to teach this principal of dynamics in music, but it does help some children succeed in this area.  Trying new and different ideas can be very helpful.  The challenge with every student is to help them succeed, not in always staying with the standard way of presenting information.