Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources website/apps for learning piano keys/notes?

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a resource for learning this fluently-- for instance games maybe, that teach kids to name notes on various clefs and make them locate that note on a keyboard. DD has some fluency issues, esp. with bass clef. I never took piano and I'm wondering how anyone can learn to read two different clefs at the same time. It seems like it would be really difficult.

My ds might have some apps he knows of - I'll ask him tonight. Have you ever heard the acronyms for remembering treble and bass clef notes? I think most everyone learns them in school, but if not - they are useful for remembering which note is which!

Treble Clef lines: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (E,G,B,D,F from bottom to top)
Treble Clef spaces between lines: FACE (spells FACE, bottom to top)

Bass Clef spaces: All Cows Eat Grass (bottom to top)
Bass Clef lines: Great Big Dogs Fight Animals (bottom to top)

Hope that helps!

polarbear

Mnemonics are useful when first starting out, but to be honest, automaticity comes mostly with practice (i.e., over time). Learning to play the piano is more of a "feel" than anything else.

I don't disagree at all! (I play piano)... but I am also parenting 2 out of 3 kids who aren't all that automatic with fluency, and my dyspraxic ds, who happens to be a really good piano player, tends to still rely on mnenomics to identify notes. He actually plays mostly by ear, but also studies with a teacher to learn technique. It's just been very different watching the evolution of his playing ability and level vs what I thought was the normal/typical way most kids learn to play piano

polarbear

One of my kids took classes with Music for Young Children (which is into full-body learning). One of their tools was a metal sheet with a blank music staff and a set of round magnets. For rote practice, you can call out letters (make me 4 C's, for example, or two bass clef F's), or show notes and have them name them. We were supposed to do this for five minutes a day. You can make words, too (you can find lists by googling). You can do similar things on the keyboard itself, calling letters/ words, or having them identify keys/ words. Not fun, but effective.

They told us that mnemonics (the only way I know how to do it) make it harder to develop automaticity, as you're always stopping to count and recite rather than spatially recognize. They did, however, teach all sorts of memory tricks to associate specific notes visually with their place on the clef or keyboard.

I did a little bit of research on dyslexia and music, and it seems like a multi-sensory kind of approach is recommended. Suzuki was mentioned several times, and although I don't have any experience with it, the descriptions I saw seemed to suggest the MYC program we were using took a similar kind of approach. Lots of using the body to show patterns and manipulatives. Probably overall a good approach for kids with LDs that affect automaticity, but the downside is it's all pre-scripted, group classes, so zero flex to the individual kid. And an older kid - especially a boy - could be turned off by some of the beginner materials. Overall, it was great for artsy, imaginative DD-then7, would have been a nightmare for techy, divergent DS9.

Sorry, probably WAY too much information to a simple question.

Piano Notes was the app we used for this. There are several flashcard apps where you see the note and name it, or see the name of the note and find it on the staff. But Piano Notes was the only one I found where you see the note on the staff and locate it on a keyboard. I will say that I think what helped my eldest more than anything was just time and practice playing music. But the app can't hurt.

No that's Ok, I appreciate all the perspectives. DD has something resembling an LD...her recall of math facts is not good at all and she has slow processing speed. She seems to do better when she can see patterns in things. I'm not sure what approach the teacher is using to teach her, but DD can play simple songs that require reading both clefs and playing maybe 3-4 notes at a time. But if you ask her what notes they are, she has to think about it a while, and she is not all that quick about finding them on a keyboard either. So I'm not sure if she is just relying on seeing patterns in the music to play, or what. As in, Ok, here you go up a fifth, then a fourth (???), etc. Maybe it's pointless trying to teach her the names as long as she can find the notes on the keyboard. I will check out the suggestions in this thread. If anyone has others, please post.

blackcat, my DD can't necessary name the notes on the spot automatically but she certainly can play them and her teacher doesn't seem all that concerned. If your DD is using intervals, I think, IMHO, that's better than going on pure memorization although I think a combination of memorizing landmarks and intervals works better.

I got Piano Notes for the ipad which Gina recommended above, since it was only $1.99 and she seems to like it. I don't think it teaches the names of notes but makes them look at them on the staff and then press them on a keyboard. I will probably try one of the others like BassCat to try to teach the notes. Even if it's not that important, teachers will probably be telling her things like "you missed the B". She is also starting cello in the fall so will need to know bass clef.