Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Best Piano Teaching Method

We were gifted a piano by my mom and DD loves playing with it. She bangs the keys with her hands and one finger, turns the pages of the piano books and pretends to read them, and sings along with herself. (18.5 months now.) DH is kind of teaching himself and I can play things with one hand if I look at the notes.

She is obsessed with the alphabet right now (screams at me to "do" letters and her ABC puzzle with her.) The piano has letter stickers already on the keys and at least one of the books has notes with letters.

Would it be a bad idea to make her an easy song sheet with notes with letters to teach her how it works? I don't want to establish bad habits.. but it isn't like she is anywhere near playing with two hands. If she is into it, I'd like to get her a teacher eventually... and if we do, what is the best official "method"? And do you guys prefer piano or a string instrument for a first instrument? I used to play violin and I originally thought we'd try that first.

I think I might teach myself, too. I always wanted a piano growing up.

Some thoughts:

- Enjoy! DD7 started taking guitar lessons last year, and I started teaching myself as a result. I'm enjoying it more than she is (and she loves it).

- At 18.5mos, I don't think there's a wrong way to do it, except maybe going overboard and teaching too much too quickly. Letters on the keys and letters on the sheet music sound like a solid way to start to me. As she progresses, showing her how the lines on the staff correspond to the notes would be a good next step.

I can't comment on method beyond that, having never learned the instrument properly myself.

- I think the piano/keyboard is a superior first instrument for a child that age, because the physical demands are much lower. Holding a violin properly is somewhat awkward and strains the neck. And if the strings are anything like they are on even a Spanish guitar (with its softer, nylon strings), they'll cause discomfort for sensitive fingers.

Plus, there's a lot to be said for how instantly accessible and rewarding a keyboard can be. Anyone anywhere can sit down and randomly select white keys to make music that is non-horrible. That's not the case with a stringed instrument, where you have to know the right fingerings to stay within any particular key.

My suggestion is that *you* take lessons - I think you'd really enjoy it!

Re what is the best method - I don't think that one method is necessarily any better than another. I think (and this is just an "I think" because we didn't really pursue it ever) that Suzuki is promoted for young children because it can be taught without relying on knowing the alphabet or those types of skills which are often learned in early elementary for typical kids. Our then-three-year-old dd started taking traditional piano lessons when her older brother and sister did simply because she wanted to do everything that they did. Her teacher started her out with very short (ten minute) lessons but taught her from traditional beginner books. DD is a HG+ uber-acheiver and she had no problem keeping up with her lessons. The one caveat I'll add though is that now that she's 8, my take on it is, she is at the same place (re piano skill) that she would have been at had she not started until she was 6 years old. She's a small kid, and hand size played a role in what she could and couldn't do during those early years of learning. That might be one reason to start with violin... but I don't know. I was never a string player, and I love the piano

polarbear

It is great to teach piano first because it trains the ear. You press A, you hear A. Hard to get the right note on the violin.

In fact, you will see the piano accompanist help the early violinist tune because they don't know what A or C sounds like.

We were asked by the music school to start Dd before she was 3.5 and we said no. But then they pushed again when we started group piano lessons so we started when she turned 4. As she progressed fairly rapidly, it got to be a problem on pieces because she just didn't have the spread. More and more, pieces had to be adjusted for her span.

She did Russian method. I am not sure what it is, having learned a luke warm version of Royal conservatory growing up. She would just get pieces, though get Czerny studies for technical exercises. We are actually switching this year due to stuff going on and trying a Chinese student doing her Masters at Juilliard. She had a Chinese instructor in China, then a French one and came here at 14 and went to preJuilliard for high school. She met with DD and understood the boredom factor for a 7 year old and the Russian method and branching out.

A friend yesterday mentioned her kids go to Mannes music school which is conservatory method and she liked it.

I think it all boils down to the teacher. Finding a really good teacher is hard. One that gets your kid and making it work for them. Practicing is never fun.

DD can sit at the piano composing for 20-30 minutes. But to perfect a piece for the same amount of time, is like asking for her to walk on hot coals.

DS started violin just before 3 after asking for lessons for nearly 12 months. He would have found piano difficult due to hand size. We decided against Suzuki and went with a teacher that usually teaches older kids. At 4 he reads music, tells you if his violin needs tuning (and is always right) and can tell what the string notes are by ear. He loves it. He practices ("plays concerts") most days, only 5-10 mins - it is just part of his routine. We were advised by a music teacher to start formal lessons when your child can read (ie usually 6-7). Still worked for us since DS was reading at 2. The best thing has been that he doesn't get songs 'right' the first time and it takes (a little) effort.