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Start piano at home with your child
Start with numbers, then read music
Books for Younger Kids Books for Older Kids Books for Adults
ATTENTION SPAN, CHILDREN AND PIANO
A common mistake piano teachers make is to misjudge a child's attention span.
Usually a piano teacher insists that the student follow their directions explicitly, and without interruption. Any person who thinks this is a reasonable request from an American child at 4:00 PM after school is living in a dream world.
Remember, first of all, that children have a variation in attention span that, in the same child, can run from 60 seconds to ten minutes. It all depends on the day, the mood, and the setting.
If the child has a playdate waiting, or it is a sunny day and they'd rather be outside, or they are in a bad mood, you will be facing an uphill fight unless you learn how to be the solution to their problem, and not just another problem.
Thus you must learn to go with the flow, apparently, following their mood at first, gently seeing what may be happily accomplished. After all, music and the piano are such vast subjects that a little digression is almost always illuminating and refreshing.
If this means you sit and tell them a funny story about Beethoven or James Brown or Elvis, do it. If you see the child relax, you're on the right track.
A few days ago a child was bored, so I played a bit of a bluesy riff from James Brown, for no other particular reason except that it was catchy and uplifting. His ears stood up and he said, "Can you play the blues? My Dad loves the blues and so do I." So we had a very happy half hour learning James Brown and the blues scale. He left that lesson very happy and proud, and returned that way.
I use humor and games as well to make the entrance into the "work" portion of the lesson as easy as possible. When I see the child has finally forgotten, for a moment, the cares they brought into the room, I spring into action and ask for a little real work.
Sometimes a child will play three notes of a song, and collapse again. I say, "Okay, three notes is your capacity, let's play the first three notes of every song we know and memorize them." And it works. They happily start the game and we are launched into whatever that lesson will be. If I am careful to not be too demanding, we might get twenty minutes of valuable work done.
Even so, I always pull back occasionally during this "work" period, deliberately veering into digression and humor for a few seconds so that they are smiling and ready for the next bit of work.
In some ways, what you are doing is teaching children how to master their mood and still have fun, a valuable lesson even for adults.
A smiling child is the easiest possible person to teach.
Go with the flow, keep them smiling, and learn how to start real work at the right moment.
99% observation, 1% piano teacher: the opposite ratio is a recipe for disaster.
By John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2008 Walden Pond Press All Rights Reserved
See also DISGUISING REPETITION IN KID'S PIANO LESSONS
See also WHY KIDS NEED FREEDOM TO LEARN PIANO
See also DON'T CALL IT PRACTICE, CALL IT PLAY
See also THE PIANO WHISPERER
Click here to return the the main articles page.
TOPICS OF INTEREST TO PARENTS:
"How can I help my child read sheet music at the piano?"
Piano Lessons: A Child's Point of View
Visit the WALDEN POND PRESS ARCHIVES and read articles about children and piano
Click here to read the entire tutorial HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ MUSIC
LET US HELP YOU FIND AN INEXPENSIVE ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD TO GET YOUR CHILD STARTED!
THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
THE COMPLETE BOOK PACKAGE: ALL 6 BASIC BOOKS
#WCS 001 Price: $89.95
THE COMPLETE BOOK PACKAGE:
1. 107 page illustrated THE CHRISTMAS CAROL KIT Book with 44 songs, Play Along Audio CD, and removable stickers
2. 120 page illustrated PIANO IS EASY Book with 50 songs, Play Along Audio CD, and removable stickers
3. 50 page I CAN READ MUSIC Book
4. 132 page TEACH YOURSELF PIANO STEP BY STEP Book, 56 minute DVD Video and removable stickers
5. 141 page THE BIG BOOK OF SONGS BY NUMBER Book with 130 songs, and removable stickers
6. 88 page EASY CLASSICAL PIANO BY NUMBER Book with 10 songs, and removable stickers, and 29 minute Play Along Audio CD
6 BOOKS, DVD AND 3 PLAY ALONG AUDIO CDS
Our BOOK PACKAGE price: $89.95
See also ENTIRE LIBRARY PACKAGE
Our Play Along Audio CDs are an important element in making the piano fun for kids, and are produced by Grammy Award winner (Sesame Street) Joe Castellon.
Our colorful books and videos have been created by Emmy Award winning composer and teacher John Aschenbrenner and are guaranteed to get your child happily started at the piano.
Digitally engineered and mastered, these high quality educational recordings include fun, familiar songs that children love to hear and play along with, and are sure to give hours of musical enjoyment, entertainment and guidance to your child.
Special thanks to these schools recently joining our growing list of organizations using PIANO BY NUMBER:
Primrose Day School, Jumping Jacks Preschool, Valley Elementary, Kid's Korner, Play All Day Nursery School, Children's Development Center, Springfield Child Time
If you're not sure what book is right for your child, email us at info@pianoiseasy.com and we will be glad to help you.
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