teaching young kids to play the piano/read music

[Anonymous]

Anyone done this and have good resources? I took piano for years, so I am familiar with both how to play and how to read music. I'd like to teach my kids the basics before paying someone else to teach them to play.

[Anonymous]

We are going to pay for lessons. I learned at age 4 and took lessons and played until I was 16. We recently got a piano and my son (3.5) is eager to learn. I sat with him and realized I have no CLUE how to teach him. Moreso, he probably won't sit and learn from me. There are apps now and iPad programs, but I sort of want him to learn the old fashioned way.

I think we will pay for lessons now, and once he can read music and play then I will take over. But getting started, I have no idea.

[Anonymous]

I can't tell you how to do it, but it can definitely be done. When each kid turned 4, my boyfriend started giving them piano lessons. They increased the time to a half hour twice a week as their interest and ability grew.

No idea how he did that, but all four kids can sit down and read new music and play it, and all can sit down and bang out a tune.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I thinnk this website is helpful. I think I"ll try some of this and see how far I get. https://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/first-piano-lessons-to-introduce-your-child-to-the-piano-to-do-at-home/

[Anonymous]

Maybe you can have the older child take lessons and then try to do what the teacher is doing with the younger child. Good music teachers have lots of neat resources and activities to help kids learn music.

I have also started the Yousician app for myself and that is pretty good. I think a kid would like using it.

[Anonymous]

I attempted it but we ended up needing the structure that comes with having a private teacher. It was too easy for me to put off a lesson for the next day when no one was expecting us to show up at a certain time and charging us $$ for it. So the failure was on my part, not my DCs, but I work full-time and have 2 other kids so I just didn't have the free mental energy and willpower to devote to it. If I could have handled it, I think DC would have done well.

[Anonymous]

I did with my children starting at age 3. Then, I enrolled them in piano lessons at age 5, and they were already able to read, and play at that time. I taught them on alternate days, but we practiced everyday for set amount of time. I am a SAHM.

[Anonymous]

I found it hard to know what to “do” when they were first starting. It helped to have a teacher.

However, I think if you worked through one of the basic piano books, talking through all the activities and lessons, aiming to master 1-4 pages a week (depending on how challenging), you could make good progress.

Musical progress is so small, day to day. But, I have found that always doing 5 minutes of practice a day (and of course more when we can) really pays off over the course of six months.

My kids have always done church choir too. That’s helped with ear training. And the more good quality music they listen to, the better.

[Anonymous]

Use the Hoffman academy course available online. All videos are free but the material which is v useful is at a nominal fee. My 6 year has leart more from there than from any of his private classes.