How Young is Too Young to Begin?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Marie

How old is too old?

Piano lessons can begin at any age, but there must be an optimal age, yes?

There are more than a few schools of thought on this issue. The Suzuki Method encourages very young children who can barely hold a crayon to begin instruction. An opposite view is held by the Waldorf Method: Children begin piano instruction as late as age 11. There are many valid reasons for these two very different approaches to piano instruction. It is widely held, however, that instruction plays an important role in being able to play the piano.

If you are considering piano lessons for your child, take a few moments to honestly answer these questions:

  • Does he sit and focus for 25 to 30 minutes?
  • Can he recognize the letters of the alphabet?
  • Does he take criticism with a grain of salt?

If you can answer “yes” when thinking about your three year old, then you know that he is ready for piano lessons. Because piano instruction involves stopping a child’s work and correcting it, he ought to be able to emotionally handle what one may feel is an insult. If you think that your five year old does not fit the criteria, wait a three or six months. It only takes a little bit of time to develop the maturity required for piano lessons.

On the other side of the spectrum, many adult students who have never had a music lesson or claim to be tone deaf, have learned to play piano fairly quickly.

Remember that learning a musical instrument depends not only on the intelligence and temper of the student but on the support that he receives at home from his siblings and parents. A competent, agreeable ten year old who has no place to practice will not progress if he only plays piano during his lesson. By not making time to sit to listen to their child to give them a little concert, parents take the risk of losing their child’s interest in piano.

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Today in Music History, 1829

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Marie

Today in Music History, 1829, Vienna, Austria: The accordion patent is officially granted to Cyrill Demian. Since then, Western music has come a long way.

Have fun listening to the accordion version of a-ha’s “Take On Me.”

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The First Lesson: Names of the White Keys on the Piano

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Marie

To begin the first lesson, I ask the student to identify a pattern on the piano. If he needs help, a good hint is to note the black keys. I have heard many good responses, but the response that I’m looking for is “two-three-two-three…” With those black keys, they play only the groups of two, then the groups of three, counting the groups. The purpose is to develop confidence throughout the keyboard. In my younger years, I began teaching at Middle C as the books do, but I realized that students then become afraid to play with and experiment with the higher and lower keys.

We give names to these groups. More often than not, Chopsticks, and Forks are the names because the two black keys look like chopsticks and because the beginning white note of the Chopsticks group is C. Same goes for Forks: F. You can try other names for the groups. One student suggested “Twix” and “Oreo.” I thought that might be confusing for many reasons, but she never had a problem with her mnemonic.

He finds all the Cs on the keyboard, then all the Fs.

The student then recites the musical alphabet on his own, “ABCDEFG.” He plays all the white keys in order while reciting, “ABCDEFG.” Every once in a while, I point out that the C lands just before the “Chopsticks,” and the F just before the “Forks.”

That was the easy part!

I ask the student to play the white keys backward, reciting the letter names, “GFEDCBA.” This helps in calculation of the notes when the student begins reading music, especially in the Bass clef. Why the Bass clef? Because the F of the Bass clef is at the top of the five-lined staff, so to calculate the notes, one must think backward, which is why many students claim to “not know the Bass clef.”

When he becomes more proficient with naming the white keys backward, I teach naming the keys in intervals, thirds, fourths, and fifths, that is, skipping one note, then two, then three. For example, the interval of a third would be from A to C (B is skipped). Along the keyboard, it would be:
ACEGBDFACEGBDFA… then backward AFDBGECAFDBGECA.

This won’t take but couple of lessons as it is required daily practice. The student will be able to do this without stumbling. (Note: Music Theory also takes into consideration the quality of the interval, that is, major, minor, perfect, &c. Because the student is in his beginning stages, I do not introduce quality at this time. Becoming acquainted with the white keys is the goal of these first lessons.)

After a few years of music lessons, a student will be prepared for interval qualities, chord building and progression, harmonic analysis, and all trimmings of composition and sight reading. The exercises of reciting and playing the keys will have molded his skills.

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False or Weak Praise

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Marie

Q: I feel like I’m guilty of over-praising my child after he plays the piano at home. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I don’t want to give him a false sense of victory, either. How can I keep him motivated without the weak applause and the fake “yay”?

A: Children sense weak praise. They know when you are not genuinely impressed.

I always ask the student first what she or he feels about the playing, not the piece that is assigned but how it was played. Self-evaluation is not natural to young children. For some, I might be the very first person ever to have asked them “How do you feel about your effort?” Usually, a student will realize that it needs more practice or attention to detail. He’ll want to play it again and again. This is not bad at all. Repetition leads to mastery.

He might also feel that this newly learned piece is the only thing that he can practice, so encourage him to move on on his own. This initiative will warrant genuine praise from his teacher.

If you feel that real praise is appropriate, ask him if you can record just a short passage and share it on social media. He might feel embarrassed, so just record his hands.

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Auditions and Competitions

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Marie

January is typically audition season for students who are applying for magnet programs. If you are concerned that your child is not yet ready for his audition, contact your local music teacher and request private lessons. Just a few hours in one week will elevate your child’s skills. Of course, he must practice on his own as well.

Here in Florida, middle and high school students are also coming into the FOA (Florida Orchestra Association) and the FBMA (Florida Band Masters Association) competitions. While your child’s band teacher at school may work with the class for the ensemble piece, your child may require a bit more attention for the solo performance. Many music teachers know of someone who knows someone who teaches the instrument and whose specialty is the genre of music that your child is preparing. Don’t be afraid to call or email your child’s music teacher to ask about how best to prepare him for the competition.

In both auditions and competitions, students perform before very small audiences of one to three judges, typically in an empty classroom. This setting is strange and confusing for a young musician, so you want to give your child every opportunity to be prepared and confident for his performance.

Break a leg!

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Happy Birthday, Ozzy Osbourne

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Marie

Singer, songwriter, and actor John Michael Osbourne, b. 1948 in Birmingham, England, has sold more than 100 million heavy metal albums, thus dubbing him the “Godfather of Heavy Metal.”

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Proper Piano Posture

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Marie

Begin sitting on the piano bench only about the front edge or half of the bench, feet resting on the floor, and your knees lower than your hips. This form keeps pressure off of your lower back when you are sitting tall with shoulders back. If your legs dangle, use a footstool.

You should be comfortable enough to lean left and right and toward the piano to play high and low notes or push the piano to create a very loud sound all without having to fall off the bench! Because a young learner does not often require to lean into the piano or left or right, phone books are adequate to rest the feet. Once, however, the pianist is constantly using the phone books to lean, they will slide and become a distraction or a nuisance. I recommend a footstool.

Elbows should be comfortably hanging from shoulders. Wrists are straight enough to balance a Magic Tree House paperback. If the keyboard is too high, a learning pianist might tense her shoulders to keep her wrists straight or drop her shoulders but lean on the piano’s edge with her wrists. Neither of these compensate for good form.  I recommend interlocking foam floor tiles (children’s gym mats) because they do not slip when stacked and do not squish like pillows do. When the forearms are parallel to the floor, you have reached proper height.

If you do not have a piano bench, a normal chair works fine. Be careful not to become too comfortable in your chair and be tempted to lean back. Office chairs are not recommended as they lean with the weight and roll along the floor, becoming a play toy instead of a learning place.

Keep in mind that your posture changes with the time of day, depending on how stressed or fatigued you are. If you are still growing, your proportions will certainly change along with your height. Always begin sitting at the piano by checking your muscle tension and comfort. Piano playing is a performance art, so always try to look good!

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Piano and Musical Goals

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Marie

You have decided that it’s time to begin piano lessons. Why? Do you have a relative or friend who also plays music and wish to play together? Perhaps you’d like to learn a few carols for Christmas. Do you have a general goal of wanting to have fun? If you already have specific reasons for learning the piano, write them down, and post them close to your piano. After your teacher has been informed of your goals, you two can work together toward reaching them.

What are your short term goals? How or what do you want to be playing on the piano in one month? That’s only four lessons. Do you want to learn “Happy Birthday”? Maybe you just want to catch up on music theory. Write down a short term goal, one that will take you four weeks to accomplish. Once you’ve achieved this goal, write down another one!

What are your long term goals? What do you want to be playing in one year? That seems like a long time, especially since learning piano involves constant practice and precision. Write down your long term goals, but give yourself some wiggle room. What may take your neighbor a year to learn may take you two years.

To keep you goal-oriented at the piano, write down smaller goals. Think of them as dependent goals, one depending on the the previous one. For example, say you want to learn Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” a three-minute piece that requires technique and memorization. With a composition pattern of A-B-A-C-A, the famous first lines are repeated throughout the piece. (As a teacher, I like to keep section “A” unlearned until the end, like a carrot at the end of the stick. “B” and “C” are the most difficult to learn, so I teach them first.) The dependent goals are then sections “B” and “C,” which can even be divided up into smaller groups.

Some parents have signed their children up for piano lessons in hopes to strengthen children’s reading skills. Practicing the piano also enhances fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, which are great reasons to begin piano lessons. Skills and coordination will improve, but the children should have goals for themselves. Real, tangible goals such as learning this or that song, will keep children curious and involved with music.

Really get your arms around your “Why?” Find a specific motivator to keep you interested in learning the piano. Be patient, and be consistent.

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A Good Piano Warm Up

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Marie

Have you ever sat down at the piano to play a little bit to enjoy yourself but end up flubbing and tripping and mushing the tones together? You know that you know the music, so why does it happen?

It happens because you are not warmed up!

Just like you would jog in place or do some jumping jacks before sports practice, your fingers and hand-eye coordination also need warming up before practice.

There are some piano warm ups that are standard, that everyone learns and uses. Scales are the most common. There are various scales that you can try, the easiest being the five-finger scale. These should sound like “do re mi fa so.” Try going backward. Do not play too fast because you still want to have control over your fingers. Most students who know scales play the entire octave, which includes turning the thumb under or the hand over the thumb at different points of the scale. Intermediate and advanced students can play Major and minor scales and their arpeggios.

Some piano lesson books have pieces with the word “Study” or “Etude” in their titles. These pieces make good warm ups, too. The Michael Aaron Grade One book has many of these, so begin with the first ones and work your way on. If you have been instructed to learn some of them in different keys, now is the time to learn them.

If you play from a technical drills book such as A Dozen a Day, Hanon, or Czerny, warm up with these drills. Do not jump to the new ones. Begin with the simplest drills at the beginning of the book.

Warm ups should take about ten minutes, time not wasted. You’ll notice that your repertoire and new pieces will sound more beautiful and clear after you have warmed up properly.

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Reviewing Repertoire

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Marie

Practicing piano as your child would during the lessons might become dull and monotonous, which I find ironic because piano is the opposite of monotone! Jokes aside, I will continue to beat the “3 minutes per year of age” drum, so your ten-year-old should practice his lessons for thirty minutes at least four times a week.

If he has a repertoire of lengthy pieces, he can play them during the last twenty minutes of practice (because warm ups take up the first ten minutes), focusing on volume dynamics, tempo, slurred phrases, and all the trills and frills that come with pretty music. The next time that he sits at the piano to practice, the may then concentrate on his new piece.

Focusing on details is important because he will develop muscle memory, playing the pieces on “auto-pilot,” very similarly how you would type your usernames and passwords. Repeating phrases is how this happens, and that’s just what practice is, playing the same thing over and over. Being that it also involves listening skills, the fingers will be guided by which sounds should come next.

You will notice that once he commits a piece to memory, he will practice it more smoothly and gracefully. This is how he prepares for lesson day. Come time for his lesson, he and his teacher will spend less time on reviewing and more time on new pieces. His teacher will be impressed by these developments, and you’ll feel that you got more bang for your buck in terms of piano lessons.

Even one day of solely focusing on repertoire with enhance his skills. Just as you would become tired of hearing the same thing over and over, your child will, too, which is a good thing! He will learn to change the music subtly but keeping within the written notation, hence, furthering what is called “interpretation.”

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