427928744 Kids First Piano Lessons e Book pdf PDF

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Summary

Kids creative piano beginner guide to help build positive rapport and help improve social skills in young children...

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Before you get going

Contents – 3 – Before you get going

– 5 – Getting Star ted

– 6 –

Learning to play the piano is such an

frequent as possible. In this eBook I aim

exciting adventure for a child. The

to show you how to introduce a child

brilliant challenge for any teacher is to

to the basic principles of playing the

encourage and nurture that excitement

piano in a fun and engaging way which

into a real love of the instrument that

hopefully seems more like a game than

will last a life time.

a lesson. The intention is that the pupil will always be keen to practice and

Chapter 1: The Easiest Way To Learn The Notes

can’t wait for next time.

Always take the lead from the child, – 12 – Chapter 2: Introducing The Note Family

– 14 – Chapter 3: Fingers And Fingering

being especially aware of any limitations and anxieties. This makes sure that he

These First Piano Lessons are ideal to

or she feels happy and relaxed in the

start your child off with at home. The

lessons and not pressured or stressed

exercises included in this book will

in any way.

give them the opportunity to become familiar with the basic principles with

– 22 – Chapter 4 : Looking At The Music

– 24 – Chapter 5 : Motivation - Practice Makes Perfect!

– 26 – Chapter 6 : How To Plan A Beginner’s Lesson

The first and most important thing is

plenty of time to practice and learn at

that the child themselves actually wants

their own pace. As the child progresses

to star t piano. This may seem obvious,

it will become clear when they are

but it’s surprising how many people

ready for proper one to one piano

make this expensive mistake. If you’re

lessons and the fact that they have had

not sure then it’s a good idea to try to

this solid head start provides a good

get hold of a second hand keyboard for

foundation for the future.

them to try out and just see how much – 50 – Appendix : Useful Resources

they enjoy playing with it first. Lessons for young beginners should always be short, fun and ideally as 3

Getting started Much the same as learning any new

The following 3 chapters cover learning

language, reading and understanding

the note names, basic notation and

music takes time and practice. While a

simple fingering, but take plenty of time

child will often find the early stages of

to introduce these concepts as they

learning to play piano much easier than

are all so important. It’s always best

grown ups, there are some practical

to be flexible and see how each child

considerations for a young beginner.

is coping as they’re all different. Little

Size of hands and fingers, general

ones always respond better to short,

coordination and motor skills and

frequent lessons finding longer ones

sitting still and concentrating in a one

too demanding.

to one situation can all be a challenge for a young beginner.

Just like learning to read words, learning to play piano has different

If a child’s hands are very small, it is

elements which need to be taught at

probably best for them to wait for

the same time. I have always taught

a year or so to allow them to grow

rhythm and note recognition alongside

and strengthen. Co-ordination and

the physical practice of listening, finger

strengthening can always be improved

strengthening and co-ordination. Once

with practice games and exercises, and

you have introduced these first three

a fidgety pupil should be encouraged

lessons, these different disciplines

to let off a bit steam at regular intervals

should be practised as part of every

with some movement and rhythm

lesson in the form of exercises and

games. Most hurdles can be overcome

games until the individual skills come

with practice and a flexible approach

together and become one.

to suit each child.

5

Chapter 1

T he easiest way to learn the notes To a complete beginner a

that they inadver tently learn

piano keyboard can look

the keyboard notes without

a bit overwhelming, like a

even realising it.

sea of notes stretching in both directions. It’s really

Ask them how many notes

important to break it down

do they think there are.

and help them to recognise

Then surprise them with the

that there are indeed only

answer of only 7! Depending

seven notes which are

on the age and attention

repeated seven times over.

span of your child or pupil, this lesson can be broken

This animal memory game

up into two sections which

is an excellent way to teach

introduces C-D-E-F first and

the names and order of the

then G-A-B-C in the next

notes. Children immediately

lesson.

engage with this idea and are so keen to memorise the order of the animals

6

Chapter 1

Sitting in front of the keyboard,

the CAT! Find all the ‘cats’ up and

keyboard, noticing that it comes on the

The last one is B for BEAR .

explain that the right hand plays

down the piano, using the right hand

other side of the 2 black keys.

Repeat the process. All the notes

high notes and the left hand plays

for high ones and lef t hand for low

have now been named, and we

low notes. This is simply because it is

ones with middle C in the middle.

have reached C again.

more comfortable this way. Encourage

Navigate by looking for the 2 black

The next note is F for FROG.

them to explore some high and low

keys, and notice that they are always

Repeat the hopping game in the

notes and make sure they can tell the

the same distance of 8 notes apar t

difference and they use the correct hand.

each time, call this an Octave. Eight

same way, noticing that it comes

Depending on the age of the

before the group of 3 black notes.

child this activity can be practised as a warm up game

notes like an octopus with 8 legs!

at the beginning of each lesson. Little

Star t by asking them to play the

The next note is G for GIR AFFE.

ones will be happy to just play a note

The next note is D for DOG!

Find all the Gs up and down the

hopping game where they jump up and

It comes after C and is in between

keyboard, always making sure that

down the keyboard finding all the

groups of 2 black notes and 3 black notes, all the way up and down the keyboard, making sure to use

the right hand is used for higher than

CATS or DOGS. Choose a different

the dog’s black ears. Now find all of

middle C, and the left hand is used for

couple of notes each time. Older

the Ds.

lower than middle C.

children will soon find this too easy and

the 2 black notes which look like

the left hand for low notes and the right for high.

be ready to develop the game further.

Then find middle C by looking for the 2 black notes in the middle of

E for ELEPHANT comes next.

the keyboard. C comes just before these 2 black notes. Introduce

8

A for ANTS comes next, notice

Find all of the elephants by

that the full piano keyboard starts

hopping up and down the

and finishes on an A. 9

Chapter 1

Animal Piano Key Cards Now try to see if they can

game at the star t of every

remember all of the animals

lesson. Once your pupil is

from beginning to end as they

more confident, jumble the

play each note from C – B.

animals up and ask the child

Although this seems a lot of

to place them on the notes

information for the first or

in the correct order, keeping

second piano lesson, children

one back so that they have

really seem to enjoy the

to remember which one is

challenge of remembering the

missing. Alternatively you can

correct order of the animals.

tell the child to close their

After a little bit of practice

eyes while you place all the

they love to demonstrate

animal key cards on the notes

that they can recognise which

leaving one or two out so

note is which.

that they have to remember the missing ones. It’s a simple

Using the printable animal

game but they love it - and it

key cards at the back of this

works!

book, you should play this

11

Chapter 2

Introducing the note family

Nothing very much ever happens in

and identify which rhythm belongs

these stories, but the children seem

to which toy?

to enjoy them and soon get the idea. Show the child a note card in

You can then invite them to join in by

secret, and ask them to tap that

asking them to guess what they did

beat so that the other children

next? and how they sound while they

have to guess which note it is.

did it? They are always very keen to make up another adventure for the

Once you get going there are so

note family!

The Note Family works in a similar

how they all live together in a big

way to the Note Animals by assigning

musical house where everything sounds

a character to each note. Children find

like music notes. I make the stories up

Once familiar with the note names and

it much easier to engage and connect

as I go along, but the basic principle is

time values, there are lots of guessing

with the whole concept when they

that everything the characters do in

games that can be played which are

have a family of characters that they

the house such as going up the stairs,

lots of fun and great practice.

can identify with.

brushing their teeth or sipping tea they

many different ways you can use the cards in your music lessons, and depending on the theme of the lesson or the mood of the children it is easy to adapt these ideas to suit every occasion and keep the kids engaged.

do in the rhythm that belongs to their

Keep the flashcards in a small

The note names may differ according

note. So Big Brother Crotchet (or Big

cloth bag and ask the child to pick

to where you live in the world, but

Brother Quarter Note) marches up

one, identify it and demonstrate

the same concept of Daddy, Mummy,

the stairs “ta, ta, ta, ta” while the little

the sound it makes on a drum or

Clock Song are excellent for steady

Big Brother and The Little Twins can

quaver twins (or Little Eighth Note

wooden sticks.

crochet beats with lots of tick-tocks.

be applied to both European and

Twins) brush their teeth quite quickly

American notation names and there

“ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti” and Mummy Minim

are printable flashcards at the back

(Mummy Half Note) sips her tea quite

of this book to suit both versions.

slowly “taa, taa, taa, taa.” You can hold

the flashcard for the corresponding When I first introduce The Note

note up as you introduce each

Family, I always tell a little story about

character.

Cer tain songs are par ticularly good for teaching rhythm. Hickory Dickory Dock and the

And songs about the rain also offer

Use the cards to play Magic Feet

plenty of rhythm practice with drip-

Follow The Beat so that they can

drops and pitter-patters so do visit

march to the rhythm of the notes.

the blog for more ideas.

Ask a child to pick two cards and demonstrate the rhythm they make next to each other. Then add another, and another, playing the rhythm each time to see how it changes. Using some props to identify well known nursery rhymes (e.g a star for Twinkle Twinkle and a small plastic sheep for Baa Baa Black sheep) and make simple rhythms from the

first line of the song with the note cards. Then ask the child to work out 12

13

Chapter 3

F ingers & F ingering

Chapter 3

Using the Animal Note Naming Game

Repeat this exercise with the Left

(see Chapter 1) as a way to find middle

Hand, with the 1 (thumb) on middle C

C, place the Right Hand on CDEFG

but with the fingers going downwards

with the fingers 1-5. Ask the child to play each note with each finger and

in steps the opposite way. This is

usually more difficult at first, depending

Children love this lesson because it

finger has it’s own note and each one

repeating it 3 times - call this exercise

on whether the child is left or right

starts off on the floor drawing around

has its own turn at playing.

Up And Down The Escalator.

handed. Again, reassure them that it

While doing this, explain that when

Then ask the child to place their hands

Explain that 4s and 5s are usually weak

we play piano we call our fingers by

on top of the drawn hands and ask

because they are normally a bit lazy

The object of these exercises and

number to help us to know which

them to wiggle their 1s, 2s, 3s etc. first

and never really do anything on their

games at this stage is to encourage

ones to use. Ask the child to fill in the numbers on the fingers of each hand

in order and then at random. This

your pupil to play them as frequently

little exercise helps them to connect

own. This is why it is a bit more difficult at first, but just like riding a bike or

1-5 starting with the thumbs as 1 to

the numbers with the fingers before

learning to write your name, practice

fingers and consolidate the lessons

the little fingers as 5. Explain that each

actually trying to play the notes.

will always help!

learnt so far.

their hands with pencil and paper.

will get easier with practice.

14

as possible in order to strengthen the

15

Chapter 3

Exercise 1

Up and down the escalator • The fingers should be curved over

hand and play it without it sliding off. A little competition always helps!

the notes as if you are holding a small ball or apple. This can be really quite

• See my post on the blog about

difficult at first as weaker fingers will

LITTLE HAMSTER POM POMS for

be harder to control.

another popular way to perfect and practice the correct hand position.

• Make sure each note is released as you play the next. Children often tend to hold two or three notes

• Once they have mastered each hand

down through lack of control, so

separately, try both hands together.

point this out as something to be

Both 1s should start on middle C

careful of.

together, then play both 2s-3s-4s-5s

and back again. This is the first time they play anything hands together, so

• Try not to let the hand collapse

it is very satisfying!

downwards and rest on the keys. This needs gentle reminders and

• Encourage the pupil to practice

reassurance that the more you do it

Up And Down The Escalator as

the easier it gets!

regularly as possible as this exercise really helps with strengthening and

• Up And Down The Escalator can be practiced anywhere, you don't need

finger dexterity and this will make

to be at the piano. You can practise

a huge and vital difference to their

on your leg, in the car, or at the table.

piano playing progress.

• When it is getting easier, try balancing a penny on the back of the

17

Chapter 3

Exercise 2

I like sticky candy floss • This catchy little finger strengthening

and 4, 4 and 5 in pairs, to show the

exercise goes down very well as

pattern. Again, they should expect 4

the child is so busy thinking about

and 5 to be hard work, but it will get

the their favourite treats that they

easier with practice.

don’t realise how hard it makes their • Point out that it’s the action of trying

fingers work! Sticky Candy Floss or Chewy

that makes the fingers stronger, so even though they can’t play it at first, trying to play it will make the fingers

Chocolate Bars? You will find that

learn.

• Ask the child whether they prefer

you can adapt the words quite easily, • With a few goes it will soon become

once I even changed it to Cheese

clear. After a bit of practice your little

and Onion Crisps!

pupil will find it great fun to try to play it faster and demonstrate how

• First explain that this is quite a tricky

much easier they find it!

little game and challenge them to see if they can do it. Explain that when

you do this exercise each finger has

• Once they have mastered this exercise with each hand separately,

to have its own go.

try playing...