My five-year-old, not content with banging on the keys anymore, wanted me to teach her piano. I took lessons when I was a kid for something like 6 years, so I figured I'd mimic the lessons I received as a child. As such, I started with the scales and the proper placement of the fingers on each key. I quickly realized that I had utterly failed to reach my child's expectations of what I would teach her.
So I quickly switched tracks, and started straight away with teaching her some easy songs. While she could copy me while I was there it was difficult for her to remember what I was doing when I wasn't there. So I changed my method yet again. I labeled one octave, and then wrote the words to two songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, on a sheet of paper along with the appropriate note under each word.
That seemed to be what the doctor ordered. She wanted me to teach her what to do but she also wanted the means to do it on her own. She references the pages I have her and practices every day. I figure I'll work on proper technique when she is ready. In the mean time she is very pleased that she can play real music all on her own.
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piano
1 comments:
We are about to start lessons with our six year old. I let me older child quit, but am determined not to do that this time. I think the key is to find a teacher who does what you did--keeps the joy in it.
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