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What to do with a 5yr old that wants to learn to play the piano?
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Thanks, in advance, for ALL your advice and suggestions!!!
Okay, so, I have a wonderful, just 5 year old, that loves to play on our (out of tune) piano. I’ve let her play to her hearts content, with the concern in the back of my mind that it may cause her ‘musical ear’ to be out of tune too. None the less, I love that she shows the interrest. We do have a keyboard, but it is hidden because she is more fascinated with the ‘bells and whistles’ rather than the enrichment of the keys. 🙂
Tonight as I prepared supper, she came into the kitchen- her little face glowing with expectation, and ask: “Momma, will you teach me to play the piano?” This warmed me and startled me. I took lessons as a child, but that was a very long time ago, I’ve looked at some of my old piano books and am very intimidated by them now. There’s hardly anything I can remember about how to play, other than just a handful of tunes I memorized (not the notes, just finger memory). I just smiled and went to ‘play’ the piano with her and just said that I would see what her Dad and I could work out….
So, my question is this,(as we are new to living in the mind of Charlotte Mason): what would be Charlotte Mason’s gentle approach to feeding this interrest, without over doing it, and how to do it with a very low financial commitment, and with little know how? Are there any programs that any of you have used and would recommend?
A few things to consider: 1) I am very new to all this. 2) If I get a teacher, will they do it gently enough not to squelch her desire for good? 3) I have other family that play, but one is out of state, another is working, and the other lives a bit away and none would be willing to alter their style to a Charlotte Mason gentleness. 4) Having the piano tuned we are pretty sure will be out of the budget for a while. 5) And, no, I do not want to deal with having to tell her not to play with all the bells and whistle of the key board while the rest of the house are homeschooling, or when we are trying to relax (if you have a keyboard, with all the percussion and special effects- you know what stress I am refering to).
6) We have an 11 year old son that will require funding for his interests as well. So, the cheaper idea the better!!Thank You!! Thank You!! Thank You!! Your Help is Greatly Needed.
May You Be Blessed!!!
-MombyGrace
My DD begged and begged to learn to play the violin when she was 5. I don’t play, and lessons were not in the budget, so I undertook the project of learning myself, based on various blogs and youtube videos, and then teaching her. We started when she was 6 and just learned together for 2 years. Then at age 8 she was able to start with a group lesson, which is more affordable than the private lessons would have been (they just don’t take kids under 8). So, it is possible to teach a child an instrument you don’t play, but it takes effort.
My children are also learning piano, which is an instrument that I DO play. However, they have done it almost entirely independently so far. We have the “Piano Adventures” books, (the Primer book and Level 1 books.) They just read the instructions and figure it out. (They started at ages 6 and 7, but are early strong readers.) Assuming your daughter isn’t yet reading, you would have to read through the lessons with her, but you should be able to use it to teach both of you at the same time. You could start with the “My First Piano Adventures” series, and just slowly learn together. That would respect her desire to learn without making it too overwhelming for you.
We do have a digital piano, with all the bells and whistles, so I understand. However, such devices usually can be used with headphones, which are very handy for when someone wants to play without disturbing others! I would choose that over a badly out of tune piano. You might also be able to ask around and find a friend or acquaintance who can tune it in exchange for something you could do for them.
Just wanted to mention that online there are videos on how to teach ‘My First Piano Adventures’ – they are meant for piano teachers, but they do demonstrate various lessons etc…
Another possibility for dvd based lessons that would be age appropriate is Kinderbach. I have all 6 levels I’m ready to part with. Check out their website and if it is something you think might work for you we can talk price if you PM me. I’m really just wanting to get it passed on to someone who would use it.
Tristan- did you like Kinderbach? I have a feeling my dd would love this. How did it work out for you?
Misty,
We did like it. My big issue is simply that I have so many little ones and when they all tried to do it at once they fought and argued over turns on the piano, argued over when to push play on the dvd while doing the activity pages, etc. Ahem. Have I mentioned my five little boys in that range are a bit like a litter of puppies? Haha. So instead of the headache of moderating it I shelved it. I know enough piano to get them started when they are ready and Makayla knows more than I do. Using it with one or two children at a time would be much more doable.
Can you pick up a beginner book and refresh your playing skills a bit? The beginning books are so easy, you could easily keep ahead of her for quite awhile…even for a few years! I taught myself using Alfred piano books. They are inexpensive and easy to go through.
I have three chldren taking lessons and we were able to find a very gentle. laid-back teacher. It is a big expense with 3 kids, but I’ve heard of older teachers charging far less than what we pay. Where we previously lived, there was a woman who charged $2 per lesson. She hadn’t increased her lesson price since she’d began teaching, decades before! Maybe ask around and see if you can find someone who charges less.
As far as noise levels, we have a keyboard and piano. If we need quiet, they just plug in some headphones. Our keyboard is much quieter than the piano…unless my 4yo happens to turn it all the way up. 😉
My kids used Children’s Music Journey – slowly, over the course of a year. We have all three volumes. It really helped my then 7YO gain some confidence about playing while, at the same time, not feeling pressured or overwhelmed. I would highly recommend it.
When my sons were 5 and 6 we started with Simply Music. It is a program that doesn’t involve reading music in the beginning, but simply playing a wide variety of musical styles following a DVD. My boys really enjoyed it and having so many songs to play. To continue with SM after the DVD series you have to have someone specially trained in the method. There was one person in our area who was still training so we left SM for a traditional teacher.
I thought the program was a wonderful way to introduce the excitement and joy of playing music without getting bogged down with the slow progression of learning notes. The transition for our son (the second one took drumming lessons instead of piano when we moved to a teacher) to learning notes was easy and he is progressing quickly though the Piano Adventures series by Faber (available on Amazon).
If you think you may be interested in using the Simply Music DVDs, let me know by PM if you think you’d like to buy a used set of the first two volumes. I have those available for sale.
Good luck! (And we have a clavinova and love the ability to control the volume or plug in headphones.)
Shannon
Hoffman Academy online has 80 free online lessons now and supplemental materials (worksheets, etc.) for sale. We have been doing these loosly, as my now 7yo is interested, for a year now. We haven’t gotten too far along, but so far we like his style. Even my 4yo sings some of the little songs. I told my son that if he finishes all these lessons and still wants to learn piano or another instrument, we will look into hiring a teacher/taking “real” lessons then. But I think this is a great way to explore applied music in a simple and inexpensive way. Oh, and we have a simple keyboard with full-size keys (though not full length) with only a few “bells and whistles”.
https://www.hoffmanacademy.com/
~Nicole
We’re using Music In Me – I’m not sure how CM-friendly it is but I like the emphasis on ‘proper’ music from the beginning rather than just playing middle C several times with twaddle words! My 10 and 8 year olds love it, though they were 8 and 6 when we started.
http://www.christianbook.com/music-in-me-lesson-level-1/pd/396380
Ladies, Thank you all so much. I am still musing and discussing with my dh, all the suggestions. I may have more questions. But, I definatley don’t feel so incapable.
Thank you, all of you are so valuable to me!!!
-mombygrace
My daughter wanted to learn as well and before I invested too much into it, I had her try these lessons and expalined that if she loves tem and progresses, then I would look into getting a piano etc. She currently has a electric keyboard.
https://www.hoffmanacademy.com/lessons/piano-unit-1/
She did like 5- 10 lessons in 2 weeks and lost interest. I have not pushed, but have mentioned if she was still doing them and she said no but couldn’t tell me why. The lesson seem easy enough and short. She was doing well with them and I guess I should have paid more attention or encouraged more or at the very least formally scheduled them, but who knows what happened. HTH
BTW, my mother was going to give us her piano if my daughter truly was interested, but daughter didn’t know that.
Wings2Fly, he is currently using 2A. When he was in the primer and 1A he used only the Lesson books. When I ordered his 2A book I also got the 2A sightreading book and the 1A Theory book bc I wanted to work with him more on reading bass clef notes. His teacher works out of the Practice book only, though, and said we don’t need the other books.
6) We have an 11 year old son that will require funding for his interests as well. So, the cheaper idea the better!!
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