Mikes Music Room – Music Articles

Tsuki asked:


I do not Know how to play the piano nor read the scores. Isit possible to memorize how the others play it and play it yourself ?

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Playing the piano is a very special gift and one that you can share with your children. You may be wondering how to teach piano to your children as it may have been long ago that you started playing. You need to get them back to the basics though so they can build up that knowledge.

There are plenty of books and websites out there that will give you pointers on how to teach piano to your children. This way you can find a good starting point and develop lesson plays. You want to teach them at their own level so if you have several children you may need to make the lesson plans specific for each of them.

You also want to be very patient. If your children find you are nervous or uptight about it then they will be nervous too. You should be prepared for mistakes along the way and for them to need extra time to learn certain things. If your children want to play the piano it is going to be easier. They will be motivated to learn it and that is what you want. Some parents force it on their children though so they are resistant.

Let them get used to the piano keys and how the sounds are formed. Many of the early lessons will include playing scales on the piano. This way they can hear the different pitches for the keys. In no time they will even notice when they are hitting the wrong keys due to the sounds that are produced.

Learning to read music and associating that with the keys is going to take time. It is best to not introduce that immediately as it can result in your children becoming frustrated with the project. Let them get some early confidence and amusement from the piano. Then they will be excited to learn all the elements to play any song they wish.

Make sure you are familiar with the teaching materials before you use them. That way you can determine what to use and what to skip over. Each student is different too so you may be able to move along faster with one child than the others. Don’t try to keep them all at the same place as that will be holding them back. Instead work out individual plans that work for each of them.

No matter which method you use for how to teach piano to your children you want it to be fun for them. Offer plenty of encouragement and praise for their efforts. When you see they are making improvements make sure they know how proud of them you are. It will encourage them to continue working hard. Offer some rewards too when they reach certain milestones as well.

You can also have them perform a small recital at home for friends and family. This is a great way for them to show off what they have learned from you. Playing the piano will be something they can enjoy the rest of their life. Hopefully they will have fond memories of you teaching them how to play it. Maybe one day they will consider how to teach piano to their own children. This could become a tradition that continues on for many generations.

Sheryl Quinn loves teaching piano to her students.To learn more about Piano Teaching Profits and how to become a WEALTHY piano teacher, visit visit her site. And don’t forget to signup for the free report! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sheryl_Quinn

Here’s a novel way for piano teachers and parents to eliminate some of the drudgery of repeating songs over and over.

Take a pair of dice. You can use just one if the child is very young.

Let the child roll the dice gently on the piano keys and ask the child what number has rolled.

Now take out a Post It or some paper, and start making a list of six songs. If the child doesn’t know six songs, start teaching them the right hand part to six simple songs, like Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle. What the songs actually are, is irrelevant. The idea is to select short pieces the child can play and refine with ease.

They don’t have to learn all the song, just enough to make the song recognizable to themselves. Have a goal of four bars, or the first phrase. One hand at first if that is most comfortable.

If the child is small, make the goal three songs.

As soon as the child has attempted to learn the songs, let the child roll the dice.

Yes, the dice will fall on the floor. Yes, they will roll under the piano. Bring extra dice, laugh and go on. It’s a game.

I guarantee you the child will now willingly attempt to play one of the songs. And they will enthusiastically want to roll again. I have no idea why they like it so much. I think it’s human nature and the sense of play.

In the brief moment they play the song, they will be open to a small instruction. “Oh, put that finger there, play this C chord there.” Don’t force the refinement. Just suggest and try a very slight addition or refinement for a moment. Then move on. Roll the dice.

You can opt to make them play the song a couple of times, in essence fooling them into, dare I say it, practicing! They will actually want to play the song at least twice. But not too much repetition. It’s a game.

Keep adding songs to the list until they require several pair of dice. Drop songs from the list they dislike or find too difficult.

Start new lists. Children respond more than anything to variety and a sense of fun and play.

Use these elements and you’ll find the child’s enthusiasm for piano lessons growing.

By John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press.

Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the fun PIANO BY NUMBER method for kids. John Aschenbrenner is a leading children’s music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous fun piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER for kids. You can see the PIANO BY NUMBER series of books at http://www.pianoiseasy.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Aschenbrenner

In this article, I will discuss what keyboard features you should expect for your money.

The actual keyboard is the thing to look at next. That is the keys that make up the keyboard. Most keyboards in our price range have 61 full size keys to make up the keyboard, some of the lower price ones maybe 49 full size keys, as a beginner this is not a problem because even with the 49-note keyboard you won’t need to play all the keys. Make sure however that the keys are full size and not half size. Even if you have young children that want to play. There is absolutely no advantage in choosing half size keys over full size keys. Full size keys are approximately the same size keys as piano keys and are also referred to as standard keys. Also some keyboards have a “touch sensitive keyboard” this means the harder you press the keys the louder the sound this is a great feature and can create expressive music however, for young children, they may not be able to press the keys hard enough to produce a respectable sound. Therefore, it would be advisable to check that the “touch sensitivity” can be turned off or adjusted.

Next, sounds and rhythms. Keyboards in this price range should have at least 128 sounds. These sounds are known as a “General MIDI” sound set. Most new keyboards made today of any price will include a “General MIDI” set of sounds and so it has become very easy and cheap for manufacturers to include these sounds.

The rhythm section should contain a minimum of 20 different rhythms and many keyboards in this price range contain a great deal more. Normally when using the rhythm section or drum machine as it is sometimes called it is used in conjunction with an “auto chord” feature. This means when you play a left hand chord, the computer inside recognises the chord being played and adds a bass line and maybe a rhythm guitar and possibly a brass section, which results in a great sound and makes the whole learning/playing experience a lot more interesting.

The “auto chord” feature is called different names on different keyboards, such as “fingered chord” or “magic chord”. There is also a feature sometimes referred to as “single finger chord” or “easy chord”. This feature is utterly useless if you want to learn to play the keyboard properly but it is included on most if not all keyboards and is a great selling point used by sales staff quite legitimately to create the initial interest in a keyboard. You can use this feature to show family and friends what a great player you are and simply switch back to “auto chord” to learn to play the keyboard properly.

Finally make sure the sound you are listening to is coming from the keyboards own speakers. Keyboards are sometimes connected to amplifiers, which can make then sound better. Make sure you know what your keyboard sounds like from its own speakers before taking it home.