Piano as ONLY starting point in music education

Early Learning Teaching Your Child Music
1

I was reading some topics here and have to share my thoughts about instrument that every child have to start with.

Piano could and should be the starting point of the music education for every person beginning from the age of 2 years old, because the piano is considered to be the ‘king’ of all instruments. I truly consider the piano to be the most important instrument of intellectual training for young children. The piano is the perfect tool for children’s development at the preschooler’s age.

  • To produce a sound on the piano (for very small children, a keyboard) is not as hard and challenging as on other instruments.

  • It doesn’t require an established music ear to produce a correct sound, like the violin, but it is able to develop the music ear.

  • The linear and regular placement of piano keys helps one to understand the rules of music notation.

  • To play the piano, a musician has to use both hands equally, and every finger has to work as hard as the others (it promotes brain development).

  • The necessity to apply the verticality of music notes to the horizontal layout of the piano keys promotes spatial thinking in the piano player.

  • Playing piano has the ability to develop symphonic thinking, like in an orchestra of multiple sounds. Because our perception of a chord is the perception of space in sounds, and vice versa, melody gives the feeling of time.

Considering all of these advantages, the piano could become a tutor for every child learning the music language from early childhood.

2

Thanks for that, Hellene!

I think I would agree with you with virtually all you said. The only comment I would make is regarding this point:

- It doesn't require an established music ear to produce a correct sound, like the violin, but it is able to develop the music ear.

It might be an advantage, but I think that’s precisely the piano’s ‘weakness’ also, that it doesn’t require an established music ear to produce a correct sound, like the violin. Pianists are not required to train and sharpen their ears, so their sense of pitch is significantly less developed than a violinist’s, so in that respect, don’t you think that a violinist’s ‘music ear’ would be better developed than a pianist’s?

3

My answer would be and ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

I was teaching ear training (Solfeggio and Theory) in state’s (Ukraine) music schools for 13 years and I taught students of all the instruments to write music dictations (you play 1-2-3 voices melodies for them and they have to write music down by ear). Even though our violin students were having private violin lessons twice a week for 45 minutes they WERE NOT the best students in my class.

I will explain you, why, with little example.
Imagine yourself first time learning to drive a car. You have to deal with a lot of obstacles: front mirror, side mirrors, back mirror, power will, gas and break pedals. Can you enjoy the view outside the car during the process of learning?

You see, when you had played a lot of pieces by your own hands, when you are capable of looking at music score and hear it inside of your mind - only then you may hear subtle difference between C# and B-flat.

Beginners do not have these skills. They need basic foundation: to hear ALL the sounds at once, to read ALL the lines of notation and to be able to play ALL the voices.

This is why piano should be STARTING point.

After that they will be able to advance to understanding of more sophisticated staff.

One-voice instruments ( as well as Orff ‘orchestras’ or singing by Kodaly ) were just temporary solution for teaching masses (inexpensively and simplisticly). Before we created computers and digital pianos, piano lessons were quite hard to manage for all.

This is why recorders, drums and violins came to rescue.

But… honestly: how many GREAT violin or recorder players we actually see around? How many people after such lessons today capable of opening piece of sheet music and play it?

In Russian music schools all the instruments ought to have piano as a second instrument. I think, this is smart.

So, as it goes to education - piano is the best. As it goes to performance - other instruments have their winning points over it.

4

I also agree with this. But I just wanted to add if your child hates the piano and prefers another intrument you should not force your child to play piano. I think you should follow your child’s lead on instrument selection, but all things being equal piano is the best instrument for a child to learn first. I think the possibilities in terms of casual settings to play the piano make it more likely that the child can find opportunities to play later on (young adulthood) even if they don’t have the passion to pursue music as a full time thing but want to do it on the side.

5

hadn’t considered this thank you for posting-

6

Again,
If to consider piano as ONLY starting point of music literacy, how child could possibly ‘hate’ it? Especially digital piano tha gives any tember of any instrument?

7

I don’t know, but sometimes kids hate certain instruments. It doesn’t have to be rational, but I wouldn’t encourage a child to do anything that turned them off to music education. But I agree that if they are happy to learn piano first, then they probably should.

8

Do you ask child, if he/she would like to learn ABC or numbers first, before readings novels or working on algebra?

9

Music education is a matter of enrichment whereas reading/writing/math are all matters of basic human competence, therefore it makes no sense to have this type of activity not be totally child led. For instance, sports, music, dance, etc. will generally be child-led activities in my home. I would not force my child to play soccer if he hated it and wanted to play basketball instead because some one on the internet argued that it was the building block of all sports skills. I would not force my child to take ballet if he hated it and wanted to take tap instead because some one on the internet said ballet was the building block of all dance skills. Children have no control over their environment/surroundings/schedules, and they must do many things they don’t like and I would not be comfortable as a parent to add on top of that instruments they do not like. Also, I agree with your premise that piano is the best, but we obviously disagree about role a child should play in deciding for himself.

10

I would really first like to know why a child would not like piano. How would you even know? They always like to push any kind of button that makes noise dont they?
I certainly would not want my child to be turned away from music.
HH I have read your other thread but How do you know if your child likes or dislikes an instrument? and how can you know if a certain lesson or even a teacher is turning hom away from music?

11

Hi

I have no idea of music teaching/learning/notes etc… though I like piano.I want my baby to learn piano. However when is it a good time to start? And what do I need for her to learn?

Thanks.

12

24 months is a great time to start!
I opened new thread to answer all of your questions

13

I play piano and would love to start my little ones with piano nice and early, if I only knew what method to use. Generally I have always been told that they are ‘ready’ for piano when they are starting to read, about 6 to 8 years old. I think piano is GREAT and I agree with all the points made to support that. As to whether some small children would decide that they don’t like to learn piano, I believe that they would all LOVE to learn piano with an enthusiastic, encouraging, at-ease teacher, and they will all HATE to learn piano with a critical, pressuring, serious-type teacher. For a little one you’d probably have to use all the good Doman advice like ‘no testing’, ‘no correcting’ (use modelling), short sessions (stop before they want to). I’m going to try to find out more about how I can teach my younger children to learn the piano… they are certainly enthusiastic to play along when I am trying to ‘tickle the ivories’!

14

Just in response to this point. I was MADE to do piano as a child simply because I was good at it “and what a waste it would be to stop now” (said my parents). I learnt piano until about half way through high school. I attempted to take up other instruments to divert my mother from insisting on the piano. So by the end of highschool I was also able to play saxaphone, clarinet, flute and bass clarinet (which is the one I loved). The way to tell if a child isn’t enjoying an instrument is to look for how much they are avoiding practising. I would make up heaps of excuses as a child, get dressed as slowly as possible, stretch out my dinner until it was cold mush, have fake sore fingers. The list goes on and on. Teachers weren’t the problem they were often really nice I just didn’t like piano very much, or at least 99% of the music I was MADE to play. I also did ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, singing and drama over a ten year period. All in an attempt to get my mother to realise I hated the piano and would rather do ANYTHING else.

The point is kids don’t say things directly, probably for fear of disappointing their parent who so loves you to play the instrument to them so much. Look out for the dragging of the feet to play the piano, or the growned “ohhh do I have to?”, and simply the avoidance to practise. Just like LR it should either be a fun bonding thing or its time to stop. I have no memory of my mother ever actually sitting down next to me and playing together or laughing/giggling about something I played. It was never set up as fun in the begining so it just never was. NEVER!!! Maybe piano is the best instrument to start with, I don’t know, but please oh please play it with your child and have fun with it, or they might hate it forever.

15

Thank you Jillpea for your story. Sometime we don’t realize or don’t want to acknowedge that what WE like is not what our children like. My grandson likes paying with the notes on the keyborad. I got Trebellina for him but he is not fond of watching the DVD completey. While playing with something else, I play de DVD and he turns to listen while Trebellina is playing the notes or the songs and he repeats the sounds.
When I tried to start teaching him the basis with Soft Mozart Video, he says ‘NO, I will do it’. Then he starts pressing the notes from right to left one by one with one finger. I guess he is not ready yet for serious lessons.

16

Yes, I understand your point!
Here is where I am coming from (this is a beginning of my book that is being translated from Russian to English):

When I was seven years old, I experienced my very first and most bitter disappointment. I absolutely loved music. So much so, that I even dreamed of going to music school and learning to play the piano. How joyful I was when I found out that I’d get to go there! With eager anticipation, I savored the image of preludes and waltzes simply flowing out of my fingers. But things didn’t turn out so easily at all… Music school turned out to be a true nightmare. 
For hours, I was tormented by merciless sheet music, trudging through the notes as if I were stumbling through dense jungles. My fingers refused to do what my mind told them to do, music wasn’t being made. My teacher noticed all of this – and on top of that advised that I play with “expression and beauty!” Oh, is that all there is to it? I’ll just go ahead and do that right now! Where the heck was the beauty that she talking about? How could I hear the whole of the song I was playing when I was just trying to make my fingers the right keys on time? 
On the other hand, in the school for general studies, I was a star in music class! We got to dance, clapped to all sorts of rhythms, and even sang our favorite songs. There wasn’t any sheet music, plus, it was all super easy. These were two different types of “Music”: one was fun and easy, and the other was demanding and boring. And both of them taught me poorly. Actually, neither of them taught me at all.
At home, Mom struggled right along with me, lacking the power to help out – she didn’t know the notes any better than I. . It came to such a point that my mother got a piece of paper and wrote out the entire song with the Russian names for each note, marking each word-note with the corresponding number for which finger I needed to play it with. Afterwards, she’d stoop over me at a breath’s distance and compare my every move to what was written in her ‘note’ book. In this way, we trampled along together like puppies in a ditch. Interest in such an education simply withered in front of your eyes. I don’t remember this method helping me out very much, but at least it gave my mom peace of mind. For the most part, to me, piano became an instrument of torture. It had to have been a miracle that I didn’t come to hate music. 
In spite of all of this, I still managed to complete my music education. In order to fully understand how I outsmarted the system and managed to finish music school, music prep school, and then the music conservatory, all with outstanding marks, one must be familiar with an old anecdote:
“Sir, how did you become a millionaire?”
“Oh, it was a long and torturous process! On one street I found apples for ten cents, and on another for thirty cents. I bought the apples for one price and sold them for the other, carefully pocketing the difference.”
“And after that..?
“Well, after that my rich uncle died and left me his inheritance.”
My unexpected inheritance came to me as a miracle. At some point, I was suddenly given a golden ticket – the perfect pitch – the natural ability to identify notes in their highest form. I just knew what note I was hearing. It was like gaining sight after a lifetime of blindness! Unexpectedly, I was provided with a fulcrum, and a beautiful world of music was suddenly opened up to me! On the fly, I could write down melodies I was hearing on paper. And after writing down a multitude of different melodies, I saw how how all of this stuff is really put together. It turns out that everything in music is actually quite simple and logical! All one needs is a focal point to see this, and to understand. I started feeling very sorry for those that continued to think that serious music is boring and complicated. And it made me want more than anything for every person to see music for what it really is – to see, and to want to learn. That is when I decided to become a music teacher.
17

Here is my another article I would recommend to read:

Why can’t Jenny play the piano

http://www.emusicguides.com/info/Music-Education/Why-can-t-Jenny-play-the-piano--Part-1.html