The young piano student is a delight to teach – this does not mean they are easy students.
Most young students already love playing the piano before ever having any lessons.
They also have very strong opinions and like to be appreciated for how smart they are.
It is a challenge for a teacher to use creative ways in order to allow the young child to develop ability.
When the parent plays piano music the child likes, such as folk tunes, a natural interest develops.
A patient parent and a patient teacher then may use many creative motivational ideas to encourage practice.
It is important to notice the positive abilities being developed: sitting position; hand and arm position;
ability to sit with hands in lap;
ability to hold hand above keyboard and wait before playing;
ability to play a long note; ability to play a short note; ability to play a few notes; then a whole song;
ability to play soft, medium and loud with musical tone; etc.
When small abilities are noticed, then it is natural to enjoy the progress of a young student.
When a parent feels their young child must be pushed and hurry to the next song and progress rapidly,
only stress can be developed.
Success with a young child occurs when their efforts are appreciated and their strong opinions are understood as developmental as well as personality traits. It is important to remember that physical ability will occur by steps and cannot be rushed – but regular, consistent practice can train the finger muscles to be used in a comfortable way and sitting with control over back muscles and feet support will insure comfort and thus increase desire to play the piano.
Listening to fine piano recordings – consistent practice (even 5 minutes) – and attention to posture of back, arms, feet are very important for the young student.
The young child should never be forced to sight read music. If sight reading is difficult, then the young child is not ready for that step. There are other wonderful ways for the young child to study piano lessons and prepare for the natural time when they are ready to read music.
A few children are ready around the age of 6 or 7 to read and enjoy, but many are not ready until 7 or 8 to really progress with reading. If the student has not had a good experience with sight reading, then they learn to hate the piano.
In my experience, the child who has careful practice and ability development with finger muscle training and posture from the very beginning is prepared to play musically. It is important for the young piano student to have parent attendance at lessons and involvement with piano practice at home. The young piano student is not ready for independence.
A child who learns to play music they listen to from the very beginning will love learning to sight read later on.
