How to Have Successful Piano Lessons for Young Students

October 19, 2020 Leslie Young

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WHAT IS THE BEST AGE TO BEGIN PIANO LESSONS?

There are benefits for a young student to begin piano lessons. In general, lessons could begin for a four-year-old. However, even children a few months younger will benefit. The first lessons are very short, less than a minute. Over time, the student gradually increases attention span, the ability to sit quietly, and engagement in the instruction.

WHAT IS A GOOD APPROACH TO BEGINNING PIANO LESSONS?

The student’s introduction to the keyboard should be brief, fun, and include frequent praising. If the student is reluctant to begin, he may want to just watch as a sibling or parent is given the first lesson. This will show that the lesson is not overwhelming. As a result, he will want his own turn.

THE FIRST LESSON:

The student sits comfortably erect on the bench with feet toward the floor. He is shown the brand name of the piano or electric keyboard. In the Revolutionary Piano Method books, the example brand shown is Yamaha. The teacher may ask, “What is your name?” . . . Student responds.

“Here is the name of your piano. . . Yamaha.” Teacher points; student points to the brand. Teacher tells the student to close his eyes, count to three, open his eyes, and again point to the brand name.

Teacher: “See that there are black and white keys. The black keys are in groups of two and three.” Teacher plays a group of two and then three black keys with the right hand, and the student repeats using the right hand.

Teacher: “Let’s find the group of three black keys closest to the piano’s name, Yamaha.” The teacher demonstrates by pointing out the brand and playing all three closest black keys down at once. Then the student repeats, and he should like “smashing” down the three black keys.

REINFORCING THE FIRST LESSON:

The student repeats finding the brand name, the group of three closest black keys, and “smashing” them down with the right hand. In all, the student should locate the brand, the closest group of three black keys, and smash them all down – three or four times. For variety, he could be asked to smash down the black key group with his eyes closed or looking up at the ceiling. That’s the entire first lesson for the very young student.

SUBSEQUENT LESSONS:

This first lesson procedure should be repeated for one or more subsequent lessons until the student is very comfortable and confident in his ability to succeed. Itty Bitty Lesson Book 1 would be the first book to use for short lessons of less than five minutes. The lesson time gradually increases as the student’s attention span and capabilities increase.