Piano-Parent

Everything you need to know to

Get Your Kid’s Started Playing the Piano

Every parent wants the best for their child and it’s challenging to find positive activities that they will enjoy. Most adults who began piano at a young age consider it to be one of the most positive learning experiences they have had.

Piano is aligned with improved memory, mathematics, social, creative, reading and comprehension skills. Simply put, playing piano encourages your child to use their brain, their physical coordination and their creativity.

Above all, playing the piano opens your child to the enjoyment of learning a new skill and the rewards of being disciplined. This in turn helps with both schoolwork and sports. It also develops an appreciation of music and will add a richness to your child’s life.

What is the best age to start playing piano?

There is no clear-cut rule for how old your child should be before beginning piano lessons. That said, it is true that the starting age has been coming down. This is not just for piano lessons, but for many other learning activities. The key is to determine how well these learning activities match up with your child’s physical and brain development.

Many children begin taking piano lessons at kindergarten age and some begin even earlier! Faculties that develop by leaps and bounds when a child is still very young include hearing, memory, judgment, and thinking ability.

What are the best apps for learning piano?

The use of smartphones and iPads has skyrocketing during the last decade. With that, apps for learning to play musical instruments are becoming more and more common. As someone who learned piano as an older child, I would have given anything to have access to the sorts of apps children have available today.

That being said, while apps can make learning to play the piano seem easy, one app doesn’t necessarily fit all. It’s important to understand what sort of piano player your child is before selecting the app that’s right for them.

Fun Games to Play and Finding the Right Teacher

Fun games to play on the piano

Learning piano isn’t all about learning the notes and keys. It’s also a sensory experience. This is why it’s important to give children the freedom to explore the instrument freely on a regular basis.

For younger children, ask them to name their favourite story and then let them come up with an improvised song that tells this story. Alternatively, you can get them to create a happy song, a sad song, an exciting song, a scary song – the choice is almost limitless.

With older children, you can ask them to create a song on the white or black notes only, or even in a specific key like C major. Other children will simply enjoy the pleasure of having free time to experiment.

Finding the right piano teacher

When I was growing up, I was lucky. My mother asked the same question that you’re asking. My mother played the piano and loved music. But she knew that she had to find someone else to teach me. “It’s hard to teach your child anything, especially if that child is a daughter!” she’d quip.

So, my mum looked around. Like you, she wanted to find the right teacher. And she did. When I was eight, I began piano lessons. Every Tuesday afternoon after school, I’d arrive at my teacher’s house. Her black Labrador would greet me with friendly licks and a wagging tail. My teacher was very kind. She’d offer me little pieces to learn. One was called, “Pony Trot,” and there was “Short Story” and “Novelette,” by a Russian composer named Dmitry Kabalevsky. These were beautiful little pieces, and I remember them to this day.