Piano Matters Archives

How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children

I'm Cynthia Marie VanLandingham, piano teacher and author of Piano Bears Musical Storybooks.  Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children.  Here are my "Top Five."

1. Piano lessons help preserve and develop children’s natural creative abilities.

The best analogy of how children learn through music that I’ve found is from Donald Kroodsma’s book "The Singing Life of Birds." Every songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but a baby bird has to be taught by its parents to sing the family song. Baby birds, like humans, just ‘babble’ at first. Mother birds sing the family song over and over to the baby birds as they try to repeat it back. At first, the baby birds are only able to sing back one or two notes, but they gradually learn to sing the whole song. And birds with two voice boxes even learn to sing their own harmony parts! Once baby birds learn the family song, they can start developing their very own songs. Similarly, I encourage students to compose their own music after developing needed skills. In my experience, young children in piano are a lot like baby songbirds!

2. Piano lessons help children perfect their natural learning processes.

Music is a language, and children are programmed to absorb languages. Studies show that kids can most easily learn new languages when they start at a young age. When children begin piano lessons at a young age, they're developing the very same learning processes needed to accomplish language arts skills, like reading.  At lessons, students learn to follow directions, scan written materials, think critically, create solutions and translate writing into action. As they play, children look at each note, measure and phrase to interpret the music, so that it makes sense.  Many children (including my own sons) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons, as they enjoyed reading the lyrics.  Just like the baby songbirds, they wanted to sing the new songs they were learning to play.  Further more, playing the piano involves an interplay of both right and left brain activity that stimulates neural development in children.

3. Piano lessons help children learn how to stay focused and achieve goals.

Piano lessons help children stay focused as they work to achieve new learning goals.  Each piece of music students are assigned requires a variation of specific skills and playing habits. To achieve their goals, students must stay focused on the music, studying each note, measure and phrase to learn how to play the song from beginning to end. In doing so, they're thinking critically and creatively as they consider how to make the music come to life. This effort aids children in developing effective focusing, thinking, and studying habits that become natural over time. This is important, because practicing good habits that match our goals is a model for bringing dreams life!

4. Piano lessons help children develop courage.

It takes courage to face challenges without letting our anxiety and worries get the best of us. Piano lessons help students become accustomed to accepting challenges such as learning a difficult song or performing in front of teachers, friends, and families at recitals. The challenge of learning to play the piano helps kids understand the importance of keeping a positive perspective despite difficulties. Learning to handle uncertainty and stress in a way that minimizes anxiety and maximizes creativity is a valuable life tool. We all need practice at this!

5. Piano lessons teach children to persevere.

A key part of accomplishing anything difficult is to not give up easily. As children grow, playing piano teaches them to try and then try again if they don’t initially succeed. However, as Yoda explained to Luke Skywalker, the objective isn’t just trying itself, but accomplishing the desired goal -- "Do or do not, there is no try!" Piano lessons teach students how to adjust their expectations if they can’t initially master a tough song or skills, and to tackle these big goals by taking small incremental steps. In the end, just like the baby songbirds that eventually learn to sing, students learn that they can accomplish great things and reach their dreams through careful and consistent effort.

In addition to my top five, here is a Neurological Research Paper showing that piano lessons for young children significantly improves long-term spatial-reasoning skills needed for transforming mental images, as required for higher brain functions such as chess, mathematics and engineering.'

Also, new research by Northwestern University Professor Nina Kraus shows that children who study music for serveral years have improved language skills.  (See video on Youtube)

Best wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

If this article was helpful,
Please "Like" My Studio Facebook Page :-) 

 

 

Piano Pedal Question Asked by Most Kids - "What Does that One Do?"

Children new to piano lessons often are curious about the pedals on the piano. There are three common questions inquiring, young musicians want to know about the pedals.

• “When am I going to use the pedals?”

• “How come your piano has three pedals and mine only has two?”

• “Why does your piano have pedals? My keyboard doesn’t have any?”

Below are definitions of the three pedals on a traditional, acoustical piano. From left to right they are the una corda pedal, the sostenuto pedal, and the damper pedal.

1. The una corda pedal – Una corda means “one string.” It is generally called the “soft pedal” because it adjusts the piano action so the hammers only strike two of the three strings and the volume is reduced.

2. The sostenuto pedal - Sustains (or holds out) only the strings of the keys that are already pushed down.

3. The damper pedal - Lifts the dampers so all of the strings continue to sound even as more keys are played.

The above definitions will need to be simplified a bit for a 6 year old. Teachers often begin by showing examples of how the sound of the music changes as the different pedals are applied.

If your child has a keyboard without any pedals, you can purchase a sustain pedal for it. This would be a great idea, as the sustain pedal is the first pedal students learn to use. If you have an acoustical piano with only two pedals, don’t worry. These are the Una Corda Pedal and the Damper Pedal. The Sostenuto pedal is rarely used and is nice to have, but your child in piano won’t miss it.

Here is one more important question young children almost always ask about the pedals at their first piano lesson, “How are my feet going to reach them?” Here is the answer to this important question.  Sitting on the very edge of the piano bench, with the right leg extended (locked at the knee) and the ball of the foot on the pedal, young children can apply the damper pedal.  Primer music needing the pedal will generally have these instructions (Special Effect: Hold down the right foot (damper) pedal through the entire piece).

For more answers to the great questions children always ask when beginning piano, read my Piano Bears Musical Storybooks with your child. 

Don't Wait to Begin Piano Lessons!

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

If this article was helpful,
Please "Like" My Studio Facebook Page :-) 

Helping Your Beginner in Piano Get the Practice Habit

Parents know their children in piano lessons need to practice at home, and encourage them to do so.  Because everything is new to children, however, it doesn't usually occur to kids to play through their pieces more than once. To help your child in piano broaden this perspective and stretch their practice time, focus their attention on two easy things.  

1. A specific goal they can accomplish.  

2. Practice habits to support this goal.   

Example.

Goal or Assignment --
Play Song on Page 8 in C Position 7 times daily.

Good Habit 1
Keep Your Eyes on the Music.
(Don't Look Down at Your Hands.)

Good Habit 2
Sing the Notes' Names as You Play Them.

Beginning songs for children take approximately 1 minute to play.  Multiply by 7 and you have 7 minutes of practice.  If two songs are assigned, that's 14 minutes of practice.  Not a long time, but with good habits this can initially be very affective, and achieves the goal over a week of practice.  After just a few days of following this simple plan, your student will know their pieces so well that they won't need to play them 7 times.  But they'll do it anyway, because now it's so much fun!   Starting with 10 - 15 minutes a day of practice for a young beginner is reasonable. 

As students advance in piano, their assigned music will take longer to learn, and practice time can gradually increase.  By focusing on weekly goals and specific habits, young students acquire the skills they need to play more difficult music and spend more time practicing.

 For more information on the benefits of piano lessons for children, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

If this article was helpful,
Please "Like" My Studio Facebook Page :-) 

 

 

Piano Student's Mom Jumps in Lion's Den!

The anonymous piano mom who emailed the following question has jumped into a Lion's Den I call the piano-parent trap,  "My 6 year old daughter really loves the piano and wants to learn to play, but whenever I try to assist her she becomes very upset. What should I do? Help!"  If this is you, don't feel bad, I'm the angel who can help you out!  First, let me explain how parents are ensnared in the piano-parent trap.  

Young children often become anxious when parents shift out of their primary parental role into the role of teacher.  Why does this happen?  Because the expectations of children are that Mom and Dad will always fulfill the imperative role kids need to feel secure.  Since children must have their emotional needs met to feel loved and secure before they can learn, they may refuse to allow a parent to be the piano teacher at home, even when they want to learn piano very much.  Surprisingly, the child who really loves piano may resist a parent's help even more!  This is the paradoxical nature of the piano-parent trap.   

From the time children approach the age of two they begin sending their parents the same conflicting messages over and over, "I need you - I can do it myself!"  To transcend this paradox and get out of the parent trap, recognize your child's needs for independence while providing support and guidance. To do this, take a page from the 'Authoritative Parents Handbook', which allows children to choose from options parents identify for them. This way kids can 'do it themselves' within protected limits.  Choosing is an important life skill that takes practice, so its good to start early.  I'll talk more about this later.  First, there is a piano mom out there who needs immediate assistance!  So, here's the simplist way for her to reverse direction and get out of the Lion's Den that I call the piano-parent trap.

Jump Out!  Yep, that's all there is to it...jump out!  To do this quickly, put on sneakers and reverse roles.

Here's an example to help parents along.  When your child returns home from piano lessons, ask he or she to teach you what they've learned, because you want to learn too! This allows your child be in control as they share their special piano knowledge with you. Kids can't resist this. It's just so much fun to be the teacher!  Kids love to reverse roles. Your young teacher will probably even correct your playing, and tell you that you're doing it all wrong, especially if you play their song perfectly!  Be willing to make a few silly mistakes that your little teacher can have fun correcting, and don't get defensive.  I guarantee, this fun strategy will quickly get piano mommies and daddies out of the lion's den and making some delightful memories! 

Below are the goals of the authoritative teaching model I talked about earlier.

 - The Authoritative Model Teaches Ownership and Responsibility for Learning

·    Parent/Teacher is in charge of setting appropriate consequences for their child's behaviors. Child is given choices to make reasonable decisions within protected limits where they can learn from their mistakes.

·    Child learns to take initiative and trust their own abilities to make decisions and act responsibly.

·    Child learns to be assertive and asks adults for information and guidance, while accepting ownership and responsibility for their decisions.

For information on the benefits of piano lessons for children, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

If this article was helpful, Please "Like" my studio Facebook Page

How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children

I'm Cynthia Marie VanLandingham, piano teacher and author of Piano Bears Musical Storybooks.  Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children.  Here are my "Top Five."

1. Piano lessons help preserve and develop children’s natural creative abilities.

The best analogy of how children learn through music that I’ve found is from Donald Kroodsma’s book "The Singing Life of Birds." Every songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but a baby bird has to be taught by its parents to sing the family song. Baby birds, like humans, just ‘babble’ at first. Mother birds sing the family song over and over to the baby birds as they try to repeat it back. At first, the baby birds are only able to sing back one or two notes, but they gradually learn to sing the whole song. And birds with two voice boxes even learn to sing their own harmony parts! Once baby birds learn the family song, they can start developing their very own songs. Similarly, I encourage students to compose their own music after developing needed skills. In my experience, young children in piano are a lot like baby songbirds!

2. Piano lessons help children perfect their natural learning processes.

Music is a language, and children are programmed to absorb languages. Studies show that kids can most easily learn new languages when they start at a young age. When children begin piano lessons at a young age, they're developing the very same learning processes needed to accomplish language arts skills, like reading.  At lessons, students learn to follow directions, scan written materials, think critically, create solutions and translate writing into action. As they play, children look at each note, measure and phrase to interpret the music, so that it makes sense.  Many children (including my own sons) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons, as they enjoyed reading the lyrics.  Just like the baby songbirds, they wanted to sing the new songs they were learning to play.  Further more, playing the piano involves an interplay of both right and left brain activity that stimulates neural development in children.

3. Piano lessons help children learn how to stay focused and achieve goals.

Piano lessons help children stay focused as they work to achieve new learning goals.  Each piece of music students are assigned requires a variation of specific skills and playing habits. To achieve their goals, students must stay focused on the music, studying each note, measure and phrase to learn how to play the song from beginning to end. In doing so, they're thinking critically and creatively as they consider how to make the music come to life. This effort aids children in developing effective focusing, thinking, and studying habits that become natural over time. This is important, because practicing good habits that match our goals is a model for bringing dreams life!

4. Piano lessons help children develop courage.

It takes courage to face challenges without letting our anxiety and worries get the best of us. Piano lessons help students become accustomed to accepting challenges such as learning a difficult song or performing in front of teachers, friends, and families at recitals. The challenge of learning to play the piano helps kids understand the importance of keeping a positive perspective despite difficulties. Learning to handle uncertainty and stress in a way that minimizes anxiety and maximizes creativity is a valuable life tool. We all need practice at this!

5. Piano lessons teach children to persevere.

A key part of accomplishing anything difficult is to not give up easily. As children grow, playing piano teaches them to try and then try again if they don’t initially succeed. However, as Yoda explained to Luke Skywalker, the objective isn’t just trying itself, but accomplishing the desired goal -- "Do or do not, there is no try!" Piano lessons teach students how to adjust their expectations if they can’t initially master a tough song or skills, and to tackle these big goals by taking small incremental steps. In the end, just like the baby songbirds that eventually learn to sing, students learn that they can accomplish great things and reach their dreams through careful and consistent effort.

In addition to my top five, here is a Neurological Research Paper showing that piano lessons for young children significantly improves long-term spatial-reasoning skills needed for transforming mental images, as required for higher brain functions such as chess, mathematics and engineering.'

Also, new research by Northwestern University Professor Nina Kraus shows that children who study music for serveral years have improved language skills.  (See video on Youtube)

Best wishes,

Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

Author of
Piano Bears Musical Storybooks

 

The ABC's of Piano - Is My Child Ready for Lessons?

If your young child can identify the letters of the alphabet and numbers, knows how to count, and is beginning to read, they may be ready for piano lessons. Here are 20 piano concepts children can learn in their first year of lessons.  

1. Locating A, B, C, D, E, F, and G on the piano keyboard (Music Alphabet)

2. Musical Alphabet Up and Down (Circle of Seconds or Steps)

3. Line Notes and Space notes (Circle of Thirds or Skips)

4. Broken and Blocked chords, in the Key of C, F and G (Triads)

5. Diatonic Scale ( Major Scale half steps and whole steps)

6. Five-Finger Scales in C Major, D Minor F Major, G Major (Pentatonic Scales)

7. Octaves (Ottava signs and Keyboard Knowledge)

8. Intervals (Distance between two keys on the piano or two notes on the staff)

9. Sharps (Half Steps Up)

10. Flats (Half Steps Down)

11. High Sounds (Treble Clef)

12. Low Sounds (Bass Clef)

13. Forte, Mezzo Forte, Piano, Mezzo Piano, Crescendo (Dynamics)

14. Listening & Playing Back (Imitation)

15. Changing a Theme (Variations)

16. Extemporization (Improvisation)

17. Playing with more ease (Technique)

18. Playing with style (Articulations: legato, staccato, accents)

19. Playing for others (Performing in Recitals)

20. Sharing their talent (Becoming Part of the Music Community.)

Can you imagine your children playing the piano in your living room, or performing in their first piano recital? Nothing warms a parent's heart more than seeing their children engaged in a creative activity that is challenging and beneficial. Why not enroll your child in piano lessons while they are young? You can't make a better investment in their future.  For information on the benefits of piano lessons for children, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

If this article was helpful, 
Please "Like" My Studio Facebook Page :-) 

Author of
Piano Bears Musical Storybooks