Getting Children Involved

» nunomau - Piano for children - part II ?

Dear Jana,

My name is Nuno. I'm from Portugal and I teach (or at least try to !!!) piano to little children, sometimes children only 5 years old and I've reached the conclusion that the only possibility of teaching this instrument to a child that young is that the child itself has an interest in learning the instrument. You see, in these years I've found that a great part of children that come to learn to play the piano with me are either forced by their parents or are just looking for something to occupy their free time (like gymnastics, swimming, etc...) and are not ready to the commitment of concentration and daily work that I find necessary.
Also I'd like to ask you about your opinion on methods well established here in Portugal and for me - John Thompson's Easiest Piano course and the Waterman/Harewood Series (which I find of great use a of excellente quality!)

My regards,

Nuno

-- posted by nunomau

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» McLellandPiano - Re: Piano for children - part II ?

In response to message posted by nunomau:

Hello Nuno. In my experience with teaching all ages, I agree, that there has to be a deep desire and hunger to learn instilled before a student can successfully "conquer" the challenges he'll encounter in music study. In fact, I find that the greatest challenge in teaching comes in this very aspect....how to wet their appetite and motivate their interest to learn! One successful "carrot" to hold in front of them, is to excite them to the actual SOUND of quality music. It seems all human beings, no matter what age, cannot resist the rhythm and magic of music! However, there certainly are many different styles of music...finding what makes each person "tick" is another key! If they could only teach this stuff in school! Best of luck. Sincerely,

-- posted by McLellandPiano

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