???'s for Piano or Organ Teachers

[sncbird]

I took piano lessons for about 10 years when I was "younger". My dh bought me a keyboard for Christmas 2 years ago. My dd who's 7 has asked me if I could teach her how to play. I thought this was a wonderful idea and would like to buy her some beginner books. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for books as well as maybe an on-line site or store to purchase them at.

Any advice on how to start teaching a 7 year old would be very much appreciated as well

 

[Micca]

Just like everything else these days, can't you download something off the net? Good luck. I think it would be rewarding for you to teach your child.

 

[amid chaos]

Get some "five finger books". Both thumbs are on middle C and song is played with 10 fingers each staying on it's own note. These are rewarding for the kids.

Other sites
http://www.musickidsonline.com/ElectronicKeyboardMethod.htm

This site you can listen to the piece.
http://www.learnpianoonline.com/contentschildren.html

http://pianopuppy.com/cat6.html

Interesting
http://www.learnpianoonline.com/

http://www.encoremusic.com/piano/cat6.htm

Good luck.

 

[sncbird]

Hi amid chaos,

Thanks for the links. I will check them out!! I was so happy when she asked me. I thought I could get her a book or two for Christmas.

 

[Pembo]

Bastien Piano Basics

My 6 yo is practicing his lessons as I type. My mom was a piano teacher for MANY years and now has just 2 students, my son and my niece . She really likes this series for beginners.

As for advice on teaching your own child, GOOD LUCK! It never worked with me and my mom. And when I try to help my son it's a disaster. Hope it works better for you!

Have fun!

 

[disykat]

I was going to suggest Bastian as well. My mom has used this series for many years as a piano teacher. My older son just finished his mandatory two years (my requirement!) of piano by working with me. We just did 5-10 minutes a night at homework time. Towards the end he was doing practice on his own too, but at the beginning he needed me sitting right there. We used the basic piano books as well as the theory and technique books and made it through primer and level one.

I told him that after two years he could get a teacher or move to a different instrument - guess who just got a guitar for his birthday? Now he'll be working on that (with a computer disk) while I start my 7 year old on piano.

 

[Amy]

Both of my DS's learned using Bastien books. For each level, there's a theory book and a book of songs. I also recommend Encore Music. I've bought a lot of music from them and they're wonderful. You can get music for all levels, from beginners to level 6. They even have some of those "5-finger" books, which are also great.

I'll be curious to see how it goes with teaching your DD; I knew better than to try to teach my DS's - paying for lessons was much better than all the screaming that would have happened had I tried to teach them myself!

 

[SeaSpray]

I also recommend the Bastien series of books. DS11 takes piano/keyboard lessons from a music teacher and has flown through those books. They make learning piano seem easy! (Although I know it isn't!)

 

[sncbird]

WOW!! Thank you everyone for the great advice!! My dd and I get along really well. She's a very laid back kid. Her 6 year old brother has now also expressed interest but I don't know how well that would work. He doesn't seem to have a very long attention span. I'm going to look into the 5 finger books and the Bastien Books. Thank you again for your help!!