Hi everyone!

I need some advice. I have a 9year old piano student, who is very keen when she likes the peice, but if not she just says 'Its too hard!!!' 'i don't like it'!

I have been working through Piano Time 1 with her, but woundered if anyone could suggest something a little easier. I have used the Tunes for Little fingers for my younger students, but i feel this might be too young for her.

Can anyone help?

thanks

May I ask how far you've managed through Piano Time one so far ? There is a huge difference between, eg the middle of the book and the end. I find very few pupils get to the end successfully without some additional material, although I quite like the book in many ways. Some of my pupils have got about three-quarters through the book, and have moved aside (successfully) on to other stuff and in fact have never returned to complete PT one.

Hi Maggiemay!

Thanks for your reponse.

My student has got half way through and it seems to have become too hard. What did you use as an alternative ? I really like the book, but it seems to step up a gear a bit too soon.

I think it does - at least for many young pupils. Was it any particular "new" point which she started to find difficult? I think the hand co-ordination required following the introduction of "lower C" in the LH is quite demanding for some.

The companion pieces book (Oxford Piano Time pieces book one) would help for a week or two - but after 3 or 4 pages I think you 'd be into a similar situation once again.

You almost need another beginner book - which doesn't immediately look like a beginner's book !

I have once or twice used Alan Haughton's Play Piano as a supplementary book - started at around page 15 and used earlier stuff for sight-reading (or a "breather" week).

you could also look at the following -

Chester's easiest book 2

Alfred's Basic Piano Library various books at level 1B.
Two of these (recital book B and Fun book 1B) I find really useful - but possible just slightly ahead of where your pupil is. You'd need to have a look I think and assess.

Yes, I've only had one pupil who successfully breezed through Piano Time 1, but she was the exception and picked up new concepts very quickly.

With others in the past I have printed out the supplementary material you can get online to go with the book, but I tend not to use the book much now at all with new beginners. Even the slightly older ones feel it moves along very rapidly.

I no longer use this book at all, as I find it badly thought out.

For post-beginner supplementary material, I would use Piano Magic, along with the duet book, and, especially, Piano Adventures Book 1 ( the red one), which isn't actually the first book, as there's a preliminary one.

This term I worked through PAdv 1 with an 11 year old transfer student - a bright enough girl, but with a very hazy concept of reading.( Her Mum said she'd never practised with her old teacher!) I thought it might be a bit young for her, but she loved it, raced through it, and is now enjoying Book 2A ( along with some Bartok and Kabalevsky - I don't like students playing exclusively from a tutor book once they've grasped a few basic principles) . For a 9 year old, it should be just right - and a lot more interesting than Pauline Hall.

I use Pauline Hall to supplement a tutor book, so she might be neglected for a couple of months with some students while they catch up, it is useless as a main book as it does jump quite quickly.

Denis Agay's "The Joy of First Year Piano" would probably fit the bill well. It contains pieces ranging from very easy to about grade 1, and it's a large and varied collection - there is bound to be something to appeal at an appropriate level! It also contains basic information about playing, but it's not a tutor book in the normal sense.

I think it's a bit harsh to say that PT1 is useless as a main book. I use it for all my beginners (except the very young ones) and although I do often supplement it with pieces from other books, I've had a lot of success with it and some students have raced through it and gone straight on to PT2.

Thank you all for your replies, I will still use the Piano time books, but will suppliment it with some of the suggestions here.

Need to go and have a mooch!

It's so nice to have this life line!

Merry Christmas and thanks again

After 'More tunes for 10 fingers' my daughter went onto 'Piano Playtime Book Two' and is now going through the grade 1 pieces. She's been playing for 1 year now.

Hope I'm not 'hijacking' by asking a question in the middle of a thread, but do other teachers generally use tutor books in full from start to finish? It's just that I've never done this, and find it hard to imagine - doesn't it mean that you're getting pupils to play things that they really don't like, for a start? I do like the very first Chesters book, but once we're well into it I use Schaum, LCM Pre-preparatory (moving onto the Steps and TG initial, sometimes doing the actual exams and sometimes not), Pauline Hall, beginner duet books, stuff from the internet, and first sight-reading books, amongst other things that I can't remember the names of off-hand. I bob about sort of spontaeously (or is it erratically ?), trying all the time to combine new concepts and techniques with what the pupil likes. I don't ask them to buy a multitude of books, by the way; I've bought several myself over the years, and once pupils move on they often give me their starter books to use with other people. So I just lend them out for a week or two at a time, and keep a note of who has what.

I do prefer your approach Dulciana but whenever I introduce music outside from the main tutor book the children never seem to be as interested - they have this thing about finishing the book. Even worse is when they arrive at the first lesson clutching their own choice of book and we are stuck with that. I have another student starting in new year and I am now beginning to wonder if I should insist that he doesn't buy any books for the first few terms. Having their own book seems to be fatal - they get very attached to it.

I rarely use the same books in the same order for any one pupil!

Finale Notepad has come in handy too, as I can make something up that is tailored exactly to the pupil's needs.

I've found a nice link for a pupil at the minute, from More Tunes for Ten Fingers to John Thompson 2. I think Tunes for Ten is more interesting than John Thompson 1, but I like book 2, especially the duets at the end.

I like the John Thompson series but with most pupils I've found the first book doesn't keep them going for very long!

I was looking through an old copy of the second grade John Thompson book yesterday. I was impressed with it for the first twenty pages and then it seemed to get very hard, very quickly, for example it jumped from one sharp or flat key signatures to four flats without warning. Then again I have an old copy, has it been updated at all? Some of the stereotyping was a bit offensive in my copy, I hope they've edited it. I have also had this discussion before with someone about more tunes for ten fingers, when they said they were going from that to piano time 2. Isn't more tunes quite basic, even the second book? I would have thought the transition to the second book of another method was a bit hard. Unless I am completely wrong and you mean John Thompson Easiest?

Oh, yes, I mean the John Thompson Easiest Piano course indeed!

The easiest course hasn't been updated in the pieces, but the pictures certainly have. I have my mum's old copy from the 60's (I think). The "dancing bear" picture in particular makes me cringe

OK that makes more sense! Getting a bit paranoid that everyone else's students are progressing faster than mine at the moment and jumped to the wrong conclusion!

No not at all

Mine vary so much there isn't even a general rate of progression. Some fly through from the start, and some might take a while to get going but then end up overtaking the fast starters in terms of progress!