I've got my very first prospective piano pupil who I'm going to see in a couple of weeks. He is 7 years old.


What piano books would folk recommend AND would 30 minutes be a bit too long for him in terms of length of lesson ? I know children's concentration at that age is very limited so just wondered if others teaching kids at around this age limit the lesson to maybe 20 minutes or so.


There are so many different piano books on the market that any suggestions would be very gratefully received.

I have been looking recently at a publication called Piano Adventures, and plan to use this for the first time with a new 7-year-old beginner student very soon. I have been quite impressed with the layout of the book and the method / order of introducing fingers. I think it is quite child-friendly. But I can't say how this will work out in practice as I have always used other beginner books previously (John Schaum etc).

I don't think 30 minutes is too long if the lesson is broken up into smaller chunks with plenty of different activities. All my younger students have 30 minutes.

Good luck!

Edit: Tunes for Ten Fingers is also good for younger beginners.

Play Piano by Alan Haughton is a good series of books. Thirty minutes flies by - especially if you don't use a book too much in the first few lessons.

I think the Piano World series (3 books) by Joanna McGregor is very good - musically sound and visually appealing for children. There is an optional CD backing track that is quite fun for them to listen to, even if they cant play along at home because piano is out of tune etc! I've used these books with an older child too - 10 year old, who has gone through 2 and a half books in a year (average student). The books cover theory and little exercises too. Good all round starter book in my opinion.

Enjoy your first pupil!

I use Piano Time 1 for students of that age.
Introduce lots of different elements into your lessons right from the beginning (theory, aural, duets) and the 30 mins will fly by!
Have fun!!

You have some good suggestions already, but I would also recommend Carol Sebba's Piano Magic.

I use the Piano Magic duets - they are lovely and get them using a wide range of the keyboard - you can do the simple ones even in the first lesson.

Tunes for 10 fingers is very good. Me and my piano is also enjoyable. the Alfred beginner books are worth a look. I have also had some success with Bastien. Good luck!

I use the John Thompson books, but only the first two. I know they've had a bit of a bad press on this forum in the past, but I like the minimum fingering that is written in, and the fact that both hands play together almost immediately.

I break a 30 minute lesson up into some time at the piano and some time during basic aural and listening games. I might spend some time using the Chester puzzle sheets, which are great, and then some flash card work. The 30 minutes fly past then!

Good luck!

Tunes For 10 Fingers is my favourite for that age group, and I've never had trouble with a 30 minutes lesson with them either. In fact, I have a couple of six year olds at the moment on that book, and with that length lesson. You just need to be prepared to cover a little less than older children, on average.

I have always done 30 minutes for 7-8 year olds and it has been fine. I have used 'Me and My Piano' quite a lot with this age range. It also has duet parts for the teacher to accompany the pupil which they enjoy. It's colourful too and also has some "Puzzle Pages" to introduce some simple theory.


Louise

I use Me and my Piano as well and I'm very happy with it. I've looked at various others but always keep coming back to MMP. My only reservation is that some pieces are 'overfingered' which can lead pupils to 'play by numbers' rather than reading the actual notes. I have been known to tippex out some of the fingerings! I sometimes start the left hand earlier than they suggest, depending on how the pupil is progressing.

30 mins should be OK for a 7 year old provided that the lesson is broken up into different activities, games etc.

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions - very much appreciated. I'm quite nervous about this first lesson as want it to go well and for the wee boy to enjoy it so he wants to come back for more lessons. Will let you know how it goes !