Hi everyone,

Got a new pupil soon, 5 year old boy. Never taught this age before and not sure which book to use. I have used Piano Time 1 with older children, but not entirely sure if this is suitable for the younger ones. Has anyone used PT1 with 5 year olds successfully?

Cheers for your advice

My daughter started at 5 with this book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Piano-Lessons-Leon...y/dp/0793562600

It starts by playing tunes with both hands only on the black notes and without a stave which gets introduced later in the book. You can look inside the book on the Amazon site.

I'd definitely go with an off stave starting book at this age.
There are several around. It's best of you can have a look and decide which you'd be happiest working with.

I have used the Bastien series Piano Primers which are off stave and work quite well for boys (some books are a bit girly). If you find that your pupil picks up the ideas quickly you can always move on more quickly, but it's best to lay solid foundations I've found.

There are other off stave starters around now too.

The Piano Adventures Primer begins off stave. I have been quite impressed so far with this series, and pupils who have used it have enjoyed it.

Piano Adventures has some books designed for 5-6 year olds. Very colourful and takes things at a suitable pace
see here - you can get Piano Adventures in the UK.

Piano Time moves too quickly for most children, I find. I think it would defeat most 5 year olds... I prefer to use a more child-friendly method - PA has lots of repetition and supplementary materials.

I've used the Hal Leonard book (see Alicia Ocean's post and link) with great success. Highly reccommend it.

I've also used the Bastien primer series with young children - good books and the kids love them but a bit more formulaic in terms of the music.

Never used the Piano Adventures primer book but I bet it's good.

Piano Time goes too fast for a 5 year-old in my opinion.

I agree that PT 1 isn't aimed at 5 year olds. I no longer use this for anyone now, as there are so many other better things available. My First Piano Adventure (Faber) - 3 vols, A, B and C, was written specifically for this age group, and, in my view, far outshines anything else on the market. It's completely different from the PA Primer. My new intake of Yr 1s are now coming to the end of the first book, and eagerly awaiting the next (blue) volume. Great duet accompaniments and CD too.

'Tunes for Ten Fingers' by Pauline Hall is a nice easy approach and if you follow with 'More Tunes for Ten Fingers' with 'Fun for Ten Fingers' you could then progress to Piano Time One. Just take it nice and slowly with a five year old.

I've taught quite a few 5 year-olds and have mostly used Tunes for Ten Fingers to start with. Obviously a lot will depend on how quickly your pupil picks things up, but I have used Piano Time 1 with a couple of mine and introduced pieces from other books along the way. Do lots of clapping, singing, marching round the room etc. to keep him interested, plus Lina Ngs theory books for little children - they love these!
Have fun!

I use the Music Tree Time to Begin book with this age - excellent, very musical way to start.

I've found the Bastien primers to be good for younger children. I've also found John Thomson's Easiest Piano Course to be good for young starters (although probably more from age 6 upwards), however it doesn't start off stave.

I use nothing but Dogs and Birds for children of this age group and have found it to be wonderfully successful. It does start on the stave, but also provides solid resources for developing rhythm and sense of pulse in the form of rhythm exercises which the child can play anywhere on the piano and learn to be free in their arms as well as develop use of arm weight. The notes are given animal names which the children love as you can get puppets to help the child remember each note. I have rarely had a child forget where a note is once you call it dog or whatever! The children are also encouraged to sing as they play which obviously develops the inner ear and will result in no problems with sight singing later on. There is also a book of teaching notes which has lots of ideas for improvising and lesson activities. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I have tried Piano Adventures with one child but find the content of the book rather busy and even overwhelming, there is so much for the teacher to take in, let alone a young child. I appreciate that others have found the book useful however I find Dogs and Birds better.

The website is www.dogsandbirds.co.uk

Piano Time is definately not suitable for such a young child.

I think this depends on the child. Although I agree it is too advanced for most, I have used it successfully with a couple of very bright 5 year-olds, with additional material from time to time when we needed to consolidate things.