Hi all,

I would like some advice on teaching a kid who is 4 and is having
difficulty in learning! She came to me last Saturday for her first
lesson on piano, and b4 this she took a music course where all the kids
there were also having difficulty in learning. Her mum mentioned that
the course was more like music therapy. So on our first lesson we
started with "John Thompson's Easiest Piano Course Part1", after
spending 30 mins of the lesson just trying to play middle C with
left/right thumb in different tempo, she still couldn't manage to do it!

does anyone have similar experience?? I know her progress will be slow,
and I will have to be more patient with her, but how do I make things
easier for her to understand?? Anything I have to pay particular
attention to when teaching this kid?

Appreciate your advice, thank you!

Carky

Remember she's only 4 as well! That's quite early to start, so I'd think she'd progress quite slowly to start with anyway.

What do you mean by playing in a different tempo? different tempo in each hand or what?

playing middle C crotchets in 4/4 and 3/4 hands separately.

QUOTE

does anyone have similar experience?? I know her progress will be slow, and I will have to be more patient with her, but how do I make things easier for her to understand??

Having had experience of teaching violin pupils of a similar age, and frequently having the same problems as you, I decided last autumn that I would no longer take on total beginners under the age of 10, unless they either had some previous musical learning (eg. another instrument), musical parents or supportive parents who took an equal interest in learning alongside their child.

Yes, this 4 year olds progress will be slow, sometimes painfully slow, unless she has enthusiasm and a really natural musical ear that almost needs only encouraging and developing, rather than teaching. The problem often lies not in the learning, but the short attention span children of a very young age have. Usually, a 15 or 20 minute lesson is long enough before you find there is absolutely no response from the pupil at all. They often aren't even listening to you after the first 10 minutes.

Try to find out a bit more about these previous piano classes - were they specifically for children who showed signs of learning difficulties, or were they a sort of general musicianship class to encourage the very young to listen and become more musically aware? At this first lesson did she show any interest or even a glimmer of understanding in what you are doing or showing her?? Although we all have some sort of inbuilt sense of rhythmn and pitch, especially as children, the natural inclination towards this it isn't always natural or particularly strong in everyone.

I'd give at least 6 lessons, or perhaps even a full term to see if the child just a needs a bit of time to ignite the spark of interest. Does the parent seem pushy? Often they are pushy, but have no interest themselves which again poses a problem of the child's learning not being supported or encouraged outside of their lessons.

Do some background research and just take things one step at a time.

And you could also try to find out a bit more about the learning style of 4 year olds! WHY spend half an hour playing Middle C with alternate thumbs? How interesting is that? ! Did you have her sitting at the piano for the whole 30 mins? What alternative activities could you have tried with her?

With respect, if you have no qualifications or experience in teaching 4 year olds, I suggest you help her family to find someone who has, so that she is not put off from learning music altogether. At this age, I wouldn't even be using a tutor book at all. She needs to be moving, and experiencing music through her body, rather than playing middle C for half an hour.

I'd suggest a good look around your local music shop for some books that start differently. Assemble a few ideas.

A tutor that starts off-stave might be good for such a young beginner. Fwiw, most of my students start at around 6, and I don't normally use a book at all for the first few sessions. We work on recognition of black-note groups, clapping rhythms, listening games, numbering fingers, that kind of thing. You could try making up some tunes using just a group of two notes, maybe one for each hand. Try to include words, (things like "look at me! I can play!" etc often go down well with a young beginner). I make my own Music sheets for the first few sessions so they have something to take home - in the absence of a book that's important.

I wouldn't expect her to follow notes on the page AND play at the same time to begin with. In any case, as AmandaL has said, 30 mins is a long time for a 4 year old. Frequent changes of activity (every few minutes!) will help.

Try to engage your pupil by helping her make sounds she will enjoy. If something proves tricky, move on for now and come back to it later.

Maggie

I can remember having a lesson at college on piano teaching, we were being told ways to test a beginner to see whether they might be ready to begin lessons. One test was to play a note maybe 3 or 4 times (just crotchets) and ask the child to play it back to you. If they couldn't do it, e.g. went on and on without stopping at the number you had played, or couldn't play them anywhere near evenly, then they probably weren't ready for formal piano lessons. And this was suggested for 7 year olds!

4 is extremely young to begin lessons, unless she has already shown some musical ability. Can she read yet? If not there's probably no point in using a tutor book at all. Maggie's suggestions are good. 30 mins is a very long time for that age, and you will need to get the parents to help if you expect any "practice" to be done at home.

Good luck!

HI I must say that I just wouldn`t teach a pupil at that age. I know this isn`t helpful but I, personally wouldn`t feel knowledgeable enough. 6 years old is the mimimum age for me but it depends on the individual. I`d read some basic Piaget (the 3 stages of child development, etc) though if I were you, this may be helpful to understand the pupil. Good luck

Starting at 4 is early...Is the child at kindergarden or else u end up teaching pre-school stuff instead of music.


I suggest u not to start on Mid C ... start playing black keys 1st. You can try using Lesson's Book from Alfred Publishing. Look around ur local stores for mre books.

In the 30minutes lessons...try play some games/activities or singing..children love to sing at this age. Sitting at the piano for 30minutes is killing them. They might slowly lose the interest towards music.

Good Luck.

QUOTE (Helen VJ @ May 9 2005, 01:20 PM)

And you could also try to find out a bit more about the learning style of 4 year olds! WHY spend half an hour playing Middle C with alternate thumbs? How interesting is that? ! Did you have her sitting at the piano for the whole 30 mins? What alternative activities could you have tried with her? With respect, if you have no qualifications or experience in teaching 4 year olds, I suggest you help her family to find someone who has, so that she is not put off from learning music altogether. At this age, I wouldn't even be using a tutor book at all. She needs to be moving, and experiencing music through her body, rather than playing middle C for half an hour. Â

i am working for a local studio which means that i dont know anything about the student until i meet her. i met this little girl only on the day of the lesson and i didnt have any preparation for this special case! that's why i am now seeking advice.

my youngest student was a 5 year old boy, things seem going well so far! but you're right, i really dont have experience in teaching a 4 year old girl with learning difficulty!

p.s. actually we did spend about 5-10mins working on the theory book (colouring and stickers) which she seems to find it interesting!

The studio has 'dropped you in it'. A 4 year old is too young for 'formal' lessons. I speak not just as a teacher, but as a dad as well.

Girls' brains mature more quickly than boys'. As a 'rule of thumb' girls can start 'formal' piano lessons aged 6, boys aged 7. 'Teaching' a 4 year old needs skills far beyond the ken of most of us - we are talking a rare specialism here.

As to the child needing 'music therapy', you should not be expected to provide this unless you are actually a music therapist. You need to discuss your role at the studio with the studio owners.

As 4 is very young I would spend half of the lesson developing broader musical skills such as clapping and rhythm work. Make some note cards and have fun playing some musical card games.
Write some of your own very simple tunes. Lots of copying and creating!
Remember lots of tuition books rely heavily on reading skills to support musical understanding and your 4 year old won't necessarily have good reading skills yet.

Hope this helps

Age 4 is really quite young to learn music. Why not try one of the Bastien piano books which are aimed at 4 - 7 year olds. Piano Party might be more suitable than J Thompson and certainly more interesting. There are supplementary books for Aural and Theory too so you can vary what is done at each lesson. 30 minutes is quite long for someone of 4. I usually give 5 - 6 year olds 20 minutes for the first term or two.

You may like to consider some form of "pre-instrumental" work with this young child. I run a Music Kindergarten (all Kodaly based) with some 550 children from birth to 8 and there is loads that you can do before they actually start to play an instrument. It may be that you could incorporate somd of this sort of stuff into the lesson and therby help this 4 year old to get a good start. My music kindergarten meets in Fleet and Aldershot (Hampshire) and we have children travelling some distance to get to us. If you are interested you would be welcome to come and visit if you are in this area

Len Tyler

lentyler@lentyler.freeserve.co.uk

QUOTE

I would like some advice on teaching a kid who is 4 and is having difficulty in learning!  She came to me last Saturday for her first lesson on piano, and b4 this she took a music course where all the kids there were also having difficulty in learning.  Her mum mentioned that the course was more like music therapy.

Maybe I'm being over sensitive here, or maybe it's just the way you phrased it, but I have a bit of a problem with you writing off a 4 year old as having 'learning difficulties' because she can't learn from a piano book like an 8 year old could. She's 4 years old for goodness sake! Has she actually been *diagnosed* with learning difficulties? If so, it's definitely not your job to teach her without specialist training. You write that she took a course 'where all the kids were having difficulty learning' - well, if they were all 4 and were being plonked in front of a piano and told to read notation, it's not particularly surprising they found it hard! (And does her mum really know what music therapy is about anyway???)

If she's got an actual medical condition, then fine, but that's not your job. If she hasn't, give the kid a chance... I've taught 6/7 year olds who find it hard learning in a 'conventional', book-based way. They're not stupid, they're just too young for such an approach. Her parents should definitely be taking her to specialised classes for teenies, like Len mentions.

QUOTE (carky @ May 9 2005, 11:23 AM)

I would like some advice on teaching a kid who is 4 and is having difficulty in learning! She came to me last Saturday for her first lesson on piano, and b4 this she took a music course where all the kids there were also having difficulty in learning. Her mum mentioned that the course was more like music therapy. So on our first lesson we started with "John Thompson's Easiest Piano Course Part1", after spending 30 mins of the lesson just trying to play middle C with left/right thumb in different tempo, she still couldn't manage to do it! Does anyone have similar experience?? I know her progress will be slow, and I will have to be more patient with her, but how do I make things easier for her to understand?? Anything I have to pay particular attention to when teaching this kid?

There is a world of difference between a 4 year old and a 5 year old if 5 years is the school starting age.

At that age, the Suzuki method works.

But in this particular case, did you consider an alternative instrument. The kazoo is one that readily comes to mind!