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For children 4-6, I find that a half hour lesson is generally more appropriate than a normal 45 minute lesson. Do you agree? Do you charge LESS for these shorter lessons?

Thanks!

Reid, I just started a highly talented young lady who is not quite 4.



We are doing two 15 minute lessons a week. Mom is responsible for daily practice. I'm charging the same rate as for a weekly 30 minute lesson. Obviously, this is a loss leader as I expect she will be a walking billboard for my studio as she advances way ahead of her peers!

However, as a matter of policy, the shorter the lesson, the higher the cost per lesson. Or to turn it around, the longer the lesson, the lower the cost per minute of instruction, because there is less administrative overhead - a one hour lesson is a lot less administrative work than are two half hour lessons.

I've had a few very young students, and 15-20 minutes is about right for attention span. I've had slightly older students (6-7) take two 30 minute lessons twice a week, and that works out really well if the parents are willing to pay for it. The students that have started this way, have continued to come twice a week. This could probably also be done with very young students with good success. My experience has been that the more often I see a student, the better they progress, no matter the age.

My daughter is 6 and she has been doing 1 hour lesson since she turned 6. But I noticed her mind is kind of going to half-dreaming at the final minutes so I think generally this is the upper limit. :-）

John, your new little student is so adorable. I'm sure you will do amazingly well with her or you would not have taken her on at this age. I can't wait to hear more about your experiences!

A young child's body sitting at the piano is equivalent to the old "Edsel" car which was a huge tub with a low seat making the short people of the world having to lift their arms to shoulder height to drive while barely able to see out the front window.

I wouldn't advocate this position for a young child at all much less for a piano lesson.

Attention spans usually require we work in short increments of time at the piano. 10 - 20 minutes.

Neurological and muscular development being what it is in the young child also impose restrictions or cautions about over working.

You wouldn't like how it feels proportionately if you sat at a massive instrument that you had to reach up to put your hands upon and where the music was truly placed "over your head" above your normal line of vision. Can you imagine what that does to their necks and to their shoulders and their spines?

Let's be cautious with our really young little people in expecting great results in piano lessons. Reading and playing music at the piano is such a big intellectual process of thinking and doing with discipline, patience and perseverance.

When they stop smiling at piano lessons we must take their cues and adjust to their needs and age so as to do no harm.

Betty, thanks for your ideas!

As you point out, posture and position for any piano student, but especially the young, it is crucial. Not only do I use the pedal extender, so their feet and legs don't dangle, but all my benches are adjustable, so each student is at exactly the right position for the keyboard in front of them.

BTW, that snap was taken at the end of the lesson!

That is a precious photo and for it to be at the end of the lesson! Incredibly precious! I'm so happy for you both!

I figured you are equipped with the support systems in your studio, John, I was actually posting to refer to those important things for parents and teachers who might not have thought of these as necessary for short and young bones.

Remember that old Edsel I speak about? I thought it was the ugliest car ever made. Not the least bit comfortable! And, also not long on the market - he, he, I wonder why? he he.

Best!

Thanks very much everyone, and John I would love to hear an update about how the lesson with the talented young lady.

...On a related note, I am a fan of the Alfred Series but for this age group can't decide between the Basic Prep course or the Music For Little Mozarts. What is real difference between the two and what ages would be appropriate for either "Prep" or "Mozarts"?

best wishes,
reid

Reid, I'm starting her out learning keyboard topography and recognizing notes using flash cards. We're going very, very slowly, as I don't want her to lose enthusiasm.

The text is Fingers, Pitch and Pulse, by N. Jane Tan and it used to be published by Willis. Don't know if they have anymore in stock. PM me if you can't find a copy. We play little games up and down the keyboard learning key names and playing them. Later in the text, the student begins playing little note pieces.

First, we learned to recognize middle C on the grand staff. I had three flash cards, G, F, and MC. I would hold them behind my back, make lots of card shuffling noise, but every time, MC would come out. At first, she had to think to recognize it. By the 4th or 5th time, she couldn't believe her good luck at getting MC once again! Pretty soon, she started giggling. Then and only then, did I add a second card, using the same procedure. Mom had this light bulb just turned on expression about half way through the exercise!

In the end, the real problem is not the student so much as it is the home support environment. If the mom or parent is willing to dedicate the amount of time daily to the task of child learning an instrument, the child will learn and grow to be wonderfully accomplished.

Students are very, very perceptive of parents values. In the end, they will be no more dedicated to piano or music than the parent is, unless they fall in that very rare class of people who are themselves bitten/smitten and can't let go.

John,

I am curious to know if, and how you obtained permission to post your delightful young student's photo on the internet.

Do you advise parents that you may do so?

I ask this, because I have often wanted to take a snap of my students, purely for my own scrapbook purposes, but feel very awkward asking permission to do so.

Rob

In this particular case, mom forgot her camera, so I told her I'd post it on a photo site, so she could down load it for her scrapbook. She was thrilled.

Thanks for the explanation :-)

Maybe I should just ask?

In this horribly PC world we now live in, I just don't know how such a request would be interpreted.

Hmmmm....any tips for method books to be used with teaching a 4.5 year old?

I'm going to start generally with short rhythm games, listening games, card games, etc, considering the time as "music lessons," not just "piano lessons." When we do progress into a method, I'm looking for the right one...

I rather like the name on that piano behind her!

In addition to note recognition and mapping the keyboard, how exactly are you working with her to develop touch, hand posture, and all the other technical aspects of playing? And how do you do this differently for one so young compared with a student who begins at a later age?



Well, that brooks no argument from me. Sorry, pun intended.



Yes, if she sticks with it, and the family support environment continues to be rich, this is the kind that can bat out a very credible Chopin Etude at age nine. When I was a teen, and finally getting my pianistic act together (by switching to a high octane teacher) I marveled, Salieri-like, at the talent and dedication of the under tens that she taught.

Generally speaking, you'd start with a young beginner method like Music for Little Mozarts or My First Piano Adventure, then move into your method of choice when the kid's cognitive development and motor skills are ready. This needs to be a judgment made by the teacher based on observation. Keep in mind that methods are designed for 8-12 year olds. Before that a completely different approach is warranted (and MFLM and MFPA can provide that approach if you use them wisely and don't just go through them in order from page 1...)

I'm quite fond of it myself!


We are doing keyboard Drills, Finger Drills, Rhythm Drills and Pianistic Reading. Her concentration at this point has doubled, to perhaps four minutes! However, because we switch activities just as soon as I see her start to lose focus, we're able to get through a number of items. For example, playing the black keys: it was a challenge to get her to play each group with an unified sound, but after a couple of weeks of just moving up and down the keyboard, it has come together. After the first week, I asked her to see how closely to the end of the keys she could play each group. At first, it was pretty hit or miss, literally, but now, she is quite proficient at it. When we play single keys (she is just learning to differentiate the keys from F to MC to G), I ask her to mimic my hand and wrist motion. She is getting better at it, but of course, this will take many, many months. How many 10 year old students do you have who just cannot unlock their wrists?

This is just a rough over-view. We're working on counting to four, which isn't so easy for a 4 year old, and doing finger wiggles to identify finger numbers. Flash card-wise, we've got MC, Bass F, and Treble G pretty well mastered.


Believe it or not, this has just begun to dawn on the parents. And they are finally starting to do it. I carefully outline each task on a work sheet for the parent, and ask them to spend 15 minutes with student twice a day. Make it fun, not an ordeal. And be really overboard with the praise.

One can only hope!

With all of my beginning students, but especially the young ones, I spend much time developing the ear (in addition to rhythm games, key recognition, finger numbers, the Musical Alphabet, etc): we start with what I unimaginatively call "three notes": at first I sit right next to the student, sharing the same bench, and play three notes, repeated notes at first. They watch, then copy, one or two octaves higher. We pay attention to handshape and flexible wrist, etc.

As they get better, I play three ascending notes, or descending, then combination of repeat, ascending, descending, etc. Soon I move to the other piano where they can't see as well (and at first complain!) but they learn that they can rely on their ears. We soon make the connection that some of these patterns are parts of their songs which they learn by ear: Mary had a little lamb, Old MacDonald, etc. Three notes become five, we add skips, etc.

As they get better with their songs, I challenge them to not look at their hands ("play blindly") which prepares them for note-reading = keeping their eyes on the score instead of their hands.
They develop good ears, a strong technique, and a good feel for the keyboard topography, essential skills which I think need to come before we start reading notes and playing from a score. (We start note card drills long before we open the first piano book.)

P.S.: All of my beginning students have two lessons a week, either 30 minutes by themselves which is usually too much for a 4 or 5-yr old, or shared with either a sibling or another student.

I should have mentioned that. We're starting solfege in a week or two. Thanks for the reminder.

I am doing some solfege, but not consistently, and probably not enough. If you don't mind sharing: do you have a curriculum, or a book you use for solfege? I only use it for patterns which I sing to my students and which they sing back to me. Occasionally, we will sing a familiar song in solfege, but that's about it.

Since my goal is to develop perfect RELATIVE pitch in my students, I use movable do.

I am always looking for new ideas

The text is Fingers, Pitch and Pulse, by N. Jane Tan and it used to be published by Willis. It's really designed for young students, ages 5 - 7, but it seems to work well outside that range.