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I am trying to teach my 9-year old sister how to play the piano over the summer before she enrolls in a piano prep class at a local university this Fall. My sister has been taking music classes at her school so she knows the basics (such as which notes are which and what a treble and bass staff are) but I've been incorporating what my own teacher has been teaching me into my sister's lessons, such as using a metronome. Problem is, she's been struggling to keep along with the metronome's beats. And right now, we're working off the Alfred's Young Beginner Prep Course Level A books, both lessons and solo (my goal is to have her get through Level B lesson and solo before the summer is over).

So I was wondering if it's a good idea to incorporate a metronome into a 9-year old's first piano lessons just so that she gets used to keeping a rhythm in the future. Also, I was wondering if there are any other books out there that I can incorporate into my sister's lessons. Books that are suited for young beginners but go at a more accelerated pace than Alfred's does (like Suzuki's, maybe?). Like I said before, the goal is to enroll my sister in a piano prep program in the Fall and so I would like my sister to have a good piano foundation for her age down by the end of the summer.

Teaching your younger sibling is a bad idea. It's a worse idea than using the metronome with a beginner - which is also a bad idea.

Peter beat me to the punch, but we're on the same page.

Originally Posted by Macromind101

I am trying to teach my 9-year old sister how to play the piano over the summer before she enrolls in a piano prep class at a local university this Fall..... So I was wondering if it's a good idea to incorporate a metronome into a 9-year old's first piano lessons just so that she gets used to keeping a rhythm in the future. Also, I was wondering if there are any other books out there that I can incorporate into my sister's lessons. Books that are suited for young beginners but go at a more accelerated pace than Alfred's does (like Suzuki's, maybe?). Like I said before, the goal is to enroll my sister in a piano prep program in the Fall and so I would like my sister to have a good piano foundation for her age down by the end of the summer.

This is a classic example of what gives us teachers gray hair, or in my case, little hair at all.

Your intentions are wonderful, but I can see real damage occurring here. First, scrap the metronome. Second, if you're going to place her in a prep program, why are you trying to emulate it now? Perhaps I'm missing something here. I'd suggest exposing her to piano music, of a wide variety additionally, consider engaging a real piano teacher to guide her first experiences.

Yikes, gentlemen, please remember that we ALL had to start somewhere. I started with two of my younger cousins, neither of whom continued with piano much longer.

Ah but surely your cousins were brilliant! See how you turned out! Or was despite their efforts?

I think I should have written "started teaching."

Not a teacher, but this framing bothers me.

Can you think about letting her teach you how she learns?

Forget about the end of the summer, IMO.

Forget the metronome. And don't try to teach Suzuki unless you have been through at least the ECC and book 1 training courses or learned from a Suzuki teacher yourself. Emulating what your teacher does now is well-intentioned, but unless you are a beginner right now, what your teacher does now is not the right thing for a beginner.

Just play a few tunes and have a good time. Since she is going to start with a university course the pressure is off of you to try to cover everything. Maybe find some things you can play together, even the teacher-student duets in those method books. There are indeed methods that go faster -- Alfred Premier is mentioned a lot here, and I can vouch for Fundamental Keys.

+1

You are probably going to do more harm than good if you try to give lessons while still a student yourself.

So pleased to see that I'm not alone in my opinion about the damned metronome. I have a lengthier and more detailed discussion of this on my blog.
https://thehappypianoprofessor.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/metronome-yes-or-no/

The second problem is teaching a sibling. I had two younger sisters, one of the a full ten years younger than me ... and when I got my ARCT she was about seven. Not for a moment did my mother consider mixing up music with the normal sister interactions.

The only good thing I can see here is the student's age. N ine is my favorite age for a beginner. They learn quickly and that keep their interest high. I love nine year olds. That being said, I would suggest here that you make a game of learning the notes. Use flash cards. Make sure she "says" the notes as she finds them on the keyboard. Saying the note names aloud has some mysterious power I am yet to pin down. But it works. The best thing you can do for your sister is get her to learn the notes. You can give her the time to practice this which many teachers don't have and that will be an enormous step ahead for her when she begins lessons with a regular teacher. Forget about the metronome but make sure she counts.

Keep this picture in mind. A student is playing a piece of music and stops ... looking for a note. There is nothing ... absolutely NOTHING .. so irritating as having a metronome continue inexorably ahead. Nothing more guaranteed to make a student hate his lessons. The metronome historically was invented to indicate the speed at which the COMPOSER wanted his music to be played. As a "tempo" indicator. Never as the straitjacket it later became. But most people don't know that history.

Embedded in each of us is our heartbeat ... steady and continuous. By simply counting, we have that rhythm right there in our bodies as long as we know the VALUE of the notes. And that you can teach her as well.

If she's comfortable with the notes and their values, you've given her an enormous head start. Forget about "playing pieces" ... or at least shift your emphasis. I can't tell you how much this will help her.

Repeat after me:

Slow practice makes quick progress.

If you are committed to using the metronome, if that's really your thing and you feel it's something you cannot do without, then for heaven's sake slow the darn thing down. AT LEAST half speed. At first, go so slowly that you CAN'T get it wrong. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Then, and only then, begin to GRADUALLY pick up speed.