I recently found out that a friend of mine is an accomplished flutist who has always secretly wanted to learn to play the piano. I have 15 yrs of piano lessons under my belt and have always wanted to learn to play the flute. We've decided to give each other lessons, but I am not sure how to start her off. Obviously, she can read music (at least treble clef) but has years of training in reading only one melody line - she said that when she tried to learn piano before, the whole concept of the bass clef and left hand had her baffled. Are there any books, etc. that might be good in this situation? - she doesn't need to start with the basics of note reading, etc. but does need help reading bass clef and learning to coordinate both hands. Thanks!

Lisa

She should relate the notes of the bass key directly to the keys on the keyboard.

She mustn't go through a process of "intellectualizing" the notes : they only are a code for the location of physical keys which produce a certain sound.

She will be pleased that she can play such a wide range after the flute.

The scales and arpeggios will help her relate to the keys. Those are what really will matter to her.

Then the reading will become a "physical" act and not a mental one.

Start with a simple song that she loves and write it in different keys (C,G,D,A,E,B,F,Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb).

Write very simple arpeggios and chords to get used to producing harmony in a very simple progressive way.

She will concentrate on the connection between hearing and touch and forget about the problem of treble and bass key.

Good luck and congratulation for your friendly exchange.

Have her play melodies that she already knows on flute on the piano in the bass clef. Very fast way to get her reading that clef.

Rob,

Such an excellent idea.

Our brain can be such a good tool.

True,it can be a weapon of mass destruction too.