Need Advice Please

[skipdogchip]

My 4 year old daughter has decided she wants to learn piano.  My knowledge is very limited.  Several weeks ago, after some serious research, I bought her a Yamaha YPG-625.  I have researched software that instructs pre-school children and have narrowed my choices to, "Piano Wizard" and "Soft Mozart."  I honestly feel she is not ready for private lessons, perhaps when she is a little older.  Please let me know your opinion on which software I should purchase.
Thank you all for your help,
Skipdogchip

[amanfang]

Maybe I'm just skeptical of software, though I haven't tried any that you mentioned.  Why not find her a teacher who specializes in pre-school children? 

Or perhaps find general music classes like Kindermusik.  In many cases I have found that the kids who have spent some time in Kindermusik end up progressing much more quickly than those who haven't.  Especially for a 4 yr old, this would be a fun way to experience music without having to have them sit and down and practice every day.  Many concepts that she would learn in piano later would already sort of be in place and make them more natural to learn and master.

FJH has a series of piano books written by Randy and Nancy Faber called "My First Piano Adventure."  It is targeted for 5-6 yr olds, but I wouldn't be opposed to teaching it to the right 4-yr old, and even for some 7 yr olds. 

[skipdogchip]

Thank you.
  My daughter is currently enrolled in Kindermusik through the North Carolina School of the Arts.  Time and schedule constraints make private lessons or group lessons, at this time, not possible.  This is why I'm looking for an alternative method of learning/teaching.  Software seems to be the best option at this time.  Any suggestions on which I should choose?
Thanks,
Skippy

[amanfang]

Ask your daughter's KM teacher what she thinks.  My beef with software is that there is no one there to help.  It maybe ok for learning a few fundamentals, but there is a lot of possibilities for bad habits to develop.

That said, I don't know much about the software.  One of the developers of soft mozart was on the forum a while ago and got very negative response, only because she was spamming the forum with all sorts of advertising.  I'm sure if you search soft mozart in the forum's search engine you'll find it. 

[skipdogchip]

Amanfang,
  You read minds.  My daughter's teacher personally knows the developer of "The Piano Wizard" software and has worked with him in the past.  She has had no "hands on" with the software though.  Perhaps I should let her be a kid and see if her interest grows.  We do have "Alfred's Basic Piano Prep Course for the Young Beginner Lesson Book Level A" and the "Theory Book."  We sat last night and learned together.  Maybe 15-20 minutes.  As we progress and if she seems to have a genuine interest to learn then I feel we will need to get professional help.  Comments?
Thanks again,
Skip

[amanfang]

Sent you a PM.

[anna_crusis]

You can't learn music from a machine. Even if it worked, you'd just end up playing like a machine.

I've always believed music software is a marketing device, not a teaching device. It's designed to snare unwary people looking for shortcuts.

[loops]

You can't learn music from a machine. Even if it worked, you'd just end up playing like a machine.

I've always believed music software is a marketing device, not a teaching device. It's designed to snare unwary people looking for shortcuts.

That's a little harsh isn't it? There are people living in remote situations or for lots of other reasons have no access to appropriate quality private tuition. And since kids are so computer savvy these days, it can make alot more sense than a book read/played to them by a caring but unskilled parent, at least you get to hear professional playing. There's no suggestion of this being the only long term possible access to learning is there? It seems to be an interim until private lessons are value ie the child is old enough to learn from them.

Isn't the whole point to have fun learning something? does a computer preclude that? I see how much fun kids have with Dora the Explorer CDs and such, I assume there is a musical equivalent.