Ideas to teach my 3 year old son?

[littleredhen]

Hi everyone,

I am a Grade 7 pianist, and did Grade 7 when I was about 18. 20 years on I have barely touched a piano but have recently been fortunate to receive a lovely piano so have restarted on my Beethoven Sonatas and other classics. I am absolutely loving it!

I have a 4 n half year old daughter and a 3 year old son. My daughter occassionally plays the piano but just bangs the keys down like you would expect. I am trying to teach her fingering, just C Major 1-2-3-4-5-3-1 and to be a bit more controlled but she loses interest within 10 seconds and goes to play somewhere else. Fair enough. But it's my little boy, he's only 3 and I think far too young to teach as he can't even talk properly! But he plays with real care, as though he is working it out. He also copies me, by putting his fingers under and over each other, ie say right hand thumb (1) on middle C he puts his third finger over the top to land on B below C.

He goes on the piano at every available opportunity and if i sit down to play he tells me it's 'his turn' which I believe is that he wants me to tell him how to play like me. So what can I do to give him something he will enjoy and start building a foundation? Where do I even start?

I promise you I'm not one of these mothers who buys a piano and wants her kids to start playing when they're a week old. My daughter is more interested in dancing and her friend down the road which is fine, but my little boy is really really keen and I just want to help him. He might lose interest which is fine, I just want him to be happy really and he will probably enjoy it a lot more if he can make more than just a noise and start working it out. I don't want to send him to lessons as I think it's a waste of time and also it's a bit more structured which might ruin it for him.

Does anyone have any ideas of where to start? Hubbie has suggested I play a simple tune and see if he can copy me. It might be a start.

Many thanks.

[mcdiddy1]

Try using a method book that has colorful pictures, involves fun stories and characters, and talks about piano technique in an imaginative way. One popular series is the Faber series and they have  another method book called Music for Little Mozart . This website is a great resource of how to use the Faber series to teach young students -https://pianoadventures.com/guide/contents.html

Hope it helps.

[keypeg]

This may seem wild, but isn't this little boy already learning, and isn't what is happening already on track?  Just reading what's being described.  Must there be a book and a method?   

[coffee_guy]

i highly recommed you just modeling for him at this point until he is a little bit more devloped mentally and phyically. Play things melodic and slow, let him watch your hands. Take his hands and help him press the keys you want him to play, and then allow him a small amount of time to experiment on the piano. For children that young, getting them interested and devloping their ear for music is a great start.

[fleetfingers]

I agree with your hubby that teaching him tunes is a great idea. My daughter, barely four, sounds like yours: her attention span is very short. But, I've still been able to teach her to play folk songs by rote. Each "lesson" is usually about five minutes, sometimes less. Little by little, she has learned to play some things. It's not true that young ones can't learn or aren't ready. You just have to move at a slower pace and do things a little differently.

Your son seems interested, and I think he would respond well to teaching. You could start by doing copycat games. Tell him that it's Mommy's turn and he has to listen. Then, it is his turn and he has to copy what you played. Start with rhythms on the black keys, then progress to teaching a song, note by note.

Personally, I would only do the teaching if he is receptive to it. As was mentioned, by exploring on his own, he is already learning. And that may be all he wants to do right now. But some 3-year-olds want to be taught, and you might as well try teaching him. You never know.

[mcdiddy1]

This may seem wild, but isn't this little boy already learning, and isn't what is happening already on track?  Just reading what's being described.  Must there be a book and a method?   

I think the quality of teaching is more important than a method book. But for someone who is looking for a more structured approach and does not have the music teaching background then it could be be a benefit. I am think more of the activities of that are involved. Kids like to draw, explore, play, and read stories. The method books I mention have many coloring activities that are musically based , includes child-like characters and entertaining stories, provide activties where students can explore the keyboard and improvise, and cds to listen to and dance to the music. They delay notation depending on which one you get and are more focused on letting students explore musical concepts like feeling a steady beat and playing the piano without the rigidity of a typical "method" book.  Of course any method book can be misused but there is a great deal of potential in them.

[lukebar]

I echo the sentiments of previous posts in warning of trying anything too structured with a 3 year old. At 3, they should be listening to lots of music, singing, moving to music, and exploring the piano on their own terms. It's fine to 'teach' them things at the keyboard, but WITHOUT any expectation. In other words, demonstrate a good hand position, but don't say that theirs is wrong. Continually model what you hope for them to eventually do, but without expectation of them doing it right now. Play for them little songs they can sing or try to play, but when they go off track and start doing their own thing, let them. 3 is a wonderful age at which music exists without rights or wrongs.

I've personally witnessed first hand the great benefits of starting children at the piano at a very young age. I've also seen kids grow quickly to hate music all together. For the next couple of years, keep singing, dancing and playing.  And continue to teach, but without expectations.

[cjp_piano]

Don't worry about method books and "teaching" with a 3 year old, just experiment! This is what they are good at! Just sit there with him and make sounds imitating rain, a lion, etc. Get his imagination going, don't worry about correct technique or fingering or anything.

I know this may go against traditional teaching, but you don't want to suppress his musicianship.

[oxy60]

It's almost the right moment. You're on the right track. At three I was tooting on a whistle with eight holes and starting to play tunes. At four I received two clarinets with two different systems in two different keys. With only a fingering chart I started to play. However at five I was fascinated with piano because it was a fuller sound. At sixteen I was a paid church organist and choirmaster.

Just keep doing what you are doing and let him play. (Also a good time for him to learn how to share.)

Before you know it he will be playing real music.

[mcdiddy1]

I agree with past post. It is better to create a musical environment that is fun, experimental and cultivating an interest in music and expression.

[go12_3]

A bit too young in my opinion....hardly enough attention span.  Although  a 3 year old can
capture the essence of basic rhythm, but it's best not to push him into lessons or he'll
never want to learn to play notes.  I've watched parents pushing their little ones into
violin playing so young in the hopes that they will be a great musician, but then
eventually the music becomes more mechanical.   When the child is old enough to understand and desire to play an instrument.  Desire, attention and interest will keep a child learning.