Preschool Piano

Preschool piano
Age 3 to 5
Thursday at 11:00 and 3:30

Studies show that preschoolers who have studied keyboard score higher on spacial reasoning proportional math tests. Our preschool piano classes are one of a kind. The “Hands on Piano” method, developed by Lauren Townsend, is a visually based piano method that provides an introduction to piano lessons. This method uses pictures, stories, games and hands on materials to teach the child notes, rhythm and steady beat. In the first semester, they will work on learning 3 traditional songs at the keyboard. The child does not need to know how to read or know the alphabet to enjoy this method.
The materials are $15 and tuition is $40 per month

How much should we practice at home?

How much should we practice at home?

Do we need a piano/keyboard to take piano lessons?

Can we just try out piano for a few months and see if our child likes it?

Do we have to come to EVERY piano class?

I hear this a lot from new students and parents. The child's success and enjoyment of lessons is directly linked to the family's commitment to piano.

How much should we practice at home? Private and group students older than 6 should practice about 30 minutes a day for at least 5 days a week. However, the amount of time is not as important as the quality of time. Be sure that your child practices each song assigned in the book for that week. Make sure that if there is a written theory assignment, that it is complete. This also counts as practice time. If you child has technique and scales be sure that that is also practiced. There are more ways to practice than just by repeating a song over and over. Ask your child questions about the patterns in the music. Call out the note names together. Count or tap the rhythm. Play together as a duet keeping a steady beat. Do you see a common theme here in these suggestions? The theme is TOGETHER. The more you interact in a fun, relaxed way with your child during practice, the more they will accomplish. Simply telling your young child to go in the other room and practice until the timer goes off is usually not enough. Reward your child for practice time and progress. Use the practice log on the website to show your child the correlation between practice and progress in lessons.

Do I need a piano or keyboard at home for lessons? Absolutely. If you are planning to take lessons or group classes without an instrument you are wasting your time and money. I have some students who practice at grandma's house on her piano or at a neighbor's house for a while, but it is essential to have a quality instrument to progress. Each child needs a convenient way to practice at home. There are quality keyboards and even pianos that are affordable that you can purchase. I understand that many do not want to purchase a piano until they are sure that their child will enjoy lessons and continue. However, if you do not give your child an adequate start at piano, they most likely will not enjoy it and will not want to continue. Imagine the frustration of a child in their lessons and group classes if they cannot progress because they are unable to practice at home.

Can we try out piano for a few months and see if we like it? Over the summer I offer trial piano classes so that potential students can try out piano before signing up for the term. I encourage potential students to try out classes over the summer and come meet us at our open house before signing up. Once our term starts, we set up small group and private lessons. By reserving your child's spot in a class or private lessons, you may be prohibiting another child from joining the class. Please do not consider piano as something to "try out" for a while. If you are not committed to the idea of taking lessons, your child will pick up on that and will not place much importance on the instrument. Furthermore, as with anything, there are ups and downs. At first your child will be very excited about piano. But for all students of any medium there are frustrations, low points and busy times. To be successful at anything you have to continue to try through the times when you want to quit, when there isn't enough time for piano and when it may be difficult. I suggest committing to try piano for at least a year.

Do we have to come to EVERY piano class? For group piano attendance is ESSENTIAL. For our classes, if you miss more than 4 weeks during a semester, you will have to retake the term. When a student misses a group piano class, the class proceeds without them. New material learned and new music assigned. When the child returns to class, time must be spent "catching up" the child who missed class. This prevents the students who attended class from progressing while we catch the absent student up. The classes are successive so coming in and out of a class does not work. It is not possible to take a month off or take a semester off and return back with your previous class. It is very important that the material builds each week so please be at each class. We do have some make up options- like coming to another class at the same level. Also, if you know that you are going to miss, it is possible to video the class and make it available for download off of the website. If your child is sick or unable to attend, please try to contact me and catch up on the work missed. We cannot make up group classes with private lessons and we cannot offer refunds for class missed.

I hope this helps to answer some of the questions about our classes and lessons. We want each student to have the best opportunity for success and lifelong enjoyment of music. If you have any other questions, please contact me at imaginationsmusic@bellsouth.net

Summer piano classes for returning students

Our summer piano classes were great! For returning beginner students, we did something a little different than the normal semester's work. We chose one Mayron Cole ensemble peice to spend the summer working on. By our last class, some had it memorized and were doing a great job playing together!

We also spent time working on improvization. We played a few jazzy peices where the students were given bounderies in which they could improv at the keyboard. We learned 3 five finger positions and used these in improvization as well.

Another thing we worked on was composition. We do not get to spend a lot of time working on this during the semester but the kids enjoy it and it is a creative way to help them review their notes on the staff and to motivate them to practice. I used the key of C composition template from my book for them each to compose a right hand melody. Then we learned the root position triads for the key of C cadence chords. We learned to read them as a chord chart to go a long with our right hand melodies. The students used the giant keyboard to skip on the keyboard and find the notes of the chords. Then they moved these notes to the smaller keyboard, worked on a worksheet to read chords on the staff and learned to play the chords using correct fingering.

For rhythm practice we did some ear training where the students had to tell me what rhythms I was playing. We also did rhythm math worksheets and rhythm alegebra. We used a template from my book to compose a new song that focused on rhythm. The template had different note values which were cut apart. The students were able to choose which note on the staff and which rhythm they wanted for their peice in 4/4 time as long as they have exactly 4 beats per measure. This was also a visual and tangible way for them to comprehend the note values. The quarter notes were half as small as the half notes. The half notes were half as small as the whole notes. The dotted half notes were 3/4s the size of a whole note. Even though to the kids, this seemed like an easy activity, this worked on proportional math skills and algebra.

Some of the classes reviewed the staff note names by reading the staff stories from my book. We also drew giant staves on the blackboard and labeled all the notes by drawing the pictures of the backyard keyboard characters from my book and labelling the letter names of the notes.

For the fall semester, each beginner and intermediate piano student will have a copy of my "Hands on Piano" series. I find that many students excell by having tangible activities to help them comprehend the abstract theory concepts. My rhythm templates were a hands on way to develop spacial reasoning skills that are essential to understanding rhythmic values. The five finger position templates with the stickers allowed students to learn new notes and review old ones by placing a large sticker on a large staff. It is much easier to see lines and spaces on the staff when the staff is large and when you are physically making the notes move on the staff.

Some of the beginner classes worked on rhythm by passing a ball back and forth to quarter and half notes. This is also a very tangible and visual way to learn to keep a steady beat. The beginner classes also used the giant piano to place alphabet cards on after listening to the "Backyard Keyboard" story. This is another great way to review this concept.

July Piano classes

Our piano classes this summer will resume July 22 and July 29. This week, my level 1b students will work with their keyboards in our keyboard lab to learn how to play the accompaniment chords along with the melody they composed last time. We will also continue working on our ensemble pieces as well. We will also continue our improvisation.

The beginner classes will continue learning new rhythms, review the notes on the keyboard and inprov on the piano using the new notes they have learned.

It is still not too late to join us for summer piano! Please register online!

Have music, will travel

Does your child love music but you just can't figure out how to schedule one more activity into your already rushed and crowded afternoons? Do you want your child to be involved with music but without cutting into family time in the evenings when you get off of work?

I have good news: We travel! We have two programs that can be offered in schools and learning centers. One is the award winning ABC Music and Me program created by Kindermusik International. ABC Music & Me supports the early childhood standards and requirements for “high quality programs” as defined by the National Institute for Early Education and aligns with pre-K national and state standards. ABC Music & Me has won the Teacher's Choice Award and was a finalist for the AEP Golden Lamp Award. We offer this class in schools as a breakout program for the 2 to 4 and 4 to 6 year old ages. We bring in everything we need and teach the class during the school day. This means no driving through traffic to one of our studio locations, no scheduling around soccer games, sibling illnesses and after school birthday parties. Many parents find this alternative to be very convenient as well as cost effective.

Our other program is preschool piano classes or lessons. We offer a unique, fun introduction class geared for preschoolers. We also offer piano lessons in the school setting as well. All the parent has to do is send the child's piano materials with him to school on the day of class. No driving, no waiting, no scheduling problems.

If you are interested in one of our classes being offered at your child's learning center or school, please visit our class survey to help us get in touch with your child's learning center and to help us learn what your interest is.

We also offer classes in Pelham at the Cherubs Clubhouse as well as private lessons for Bruno Montessori Academy students, and afternoon private lessons in our Inverness and 280 studios. We also have morning classes and lesson times available for homeschooled students. Call 437-3478 for more information!

Hands on Piano

My piano activity materials and storybooks are almost finished. This summer, I have been writing a series of books for parents or teachers to use in teaching music to children. Over the past ten years, I have had success in piano lessons using unique stories, hands on manipulates, and mathematical explanations. My "Hands on Piano" activity books will provide private lessons teachers, teachers of piano classes and parents with templates, worksheets and storybooks to inspire an interest in piano and reinforce theory concepts.

My students this summer have been previewing the new materials in their lessons and classes. One activity that has been a hit has been the composition templates. I created templates to teach children how to compose basic melodies and add simple harmony. Children love to compose and improvise at the piano. My beginners have composed simple songs using 3 notes at the piano that they have just learned. This gives them practice in finding and playing the new notes. My continuing students have been using one of my templates and composing music on the staff. This has also helped them to review their musical notation as well as giving them a creative outlet. So far, they have composed a four measure melody within certain boundaries. In a few weeks, they will use my newly created chord templates to add the harmony. When we are finished, we will make recordings of their songs to post on the website!! They are very excited and motivated about recording their own music.

So many times in theory we focus on naming notes on the staff. This is very important because when we sightread new music, we need to quickly recognize the notes on the staff. Children can also benefit from doing the opposite. Instead of naming the notes on the staff, composition projects and music manipulatives help the children to review their notes in a different, more creative way.

Summer piano classes

Our summer piano term is halfway over! We will have 2 more classes, July 22 and July 29. You may join us at any time. Check the https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com for a complete schedule.

Our summer classes and lessons have been going great! I have seen at least 20 new students over then summer as well as many returning students. Our summer classes have been using my new piano activity method, "Hands on Piano." All students will be using this method along with their current method books in the fall. The piano activity method has provided us with crafts, hands on activities and stories to help the students learn and review concepts.

My returning piano students have been working with my piano activity method to compose their own music and to develop improvisation skills in piano classes. They are also working with their Mayron Cole Method to perfect an ensemble piece to play together in a mini-recital at the end of the summer.

There is still time to join our classes for the summer! There is limited space for the fall so be sure to call soon. 437-3478

Demo Days

July 8, The Imaginations Music Studio is participating in Demo Days – a campaign in which more than 5,000 licensed Kindermusik educators are invited to conduct free class demonstrations for families around the world.

Kindermusik International www.kindermusik.com is the world’s leading publisher of music and movement curricula and products for parents and their children ages newborn to seven years old. Kindermusik educators provide tips that parents can take home from each class to help make great parenting easier in their daily routine.

Ninety-nine percent (99%) of Kindermusik parents would recommend it to other parents according to a Harris Interactive Online Study in November 2005

Demo Days will be offered in Pelham at the Cherubs Clubhouse on July 8 at 9:30 for 0 to 18 month olds and 10:00 for 18 months to 4 year olds. Parents should reserve their spot by calling Lauren Townsend in advance. The Kindermusik class schedule will begin July 15. Classes are open to everybody and registrations are accepted through July 15.
Register for Kindermusik on my website, www.imaginationsmusic.com

How young do you start piano?

This is a question I hear a lot.

I personally think that there is little value to starting private piano lesson earlier than Kindergarten or first grade. Fine motor skills and attention span need to be developed before piano lessons can be successful. HOWEVER, due to interest in younger piano study, I have developed introduction classes for kids as young as 3. In these classes we sing, move, learn basic rhythmic notation and learn the notes on the piano. We even play very simple songs. These classes are relaxed, fun without the pressure for performance. Children who begin piano with this introduction will be ready for group classes or private lessons when they start Kindergarten. I also offer Kindermusik for kids 0 to 7. Kindermusik is a wonderful introduction to ANY instrument.

Over the summer, we will be holding a series of trial classes at the Cherubs Clubhouse for kids 3 and up to try piano classes before signing up for an entire term. Our classes will be held June 17, June 24, July 22 and July 29. A full schedule is listed at https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com. No materials are required for these classes. No piano at home is required for the summer course. 30 minute classes are $10.00 per class and 45 minute classes are $15.00. You can come to as little as one class. Classes are not successive, so feel free to join us at any time!

In our classes we will learn the basics about the piano, improv our own songs, compose our own songs, and play simple songs. Come try out a class and join us for our fall semester!

Competition Ensemble

In February, 2011, students from our studio will be given the opportunity to participate in the AFMC festival piano competition. For this competition, students play 2 pieces of music from memory before 2 judges who are piano teachers from the Birmingham area. The teacher's will comment on the students performance and give them a score. Students are scored based on age, length of study and level. Students have the opportunity to earn a gold cup trophy after several years of superior performance. Each student who participates gets a certificate as well.

This is a great opportunity for kids to challenge themselves, receive feedback from another teacher, and to be rewarded for hard work. Only students who have earned a total of 325 points by October 1 will be able to begin work towards the competition if they are interested. Students who have at least one year of experience are eligible.

I have been adding up points from lessons and classes. In classes, points have been given as a group for participation and cooperation. For lessons and classes, points are given for participation in the practice marathons, recital performance, as well as for each minute of practice recorded. Class attendance, class projects, composer reports, compositions and completion of books also earn points.

Our classes have also been competing with each other. Points are given for each class activity. The more they prepare for class at home and the more the cooperate during class, the more activities we are able to complete. It was close, but we have a class winner. The winning class will have a treat in class this week. Each individual from the winning class will also receive individual points for being a part of the winning class.

How much should we practice at home?

As we are approaching recital this is an important question that pops up. With our recital one week away, everyone should be practicing for it daily. At the very least, 2 repetitions of your piece from memory daily should be the minimum. And don't forget that most students also have other music to work on as well. Next week we will pick up with the other music that we have been working on.

However, if you have been practicing all along, this week should be just like any other week. It is much better to learn your piece for performance far in advance than a few weeks before recital. Kids older than Kindergarten should shoot for 30 minutes of practice a day for 5 days a week. The more advanced the student is, the more practice is required. With the advance of each level of piano study, comes the necessity of more practice.

Log your practice time on the website to keep tabs of how much practice is happening and when are your best and worst practice times. Keep notes on the website as to what and how you are practicing, and notate any questions you might have. I see this in between lessons and it can help me to better prepare for your lesson or class each week.

Scavenger hunt

Today in our piano classes we had scavenger hunts to practice our recital pieces and our notes on the staff.

We used the scarvenger hunt to work on 3 practice strategies for rectial in my older classes. The younger classes worked on note naming.

1. 'Start-stop' practice. For stop-start practice, have the child stop during the piece, put their hands in their lap, and then start back from that point and continue on. This works to help them to keep moving forward in their music if they happen to mess up. We always want to move forward in the performance, never go back and correct a mistake. We also worked on starting in the middle of the music. Have them start at different sections in the music to show how the music can be divided up into parts. If they get flustered on recital, they can simply start at the beginning of the next part instead of going back to the beginning. Try not to ever go back to the beginning of the music.

2. Play with your eyes closed/play on the big piano. Playing with your eyes closed is not only a fun way to repeat your peice, but it helps improve muscle memory. Playing on the big piano does the opposite. Playing on the big keyboard takes the focus off of the fingers and puts it on the notes. Ways to do this at home would include just saying the note names, or looking through the music to see how everything fits together.

3. Distraction game: little brothers and sisters are great at this game. The object of the game is to finish the piece no matter what. Sometimes for this game, I will have the student play through the peice. I will cough, rustle papers, walk around or do other distracting movements. If they can finish the peice without falling apart they get the point. However, this should be fun. If this is NOT fun for your child, and is actually stressful, do not do it. Usually the kids love this game. The point of the game is that no matter what is going on around you, keep your focus. Even if you mess up, you still get the point if you finish.

Next week, we will be doing a recorded recital practice and a recital peice puzzle.

Summer lessons

Summer is a busy time for most families! We are going to have several flexible options over the summer.

For the returning students, we have three options. We will be having jazz improvization classes at the Cherubs Clubhouse, private lessons in Inverness, and piano camp at the Cherubs Clubhouse. This summer, we will be focusing on Jazz and improvisation skills to rekindle an interest in piano, work on theory and have fun. We will also review the previous material that we have covered. It is important that we do not forget what was learned over the school year. You can choose which events and which weeks you want to attend on the piano website, https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com/login, after you log in. The list of available classes and lessons will be on your personal home page as well as on the calendar. Summer is ala carte! You decide how many classes or lessons you want to attend and claim your spot in those classes online. You can do lessons, classes, camp or even a mixture of all three!

For new students, we will have 4 classes and/or piano camp. For the classes, you choose which classes you know you will be in town for. This way, over the summer, you aren't paying for classes that you are unable to attend. The classes will provide a fun introduction to piano to get them ready for weekly classes starting at the end of August. The schedule is listed on my main website,http://imaginationsmusic.com/summercamps.aspx. You can click the link to register there.

New website

My new website for my piano students is https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com/. If you have not yet visited the site, go try it out and let me know what you think! I set it up not only to make billing easier, but to increase parent-teacher-student communication between lessons. This helps you to get the most value for your lessons,

From the main website, you see several options available before you sign in. One is "practice resources." Under practice resources, I have a list of free theory games that you can find on the Internet as well as other resources. Another option is "photos" where I have photos posted from some of my classes. There is also a link to this blog, where I will often write articles pertaining to piano study, performance and practice.

If you click on the log in button, this page appears, https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com/login. Enter in the user name and password you should have received by email. Please let me know if you need me to resend your password. Some of my older students also have a user name as well as the parents. If the student is old enough to have an email address, they will also receive their lesson notes via email and be able to log in to have limited access to the site. Every email that the child receives, the parent also receives.

Once you log in, you will be on your own personal home page. Here there are several options. First you will see a listing of upcoming events that you are either registered for, or that are available for you to register for. You can click to choose your summer classes or lessons either here, or in a calendar view. If you are ever curious as to how many lessons you have left, or when classes are over, you can see it listed on your home page.

Under the "home" tab, there is a section called "file area." here you can download info about recital, studio policies, and other PDFs. If you child has had a lesson recorded, you can download it here as well.

Under "lesson" you can see your lesson history and some of the music your child has been working on. If you child has been taking for a few years, you can look here to see the progression through the literature. This is where you can track progress!

Under "practice" you can go in to log your practice time as well as what you practice. This helps me to know what to expect before I come to your child's lesson. I can view the practice time in between lessons so that I will have an idea of how much your child is working. This will help to save lesson time as well as help to make you aware of areas for improvement.

Under billing, you can check your account or even make a payment. Online payments will incur a $2.00 processing fee due to credit card fees. You also still have the option to pay by check or in cash. However, if your tuition is past due, I will require online payment. Starting in the fall, automatic invoicing will be set up through this site so that you will receive an invoice on the same day of each month. You then can choose to pay it online or in person. If you child has his own log in, they cannot access the billing area.

Please let me know what you think about the site. Try it out, and use it to help you get the most out of lessons each week. Let me know if you have any ideas for improvement or any questions. Also, be sure to tune into my blog. I often feel that I do not get to communicate enough with the parents, and so I tend to blog a lot! I have split my former blog up and now I am using this blog address only for piano and my other blog (http://imaginationsmusic.blogspot.com/) only for Kindermusik.

Frustrated?!?!

A former professor at Samford, Tracy Wiggins, once said something in a seminar that I always remembered.

I know I can't quote him exactly, but the main gist of the information made an impression. He said that if you are passionate about the music you are making and about the instrument that you play, then from time to time you will experience frustration in practice and in your lessons. This is normal from time to time and is not a sign that your child you take a break from lessons, but rather a sign that your child is intensely interested in playing to the best of his or her ability and that is a wonderful thing!

We are very close to recital time and working hard to be ready. If you child become frustrated during practice, there are several things you can do. Be sure to practice slowly, and bit by bit. Sometimes a new piece of music can be intimidating. As a teacher, I will never assign a piece of music that I know a child cannot learn at his or her level. I try to work very hard to be sure that each student is prepared for the next concept before moving on.

Some of the tactics I employ are to break the pieces down into the smallest elements. For beginning private lessons students, we might first simply sing the words together (if there are words). We would then tap or clap the rhythm. We might also go through the whole piece and say the letter names of the notes as we go. We discuss any new elements that are introduced in the music.

In classes, we introduce a new piece of music as a game. We use a board game. Each student rolls the dice and plays a short portion of the piece. This breaks it in to bite sizes pieces. The students learn from hearing their friend play the piece.

For more advanced students, we begin by listening to the piece and talking about it. We would discuss the key signature and important theoretical elements of the music. Then we would start slowly hands apart. We work short segments at a time and only move to hands together when we are ready. When we start to put hands together, we must be at the point where hands apart is very steady and rhythmically accurate. When we put hands apart, we analyze how the parts fit together.

For beginner and advanced student an important aspect of learning a new piece of music is to start by recognizing patterns. Find portions of the music that repeat. Composers are all about recycling! Usually short parts of the music are used many times. This makes it easier to learn!

If you hit a brick wall with practicing, try a new tactic. Work on theory sheets. Or visit my practice resources page for online theory games that are fun. https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com/resources/ Another idea is to allow your child to compose his own piece. We will work on improv and composition in our summer classes. Children are naturals at this and it helps relieve some of the tension!!

Starting the Staff!

My EZkeys class is having an introduction to the staff! All the preparation we did in the EZKeys book has really paid off. We spent 3 months learning the notes on the piano, learning to read in rhythm and playing simple songs. Now that we have started to introduce notes on the staff, they are really catching on! Its looks like this student is posing for Vogue magazine, but he is really showing me what a space note looks like in our class. We spent time identifying line and space notes on the staff this week and the previous week. It is sometime difficult for children to understand that the line has a line going through the center of the note- like putting a string through the center of a bead. The space note sits in between the 2 lines- like a little boy looking though a pane less window. There is a line on top of and under the space note.

We used a hands on manipulative to move a whole note on the staff. We learned about "Middle cat" who lives in between Mrs. Treble clef and Mr. Bass clefs house. We played a song on the keyboard to demonstrate how the "cat" can visit either house. We then talked about "Mr. Bass Clef" having a favorite pet frog who lives on the line that goes in between the two dots. He also has a little girl who is looking out her window on the next space up. Then we talked about a boy, who climbed up on the roof of the house- which would be space note B that sits on the very top of the staff. That boy ate an apple and threw it on the roof. It rolled down the roof and got stuck in the gutter which is the line that the note A is on.

After our work with the manipulative, we reviewed our new notes using a computer music game. If you were outside, you probably thought there was a party going on with all the laughing, cheering and letter names being shouted out! They love that game!

Summer Jazz Classes

For our summer term, we will break from the norm! Leave your books at home because we are working on our improvisation skills and composition! This is a great way to spark a new interest in piano over the summer. So many times, when children do not take at all over the summer, their interest wanes and so does their technique. This summer, we are going to spice things up a bit by using a Jazz method that I have in my studio library. No materials are required for this refresher course, you can use mine! And beginners are welcome as well. In our beginner class, we will learn the names of the notes on the piano and begin rhythmic notation as we use a beginners natural instinct at the piano- improvisation and exploration. Returning students will build on their current knowledge of music theory to step out of the box and develop their own creations. Sign up and schedule is on my piano website: https://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com

For more information about improvisation visit: http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/boosting-your-creative-energy/

When should we start piano lessons?

Being a piano teacher, I hear this question a lot. Children may begin to show an interest in the piano at a very early age. So many activities for children are starting younger and younger. Preschoolers are now reading before they enter Kindergarten. Two year old girls dressed up like ballerinas are attending dance classes. Soccer and t-ball starts at three.

So if your toddler begins to show an interest in piano, its time to sign them up right? We wouldn't want to miss that window of opportunity when they are interested, right? There are many activities than can be started at a very young age, however, I believe that piano is not one of them.

There are so many aspects of development that need to be in place before formal piano study begins. There is no harm in waiting to start piano. Most children are not at a disadvantage for starting as late as first or second grade. In fact, I believe that in many cases, starting to early can lead to burn out and frustration from slow progression. In order for piano lessons to be successful, it is important that the child has the attention span to sit through a 30 minute lesson or class. They will also need to be disciplined enough to practice at home as well. They also need to be able to follow multi-step directions whether by listening to verbal instruction or by reading symbols. In piano, we start by learning the letter names of the notes of the keys. It is important that they already know their alphabet and their numbers for this. I also prefer that the child has at least begun to read.

Also, an important aspect to remember is that even though sometimes the cognitive signs of readiness are there, and the interest in piano may be there, the physical readiness may not yet be developed. Fine motor skills are important before beginning lessons or classes. The children need to be able to play independent fingers of their hands. Use of the non-dominant hand must also be developed. If these aspects are not present, practice will be difficult.

If you child is interested in music, but not quite ready for formal piano lessons or classes, we have a few options. I highly suggest starting with a Kindermusik class. You can find more information about our Kindermusik classes here, http://imaginationsmusic.com. Kindermusik nurtures a love for music, develops fine motor skills, and prepares the child for a classroom learning environment. We also offer music for Little Mozarts which is a pre-piano class for preschoolers. In this class, we learn the names of the notes on the keyboard, learn to read very simple rhythmic notation, and play VERY simple songs to prepare for piano lessons without pushing the child too hard. If your child is younger than Kindergarten age, I require that they take Music for Little Mozarts before beginning my EZKeys piano class.

EZKeys piano class is for Kindergarteners. The method is written so that the child does not need to be a proficient reader to complete the written work. This class is longer in length than the Music for Little Mozarts and is more in depth. More information about this class, as well as my other piano classes can be found here, http://imaginationsmusic.musicteachershelper.com