Preparation
What to know prior to watching the student video:
During Preliminary Lesson 1, the student will be asked to open up the piano and look inside. This is a means for them to discover how the piano makes sound.
The lesson will likely go better if you are prepared to know how to open the piano and look inside. Maybe a flashlight would be useful if you have an upright piano. If you do not have a piano that allows you to do this (like an electronic keyboard), I highly recommend preparing for an outing to a music shop or local church where the student can easily see inside a piano.
After Lesson 1:
Please be your child’s gracious accountability partner. Some children will thrive at the piano and need very little help. Others will resist the piano. Please provide for your children a means of greatest success. Give them the opportunity for the musical gateway to be opened and experienced. It’s a blessing! The most important role a parent or piano mentor can take is to patiently and graciously hold their child accountable to being at the piano for a few minutes almost every day.
Don’t hesitate to sit at the piano with your student during the week, asking them to identify low, middle and high sounds.
Also, if you need additional music to practice marching to, there are many audio recordings in the post “What are the Titles of Each Recording” or “Recordings from Farm Scenes by Dr. Walter Carroll”
Finally, be very careful about the words you use as your help teach your child. Try to use the same terminology used in these video lessons. Mrs. Curwen chooses her words very carefully. For example, we talk about the “pitch” or the “sound” on the piano. We don’t call them “notes” because a musical instrument makes sounds and those sounds have names. Mrs. Curwen is also avoiding using terms that the child hasn’t been taught yet. Depending on your own musical training, you may find yourself using terms that I have not yet taught. So please be mindful.
Lesson 1 Homework
- Tell a parent or piano mentor about the lesson. Narrate what you (the student) learned about pitch, clapping to music, and touching the keys.
- Touch a few of the keys every day. Think about the pitch of the sounds and what is happening inside the piano.
- Find out anything you can about other musical instruments. Talk with other musicians.
- Listen to music and march or clap to the music.
Student Video