Click here for the FREE EBOOK, a good place to start reading about children and piano.

".....but why use numbers to teach beginning piano? What is there about conventional music notation (sheet music) that so confuses almost everyone, and specifically children? The answer is that numbers are understood by everyone."

Click here to read the NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES, including lots of valuable information from piano teachers and parents from various sources.

Click here to read the introduction to TEACH YOURSELF PIANO, an excellent guide to important self-teaching points.

"........Pleasure in playing music comes from continuity, and continuity comes from familiarity. You need to allow yourself to thoroughly grasp the physical movements involved, and to do this you need to absorb each step to the point where it becomes almost  automatic."

Click here to read the introduction to EASY CLASSICAL PIANO BY NUMBER.

"........Musicians play music which is memorized, as well as reading through “literature” (sheet music) for work or pleasure. Sheet music is not the be-all and end-all of the musical art: sound, perception and pleasure are the essence of music, and it doesn’t matter much how you achieve it, from the printed page or elsewhere."

Click here to read ARTICLES FROM NEWSWEEK and other periodicals regarding children and piano study. 

"...Last year Shaw compared three groups of second graders: 26 kids got piano lessons plus practice with a math video game, 29 received extra English lessons plus the math game, and 28 got no special lessons. After four months the piano kids scored 15 percent to 41 percent higher on a test of ratios and fractions than the other kids."

Click here to read an INTERVIEW with the author of PIANO IS EASY.

".....My philosophy of music teaching is to provide an environment in which the student cannot fail. Too many teachers have a rigid program which the student, usually a child, must master or risk disapproval."

Click here to read the essay, HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD READ MUSIC?

".....Conventional piano methods make most children resentful, frustrated and turned off to the instrument, for one simple reason: conventional methods do not let children make music right away. Instead, piano lessons done in the conventional manner take on the character of a dull lecture, poisoning the atmosphere for learning."

Click here to read the entire tutorial HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ MUSIC

"......In fact, one of the main reasons that most conventional piano methods are a failure for children is because these methods move too quickly into naming notes and assigning fingers. Before you name notes and assign fingers, make absolutely sure that the child can find the VISUAL relationship between the notes on the page and the keys on the piano."

".....It is one thing for a child to recite vocally numbers as high as they can, but quite another to recognize the symbols for each number. Many preschool children can play any numbered piano key you say to them, but have difficulty playing numbers (or any symbols, for that matter)  that they find on the page."

NEW! Click here to read the essay A CHILD'S POINT OF VIEW

".......It is important for the parent or teacher to never, ever, allow the child to feel like a failure at playing. What is important is how the child feels about the piano lessons, not how the teacher evaluates the child's progress in their piano book."

NEW! Click here to read the essay WHEN IS LEARNING FINGERING NECESSARY?

"......Fingering is the process wherein a child is asked to use a certain finger for a certain piano note. The indications for fingers are a prominent part of most piano books, and children are known to constantly disregard them."

NEW! Click here to read the essay DON'T CALL IT PRACTICE, CALL IT PLAY

".......You get them to play because it’s so much fun that they do it themselves. There is no “practicing.” You don’t have to tell them to practice. These kids play the piano as if it were a toy, a treasured toy they like to spend time with, until they’re done with it, and then off to another happy activity."