Bonnyeclaire (age 2-1/2 years) Had a Piano Lesson Tonight
Tonight, I closed the door to Elijah's room, as he drifted off to sleep. Then, I looked for Bonnyeclaire in her room where she waits for me to get her ready for bed, too. She wasn't in her room, but I saw her downstairs out of the corner of my eye, sitting at the piano, headphones around her neck, navigating her way around the touch screen and plunking away on the keys.
She's Showing Interest
She saw that I noticed her and exclaimed, "I'm playing piano, Mommy!" When I came down to retrieve her, she was very happy and awake and wanted a piano book – she likes to pretend she's playing the music. She enthusiastically hopped down to pick one up that had fallen to the floor under the piano. It was Elijah's 'Music for Little Mozarts' book that I used with him when he was 3.
No Time Like The Present
I thought she might enjoy listening to the stories and songs on the accompanying CD while looking at some of the cute illustrations in the Lesson Book. She actually let me play the example on the first song, and held up her hands as I showed her which hand was left and which hand was right. She wiggled her fingers high in the air as the story said the finger number for each finger. She was LOVING it!!
More, Please!
She turned the page, the CD played the example of the song, then a variation of the same song for the student to play along with. She turned to the next page, and the next page … She would say, "now, again," when it was getting ready to play the variations.
She let me play each time, without pushing me out of the way, as she plunked along, too! Soon, we had gone through the WHOLE BOOK!! (It only took about 20 minutes.) She took the book upstairs with her to "read" before bed and said, "I want to play piano tomorrow, too!" Sweet music to my ears!
Not The Usual "Lesson Plan"
I don't usually go through an entire lesson book with a student in one sitting, but this was a good way to expose her to many musical concepts – low sounds, high sounds, left hand, right hand, 2 and 3 black key groups, A-B-C-D-E, counting, fast songs, slow songs, loud songs, soft songs, etc…
'Music For Little Mozarts' Really Captivates and Awakens Musical Enthusiasm
I highly recommend this series of piano method books for toddlers and pre-schoolers. I may do what we did tonight each day, for a while, and see how the experience changes for her, and watch her try new things with her fingers along the way.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.