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Introduction to the Piano By Number Method
The Piano By Number Method is an attitude toward children. And it is also a set of specific steps you can take to interest a child in the piano. It was created by a group of piano teachers in response to the repeated frustration that kids experience in conventional piano lessons.
The attitude of Piano By Number is nurturing, patient and humorous. We believe that there is a missing step in piano curriculum. This missing step leads to disappointment and failure on the part of 90% of the children using conventional methods.
Piano Is Easy
Explore The Piano Without Reading Music
This missing step is allowing the child to explore the piano without reference to reading music. This means that certain aspects of learning the piano are deferred. This gives the child time to gain a firm grasp on the physical and visual aspect of playing the piano. It's far easier to teach a child to read music if they are already playing dozens of songs.
They have learned fingering from numbers and a basic acquaintance with chords. The truth is that a child old enough to start piano lessons at age 4-7 is still developing the two hemispheres of their brain. Piano lessons develop the connection between them, the corpus callosum,
This alone accounts for the difficulty kids have with reading music. This lack of brain development is exactly what conventional piano teachers ignore.
Kids Accept Numbers Immediately
Numbering the piano keys allows the child immediate access to the world of the piano. They enter on a childish level appropriate for their brain development. Do you ask your 5 year old to solve quadratic equations? Do you insist they be familiar with thermodynamics or read Wittgenstein?
It would be nice if they did. But we as parents know that they inhabit a world far simpler than these disciplines. Piano by Number fits actual children more than any conventional piano method we have seen.
Try A Song With Numbers
Same Goal As Conventional Lessons, By A Different Route
Our goal is exactly the same as conventional piano teachers. We want to turn out a student who is musically literate, able to read music and enjoy the piano for themselves. The conventional piano methods have utterly failed in these goals.
But, using Piano by Number, kids are able to explore any music that interests them. Using these familiar and favorite songs, kids are taught exactly the same principles learned in a conventional piano lesson.
The Transparent Piano Method
Some have called our method the "transparent" method, or the "backwards" method. It is "transparent" in that the teacher strives does not shove complex curriculum at the child. The teacher is a guide rather than a master. It is "backwards" in that reading music is taught last, not first.
We wait until the child is fully engaged with their new toy, the piano. There is nothing to unlearn with Piano by Number. Did you have to "unlearn" how to ride your first bike with training wheels? No, you just had Dad take them off. You forgot about them and were free of them.
Piano By Number Is Temporary
It is the same with Piano by Number. It's a temporary system that will be discarded later. We wait until the child is ready and able to tackle reading music. Think of our method as a way of introducing a child to the piano in a non-threatening, easy to understand way.
What we offer is preparation for piano lessons. That preparation is the missing step that conventional piano teachers ignore. It leads to the astronomical, universally acknowledged quit rate of 90%. The first step is to get your child to come to the piano and enjoy it. Piano by Number has a phenomenal success rate in accomplishing this crucial, initial experience.
REFERENCES
Introductory
Playing Piano By Number
Playing Piano By Number – Complete
Starting To Play Piano By Number
Beginning Piano Music With Numbers
Beginner Piano Tutorial
Beginner Piano Books for Kids
Music On The Mind: Newsweek Articles
Piano By Number Basics
Piano By Number Is The Missing Step
There Are Many Ways To Start Piano
A History of Piano and Numbers
Basic Piano Skills for Kids
Easy Piano Songs for Beginners with Letters
Easy Piano Notes for Popular Songs
