Getting Started: No Piano? No problem! Start With A Keyboard
If you have a child interested in piano lessons but don’t have a piano at home, have no fear. You are not alone. A piano is a major financial commitment, not to mention a huge piece of furniture that needs to be moved into your home. Before taking the plunge into piano ownership, you may want to test the waters to see if it’s really worth the investment. An electronic keyboard is your answer!
Keyboard versus Piano
Here’s the scoop – yes, there are certain things that you can do on an acoustic piano (that’s the one you don’t plug in) that can only be done on piano. The slight nuances that an acoustic piano will respond to are non-existent on it’s electronic cousin. As your child is starting out they are learning the layout of the keyboard, loud versus soft, and short and long tones. All of these are easily and accurately reproduced on both electronic and acoustic pianos. Your child will also be using a limited number of keys on the keyboard. Both types of pianos have plenty and will carry your child through at least the first year or two of lessons. Electronic keyboards can even offer something that pianos cannot: headphone jacks! 
As a beginning student, there is really no reason why your child can’t be successful on an electronic keyboard.
Great! What Should I Look For In A Keyboard?
If you are heading out to buy an electronic keyboard for your beginning student, here are some key features to look for:
1) Full size keys – some keyboards have little tiny keys that are difficult to play, so make sure the description says “full size”, or if you are in the store, that they actually ARE full size.
2) It should have as many keys as you can afford. There are as few as 61 all the way up to 88 (full piano). Price obviously varies by number of keys.
3) Hammer Action Weighted keys would be ideal but if you can’t do that, at least look for Touch Sensitive. Hammer Action Weighted will actually feel like you are playing a real piano. Touch Sensitive will respond by how hard you press, but will not feel like a piano – the keys will go down very easily. This is not a problem early on (and you may even find that you like the keyboard better overall – they do cool stuff!) but if you continue with piano, your child won’t build the hand muscles until he has the hammer action keys or a real piano.
4) Headphone Jack – Kids can play and not bother anyone. Mom & Dad’s best friend.
5) Sustain Pedal – your child will need to use pedal in lessons, so you want to find a keyboard that has an optional add-on sustain pedal. Most keyboards have a jack for one.
6) Music Stand – make sure it has a rack to put the music on! They should anyway, but it would be a major bummer if it didn’t!
7) AC power – most will run on batteries but you will be charging or replacing constantly. AC power is sometimes included, but often not, so you want to check.
Another option to consider would be a keyboard stand & bench so your child can have their keyboard at a proper height. A table would be OK for a bit, but the angle of the hands can start to be painful if it’s not correct. The main thing is that your child can sit and play with his elbows above the keys. Phone books are good for this too.
Have questions about a keyboard you’ve seen or need a little more guidance on what to buy? Feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to answer your questions!
Getting Started: The Right Time To Start Your Child In Piano Lessons
One of the most popular questions I am asked by parents is, “When is the right time to start piano lessons?” Unfortunately, there is no magic answer to this question, but there are some signs of readiness that you can look for when determining if now is the right time to start.
Can your child recognize their ABC’s?
Can your child recognize numbers 1-5?
Can your child focus on one task for at least 10 minutes?
If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, then your child may be ready to begin learning to play the piano. The age of your child also affects the type of lesson that you can expect them to participate in. Preschool children are generally too young for “traditional” piano lessons. However, there are several piano methods geared toward getting your preschooler ready for piano lessons down the road and they are really fun! If you are interested in piano for your preschooler, please give me a call to discuss your options.
If your child is elementary aged (Kindergarten & up) they may be ready for a “traditional” piano lesson. Children in this age group are engaged learners & generally do very well at a private piano lesson. They are able to follow instruction, write music on their own, & learn about goal oriented practice time. They enjoy the process of learning and really take away a lot from their lessons.
If your child falls into the elementary or older age group, there is one more important question to consider before signing up for piano lessons.
Does your child want to take piano lessons?
You may not like the answer but it’s better to ask the question before coming to lessons than discover several weeks in that they never wanted to be there. You will have to decide for yourself if the no means “No” or if it means “Maybe, but I’m not sure about it”. In my experience, the child that says “No” and means it is rarely successful in piano lessons. Sure they’ll learn a bit about reading music & following through with commitments, but the end result will more often than not be, “My parents made me take piano. And I hated it.” As a parent, that’s not your intent I’m sure, so ask the question and listen to the answer. Very often a child that expresses interest and says no now will become a child begging for lessons later. That’s when you definitely start them immediately!
Do I need to wait until the summer or start of the school year to begin piano lessons?
NO! Although generally we think in terms of school years, piano lessons can be started at any time. Since each child’s lesson is tailored specifically for him/her, there is no reason why you need to wait until summer or for school to start. When your child is ready, that’s the right time of year to begin piano lessons.
Think your child is ready for the musical adventure piano study offers? Then call 405-310-9413 or register online to get started today!
Online Registration Now Available!
Did you know that The Taylor Studio now offers online registration & account management? You can schedule lessons, change lesson times, view account balances, make payments & read the notes from your child’s last lesson all online!
Make Schedule Changes Online
It’s 2am & you just remembered there’s a soccer tournament conflicting with piano this week? Jump online and let me know! No more playing phone tag – just sign in to your online account, cancel your lesson through the calendar, pick any open lesson time to reschedule & I’m instantly notified of the change! How easy is that?
Easy Online Payments
You can choose to continue to make your payments offline through cash or checks but you also may now pay online through PayPal. This convenient method of payment prevents those embarrassing forgotten checkbooks & can be made at any time. Your payment is reflected in your studio account within 24 hours and you can print your receipt right from the site. Your online account will also show any previous payments as well as any new charges for your music books.
Read Your Student’s Lesson Notes
After each lesson, I enter notes about our week into your online account. You can read the notes at anytime & you will always have a record of what happened that week. So if someone else will be bringing your child to lessons, you can still see what happened through the online notes. You can also optionally record practice time online. This is not required but it can be a nice way for everyone to monitor the time spent working at home.
This new addition to our studio has been getting rave reviews from parents. They are loving the simplicity of enrollment, lesson time selection & convenience of online payments through PayPal’s secure site. If you have any questions about using the online account, please let me know at your next lesson!
Make Music by Making an Instrument
Photo by: Cienpies Design
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of just having musical instruments available in the house for your child to experiment with. In case you missed it, be sure to check it out here, but today I thought I would give you a recipe for making your own instrument at home. This can be a great craft for preschoolers & elementary students especially on rainy days or too hot days (which we have had a lot of here in Oklahoma lately) – you’ll find some options for other ways to get creative with it at the bottom of the post. For now, this is a simple shaker recipe that you can make in just a few minutes!
Simple Shaker
What You Need:
Cardboard Tube (paper towels or toilet paper rolls work well)
Beans, Rice, Pasta or a combination of them
2 cupcake wrappers
2 rubber bands
Wrapping Paper (to cover the tube)
Glue dots, glue stick, or tape
What To Do:
Measure the height of your tube as well as around the circumference. Then cut your wrapping paper to about 1/2 inch longer than the height of the tube. This will give us some overlap.
Starting on one side, place your glue on your tube (or tape onto the paper) and slowly roll the paper around the tube, checking to be sure the edges are aligned with the top of the tube.
When you reach the end, seal the edge with more glue or another piece of tape to secure the loose end.
Cover one end of the tube with a cupcake wrapper & use the rubber band to hold it in place.
Fill your tube about 1/4 to 1/2 full with your beans, rice, pasta…or whatever else you can think of! Experiment with different combinations of items – each will have a unique sound.
Place the other cupcake wrapper over the open end and secure with the rubber band.
Get shakin’!
Other Options:
- Use markers, paints, crayons, foamies…whatever craft items you have on had to decorate the outside of the tube before you fill it. Be sure the tube is dry before adding the beans.
- Jingle bells, bottle caps, & beads also make great sounds inside your shaker. Or hit the pantry and grab some cereal. If it’s small & loose, it will work! (Just be sure to choose items that will be safe for the age of your little one!)
- No paper towel tubes? The plastic easter eggs will work, as will soup cans, plastic soda or even salad dressing bottles! Head out to the recycle bin and see what you can find!
Singing About The DVD Cord
Illustration By: Robert Proksa
Do you sing to your children around the house? If not, why not? You don’t have to know any “good songs” or be worthy of a recording contract. Just the other day I was helping my kids find the cord for our portable DVD player. While I was searching, I began singing (to no particular tune) about what I was doing. And do you know what my kids did? They sang back.
That’s right – no one told them to do it, no one announced that it was now time to talk in song, they just did it. Because that’s what kids do, they mimic our actions (sometimes more than we would like them to!). And they are always up for a game. Do your kids grumble when it’s time to pick up? Mine do. So I often will start picking up toys & sing the “Messy Mess” song from JoJo’s Circus (depending upon the age of your child, your mileage may vary here). My kids can’t resist singing the song so they join in & they can’t sing without picking up! It makes clean up time go so much faster & we have some fun in the process. For older kids, let them turn on their music to make the time fly by. You can even have them make a play list just for cleaning time (or getting ready for school, walking the dog, whatever task they are doing). When the play list is over, their time is up. And you’ll be amazed at how quickly those jobs get done!
The next time you are doing a menial task, like looking for the DVD player cord, turn it into a musical event! Make up the words, make up the tune & engage your children in a small moment of music around the house!