Here's great educational tool for children's piano teaching. Included is a 78 page illustrated book, Play Along Audio CD and numbered and lettered removable stickers.
You should never underestimate the importance of the element of fun in introducing children to the piano. Use GAMES FOR THE PIANO to brighten up the mood of your piano teaching.
Here are nine games your child can play with you, or by themselves, turning that great big piano into an educational toy.
You can use the Play Along Audio CD, or play the accompaniments included yourself. No musical training is required and everything is presented in easy to read Piano By Number format.
First among the fun games are counting games, in which children learn to count and play simple numerical games at the piano. Piano teaching that includes a measure of fun and games will be far more successful for the child.
Just follow along with the Play Along Audio CD and you'll be playing games right away.
We often use these games when children become tired of working hard at reading music, and need some relief and fun from the tedium that conventional piano teaching involves.
You'd be surprised how refreshed children are after a bit of fun, and how ready they are for a little more hard work!
Here's a list of the games included in GAMES FOR THE PIANO:
1. FOURS: A fun rhythm and note game that gets the child started counting and playing at the same time. (See below for an online version.)
2. THREES: The same game but with a count of three instead of four. Helps children build internal mathematical skills like division, and distinguish groups of notes.
3. PIRATES WITH TEACHER'S DIRECTIONS: Pirates is a coordination game in which the child plays two different notes, fitting a pattern the teacher is playing. The pattern is a rousing Pirate song, an uptempo musical adventure that kids love to repeat again and again.
4. PIRATES WITHOUT TEACHER'S DIRECTIONS: The same game but without the teacher guiding you through. Another, more difficult coordination and concentration game. Kids love it!
5. HAPPY OR SAD? An ear training game in which the child is asked to judge the emotional quality of chords, also known as "major" and "minor." You can use the Play Along Audio CD, or play the chords yourself, using our simple directions allowing you to find any chord used in the book. (Chords are groups of three keys usually played with the left hand, but for the purposes of this book may be played in any fashion that is comfortable.)
6. WHICH WAY IS UP: An eye and ear training game which uses the abstract skills of left/right and up/down to develop similar keyboard skills. A fun musical quiz game.
7. NAME THAT SONG: Several familiar songs are played in game-show format and the child must identify the song.
8. FOLLOW THE LEADER: A pattern recognition game in which a child is asked to repeat a group of keys the teacher plays. Whatever the teacher plays, you must try to play.
9. FOURS WITH BLACK KEYS: A simple piano game which introduces the idea of the black keys, later known as "flats" and "sharps." Children move up the piano, navigating the peculiar path between the white and black keys. A fun challenge after the child has mastered the first game, FOURS (See below for an online version of fours.)
An appendix is included which shows how to easily play all the chords required for the teacher's part ijn the book. No musical training of any kind is required to play the part of the teacher.
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