Above you'll find sample pages from PIANO IS EASY, and below it a picture of how your piano will look after you apply the 12 removable, numbered stickers.
There are also many more songs that you and your child can try on our website to get the idea of PIANO BY NUMBER:
Click Here to Play Piano by Number Online Using Your Computer's Mouse!
Instructions and Stickers
Easy to follow instructions for installing the removable stickers on your piano are included with each book.
Every order includes removable stickers for your piano. If you need more, we'll be glad to send extra stickers free of charge.
Illustrations and Binding
Each 8.5 by 11 inch book is sturdily bound with a comb binding that will lay flat on your piano music stand.
The color cover and the color back cover are frames for hundreds of classic line drawings that illustrate the theme of each song (many from the famed Dover Library) giving this book a "Currier and Ives" look and feel.
Children love pictures, and our books are designed to be attractive and fun.
THE CHRISTMAS CAROL KIT is illustrated in a similar style, and is identical in format to PIANO IS EASY except that there are different songs and illustrations.
See also THE BIG BOOK OF SONGS BY NUMBER.
Lyrics
The lyrics to each of the 44 songs in PIANO IS EASY and THE CHRISTMAS CAROL KIT are displayed on the facing page (see above).
This makes it easy to play and sing along to the songs, which children enjoy.
There are 44 fun, familiar songs in both THE CHRISTMAS CAROL KIT and PIANO IS EASY, and both books includes a Play Along Audio CD, produced by Grammy Award winner Joe Castellon
Click here for a list of songs in each fun "Piano by Number" book.
Recommended age for children
Piano by number is appropriate for any child who can count to ten and is able to identify the written numbers.
Children as young as four should be able to play the songs. Try Piano by Number now on our online piano!
What is "piano by number?"
Sheet music uses five horizontal lines and small circles to tell you which piano keys to push. Many find this confusing at first, especially children. Read more about this.
Playing "piano by number" is a temporary system devised to give a quick, enjoyable start to piano lessons, just like training wheels on a bicycle.
You put numbered stickers on your piano keys and then play familiar songs right away.
Piano by number will later be discarded when the child feels comfortable making music at the piano and is ready to start reading music.
See I CAN READ MUSIC to find out how our method starts children reading music. It's fun!
Reading Music
Children start reading sheet music a little later in this method, using our book I CAN READ MUSIC, after they have gained confidence playing familiar songs by number, using a book such as PIANO IS EASY.
Every book package order includes a copy of I CAN READ MUSIC.
I CAN READ MUSIC is the perfect way for kids to make a smooth transition from the ease of numbers to the difficulties of reading music.
Stickers on my piano?
You wouldn't think of removing the letters and numbers on your computer keyboard or typewriter, would you?
Children need a visual reference point, which the removable stickers provide in the beginning.
The removable stickers on your piano help your child learn the geography of the piano, and are easily discarded later.
Stickers also provide a quick and fun start to piano lessons, so that the child is enthusiastic right from the beginning.
It's easier to build on enthusiasm than frustration.
Remember your piano lessons as a child? Most people experienced intense frustration as a child trying to start piano.
Like training wheels on a bicycle, the numbered stickers will be removed when your child feels confident with the piano and can play familiar songs like Jingle Bells, Wheels on the Bus, I'm A Little Teapot and other songs that they have heard and remember.
The stickers will not damage plastic or ivory keys in any way, and are easily and completely removable. No residue remains when they are removed.
Adults should help apply the removable stickers to make sure the installation is correct, according to the easy-to-follow directions in each book.
Kids love stickers, and we've included lots of extra stickers!
It's fun!
Is piano by number a good choice as a music learning tool?
Playing piano by number is an excellent first choice because most children find conventional piano methods (sheet music) far too tedious to start with.
It's important to get a good start that children find fun, or you risk frustration.
Difficulties with conventional piano methods cause a slow, frustrating start, and, in almost all cases, most students later quit altogether. Read more about this.
But the children are right: there ought to be a better way to start playing piano, and now there is!
Piano by number is like phonics for reading
Here's why the old way of getting children started playing piano has poor results at best: playing piano by number is easy and instantly understandable, very much like speaking to a child.
In contrast, reading even the simplest sheet music is very much like writing words to a child, a more complex task reserved, logically, for a child's later learning years.
You don't ask a child to start writing "Momma," you let them say it first. And then later the child learns letters, then words, then sentences.
In short, conventional piano methods ask far too much too soon, and the child cannot learn at their own pace. Read more about this.
Think of playing piano by number as a set of training wheels on your child's bicycle: it's something to get you going, and will be discarded later for a more complicated system when the child feels comfortable.
Click Here to Play Piano by Number Online Using Your Computer's Mouse!
Click here to read the entire tutorial HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ MUSIC
Get a good start!
The objective of using piano by number at first is to ensure a successful start at piano study.
Students initially taught piano by number make a smooth transition to reading sheet music because, in their words, "playing notes (reading music) is just like playing by number, only different."
Why is this method different?
Our books are designed to provide kids with preparation for piano lessons, a fun process children can do at home, before they start regular piano lessons.
All other piano methods start children far too quickly, causing early frustration and eventually leading most kids to quit.
We've found this failure can be prevented by starting your child playing piano "by number" at home, and then making a slow, smooth transition to reading music using our book, I CAN READ MUSIC!
This "Fun Method" has proven results, turning children into happy, interested experimenters who enjoy tinkering with the piano. |
