Teaching Your Kids Piano

If you feel you can teach them, that's great! It will be a huge cost saver.

My daughter is in her 5th year of lessons. She gets lessons from her school's music teacher at a rate of $17.00 per lesson (1x week) Her teacher has always used the Alfred's Basic Piano Library series. Her best friend takes lessons from another instructor thru the park district, and she uses the exact same books. It's a good series, and my daughter has done well.

Good luck!

It's not just about reading music. It's about the proper way to hold one's hands on the piano and the proper way to do the fingering. I am not trying to sound like a snob here, but watching someone play who has terrible form reminds me of a kid who was never taught proper handwriting skills, and holds the pencil with their hand almost upside down, or holds the pencil inbetween the wrong fingers or with their fist. You see it and you know that it just exhausts that child to write like that and they look terrible doing it to everyone around them. Same thing for piano.

You can't play any more advanced music with poor form. Your children won't go very far if you don't get them someone who knows how to do it and teach it.

If your kids are willing for you to teach them, don't go it too long by yourself. If one of your child takes to it, make sure someone teaches her the right way to play so that she actually can get farther along.

I could not teach my girls to play the piano or to swim although I can do both. (I was able to teach my daughters how to read however). You have nothing to loose by trying to teach them but I think it is probably better to have a formal lesson with a teacher that is not a parent. My girls have had 3 different teachers over the years. Not one of these teachers ever taught their own children how to play.

Be sure your piano is in tune. Changes in temperature really effect it.

I have a cousin who has taught 3 of her own 6 kids and many others over the last 25 yrs. I think she would tell you to start with the oldest. The others are a bit too young to sit still and to practice.the other two can just tinker with it as they will.

Pick a piano lesson book brand and stick with that one. GO to the music store and see which ones you think go with your style best. Then get the primary level of that one and go from there.

I have been working with my kids a little bit. My son who is 6 has shown interest so we have started with just teaching him where the notes are on the piano and then also some fun worksheets to teach him to read the notes. You can find free worksheets online or on pintrist and just print them out. Or you can make your own. Just make it fun. I think once they know the basics first, then you can get some beginner piano books and teach them to play it.

When my kids started (1st and 2nd grades) they used Alfred's. Maybe you could start with a particular child-friendly curriculum to guide you?