luving abroad. help with ordering sone good resources for beginner piano and advice please

[somuchtosortout]

Hello. DD is 7 and picking up piano quite well. We have a basic beginner keyboard and a local teacher. But only have an old John Thompson book (beginner) that she has worked through.
can you advise on best resources to order? Teacher is using own book but doesn't look like the right level

surely if she has started learning to read music she doesn't need to work on the pages that show notes with note names and finger numbers underneath? The notes are kut on a blank background, not on the lines?

Also is she too young to prepare for grade 1?

thanks !

[mom17]

Hi Julie,
Wanted to know what are your students upto ? the one who had started "Alfred premier Book-3" a term back , I guess they were suppose to give Grade-2 exam recently!! Just curious to know as My son has completed 6-7 songs of book-3 and teacher doesn't indicate any exam in this summer as well. He is kind of reserved and non-pushy so didn't feel like asking him about his plan but he did say that he will be able to appear for his exam this year. I guess by that time, he would be able to finish book 4 as well and according to level chart , it comes in grade-2 ( book-3 and book 4).

[mom17]

Thx Julie.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

I've not used them so can't comment really. I think they're a bit more traditional in style/approach. Bearing in mind that when I started piano I was already a grade 6 violinist, so I kind of went straight on to Classics to Moderns and books like that.

[mom17]

Julie, wanted to know feedback of Michael Aaron's books in comparision of JTEP and AP ? Heard a lot about them but haven't tried so thought of trying for additional practice.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Seems fine then. I guess I just mix things up a bit more - aversion to tutor books!

[mom17]

He is not progressing that fast, it will be 3 months before he finishes 2B( as of now half done). His teacher is pretty good, so just relying on him to take care of techniques. He needs to work on Aural which teacher started last week, I guess he will need minimum 6-8 months for 1'st grade preparation from now.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Performance book is just extra pieces at same level. I use them if a child needs extra material for reinforcement (teach them) or as challenge pieces (no help from me). If a child is going through pieces that quickly, though, I'd worry that either the work is way too easy or that technique is being ignored in favour of getting through pieces. As a parent, you should be able to listen for things like notes being exactly in time, chords together not splitting, beautiful legato (smooth, joined up) playing, contrast of loud and quiet etc. go out of your way to compliment that sort of thing as opposed to just getting through pieces. Otoh, clearly good sightreading, which is not to be sniffed at!

Of course, I've not heard the playing of seen hand position so it's possible everything is fantastic. But I've had transfer students with such poor technique on piano that even I start by correcting the way they sit....... My own teacher was fantastic but not much fun and I often wish I'd paid more attention!

[mom17]

He is doing pretty good according to his teacher as he tries 2-3 songs on his own and practice throughout the week and after that shows to teacher and he corrects him and as such everyday he practice all the songs starting from the book. He has been asked to focus on 2 songs for internal exams purpose. I haven't started theory with him, thanks for suggesting it. I also make him do scales ( only C, D , G and F major as of now). Is performance book's level higher than lesson book? I assume so!! Thanks once again for your help Julie, You are truly of so much help to me and for everybody in this forum.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Mom17 if he's finding them that easy, then I'd say try the next book up once you finish that, rather than doing extra work at the same level. However, that depends on how well he plays the pieces. If he's just bashing through them I'd start using the extra book (performance book or a supplement) right away, perhaps with some carols nearer Christmas, to give him more pieces at that level. I would then talk to him about picking out three or four pieces that should be worked on for a couple of weeks to make them fabulous rather than just okay.

If he is playing pieces at that level beautifully, even if it's not every single piece, then I would finish the book and move up a level, but I'd probably use the three 'basic' books (lesson book, theory and performance) to slow him down. Make sure you've covered the theory at level 2B even if you don't do all the exercises in the book, or do some other theory book along side. I was a bit like that with violin as I found the note reading very easy, but sometimes it pays to go a little slower.

To be honest, if I had a student moving that quickly I'd probably be giving them extra pieces at the same level and the occasional one slightly above. I use the tutor books as a source for pieces at an approximate level, rather than a course, if you see what I mean, and tend to make it up as I go along.

[mom17]

Thanks Julie. My son started 2B lesson book almost 1.5 month back and almost half way through it so was wondering if I should make him do other books of 2B or move to Book-3.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Mom17,

I've only just started using the series, so I can't really say. With the beginners on book 1A, we're using the three books - lesson book, theory book to match and performance book. We use every page of the theory but not every activity on each page. The performance book is used for supplementary material either for a student who is keen to learn more pieces or a student who is struggling and needs extra material. We don't do every tune in the performance book.

With the level 2 and level 3 bunch, we're mainly following the lesson book. The 2Bs have been working on festival music a lot so after half a term we've done maybe 3 or 4 pieces from the tutor book, which I think is slightly above their current knowledge level (though playable). The two on book 3 have done four and five pieces respectively, alongside beginning to work for their next grade.

As for length of time... I think it can vary hugely. One student might finish 1A in 3 months, another might take a year. I figure it would be reasonable to take a year per numbered level (so 1A-1B in first year, 2A-2B in second year) if you weren't using any other material and the student worked through all these books and was following the progression in this order. But we've changed series and jumped up a bit in all cases. For 2B, I'd say six months to a year?

[mom17]

Hi Julie,
Also wanted to know if you follow all lesson, performance etc. books of Alfred premier Paino books and How much time it takes to finish one level of that? lets say for eg. Book 2B.

[mom17]

Thanks Everyone.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

It might also depend if a piece is within the student's level or slightly above.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Worried,

It depends on age and level. Absolute beginners usually one or two weeks tops. Older students it depends on how long it is. With the teens, we start one when the previous piece has been going for two or three weeks and not every piece has to be concert standard. I think a month is reasonable for hands-together-in-time once it's a page long. Performance pieces need more work, though.

[lavendersun]

I should say that we also use the LCM books (her teacher is an examiner), and some other fun books like these:

www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Kids-Collection-Sarah-Walker/dp/0571528600/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Kids-Princess-Piano-Collection/dp/0571528570/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1E6FPN2S511MSZA81FWA&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

I do think that Gr 1 is more difficult than people assume, especially the theory if you are doing that as well. My mum was a music teacher and we had to do theory at the same time. My daughter does theory alongside, her teacher expects it as well. I do think it depends on the teaching really, my daughter enjoys her lessons so much she doesn't think she is doing any work.

[lavendersun]

My 8 year old (Gr 1) spends a lot of time playing everything other than exam pieces. We are very relaxed here in the Lavender house, I would not want her pushed or made to play nothing but exam pieces.

These books are good for a variety of different things and have been used greatly over the last 18 months. Book 1 does contain the Snake Dance though, be warned, my daughter still plays it now at warp speed with the loud pedal down to avoid homework, emptying the dishwasher etc., as a general wind up really.

www.amazon.co.uk/John-W-Schaum-Piano-Course/dp/0769218148/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1411888022&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=red%20piano%20book&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

www.amazon.co.uk/John-W-Schaum-Piano-Course/dp/0769235816/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

www.amazon.co.uk/John-Schaum-Piano-Course-Purple/dp/0769236073/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

We have three school terms, average 12 weeks but holiday dates vary depending on when Easter falls.

[Worriedandlost]

JulieMichelleRobinson, can I ask your opinion please? How well, you reckon, student has to play a piece before moving to the next one? Dd had one teacher who would spend 1-1.5 month polishing a piece, and another one who would teach a piece for 2-3 weeks only (this is between 1-2/2-3 grades). I personally prefer second way of teaching especially for a small child, but it would be interesting to know your opinion as a professional teacher.

[mom17]

Thanks Julie. That really helped me a lot in understanding what to expect from my DS. How long are term there ? I am assuming 3-4 terms a year ?

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Oh, more directly...

After book 2B, the children who are on it will begin preparing grade 1 - if they want to do exams. By which I mean, partway through book 2B, because we'll start by practising the scales/aural/sightreading as we go along. They took Prep Test last term, so we have at least a term off to learn some non-exam pieces including duets etc. simply on principal. As a tutor book goes, it's quite varied in style, thankfully.

So we'll probably start learning grade 1 material next term and take it in summer, for most of them.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Mom17

Before grade 2... the particular children I'm thinking of (skipping grade 1) were both transfer students. They both have gaps in knowledge that I'm trying to plug. They have done, respectively:

Student A: John Thompson's Easiest up to halfway through book 3... previous teacher used something similar in approach but wrote finger numbers on everything.

Student B: Alfred's Basic (which is different) 1A, 1B (I think) and part of book 2 - very stuck in thinking of hand positions so can't cope with changes of position or stretching out hands to a sixth etc. well.

Both have also done pieces from LCM jazz syllabus at grade 1 level, including some in the supplementary John Thompson book, plus various scales and random exercises, Christmas carols etc. They have sound technique... now... but still find it hard to read the dots.

They will be doing Alfred's Premier book 3, which is within their comfort level of playing (hence considering them post-grade-1) but not within their comfort level of theory/note-reading at the moment. E.g. one student looked at the music and said 'It looks easy' but isn't finding it easy to learn without help. I'm allowing a couple of weeks per tune before moving on to the next, with some overlapping and only some of the tunes being required to a high standard of performance.

We've started Premier 3 this term and we'll likely start working towards grade 2 next term with a view to doing it in the summer (they'd have done grade 1 this term). They should find the pieces are about the same level as the ones they've been playing.

[mom17]

Thanks Julie, so you mean to say after Book 2B, they can prepare pieces from Grade-1 ABRSM exam book and move to grade -2 ? So, Can you please suggest what all books you finish before moving to exam pieces given for ABSRM Grade-2 ?

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

I think people underestimate grade one ;-)

[somuchtosortout]

Thank you for all your advice! Sounds like we are a ling way from grade 1. Well we're a long way from everywhere here!
piano teacher is using bastien piano basics. I think it is American. Some ancient copy some expat must have left behind.
anyway, will order some of your suggestions, thanks again