Thinking of teaching DS to play the piano, recommendations?

[LovelyPostItNotes]

Can anyone recommend any good books to work from with him?

He's 10 and has some basic musical knowledge from playing the guitar.

I used to play to to an OK standard but haven't touched the piano for years...

Hi - search my name, and piano music, tutor books, etc in MN Search, as I have often replied to similar queries.

One of the John Thompson books, or Kenneth Baker piano series are OK, but there are HUNDREDS to choose from!

I'll come back in couple of days with more info.

brilliant, thank you Ferguson

I have been having difficulties getting back into MN, hence delay - Sorry.

Can you tell me a bit about DS level and style of playing guitar, and also about your piano: is it an acoustic piano, and if so is it in reasonable condition, and in tune? Or is it a digital piano?

You say you used to play piano; so what styles of piano does DS want to aim for, and what levels of knowledge of theory do you, and he, have? (I only ask, so I can suggest books best suited to his level and requirements.)

My DD likes this one but may be a bit young. Good way of teaching the basics though. I'm teaching her, and also one of my pupils, from it.

www.amazon.co.uk/Get-Set-Piano-Tutor-Book/dp/1408179466

We also have this one which is good, again a bit young perhaps/

www.amazon.co.uk/First-Book-Piano-Usborne-Music/dp/0746029853/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442962278&sr=1-1&keywords=usborne+first+book+of+the+piano#

As he's older he will likely progress quicker so you could look at your local library, they may have various tutor books in stock and if you renew it regularly you should be able to keep it on loan for a couple of months while you work through it (I've recommended this to some of my other pupils as like your DS they had some musical knowledge already, and I don't want them to waste money on books they won't need for long)

thank you Ferguson, much appreciated. DS has been having classical guitar lessons for about a year and has done his Grade 1. So, he knows basic music theory - notes, time signatures, note values.

the piano is ok and tuned (I got it for my 21st birthday which makes it 20 years old ) It has been tuned.

I got to Grade 8/A-Level music but DH earns a living in music (not classical) so DS would probably be more interested in contemporary stuff and he is having drum lessons too.

fuzzpig, thank you so much for your recommendations, I'll check them out!

I'll come back with ideas in day or two, but obviously as you will know, a secure ability to play piano opens up any, and pretty well all, music genres.

Is there also an electronic keyboard available for DS, as that can lead to 'music technology' that many secondary schools cover now.

(I played semi-pro drums for forty years, and as a TA introduced primary children to recorder, keyboard and percussion, but only as 'informal' fun lessons, not serious study.)

LovelyPostItNotes, Can you please tell me what book/method books your DC is using for classical guitar ( till Grade-1 level). DS has started guitar TAB/chord method and would like to see if he can try classical as well.

Here's some other suggestions:

Accelerated Piano Adventures for the older beginner. Nice arrangements of pieces, moves reasonably quickly and includes use of chords which is good if your son is interested in contemporary music. Buy the international version (from musicroom) if you don't want American terminology.

You could also look at Christopher Norton's Microjazz series if he likes jazzy stuff.

My recommendation is "don't".

Don't every try to teach your 10 year old DS anything. He will know better than you every step of the way....

Shelling thank you for mentioning the accelerated adventures - I have a new older pupil who has a bit of musical knowledge and have been wondering what to recommend (just been using my books to start with) - I'll check that out :)

As someone whose mum taught her the piano, I agree with atticus. It was a nightmare and caused me to give up at grade 5, which I regret.

I play violin/viola to Grade 8 and DS has another violin teacher, not me. I help him with practice but I don't teach him.

Similarly, DH plays piano to Grade 8 and is also an experienced music teacher, having taught piano and clarinet before. But he doesn't teach either DS1 or DS2, both of whom learn piano. He tried, but lessons were erratic, not taken as seriously and progress slow.

As another point, only you know for yourself of course, but if I only played to an "ok" standard and hadn't played for years, I wouldn't feel competent enough to teach anyway tbh.

Thank you Ferguson. Yes he'll have access to electronic stuff via his dad. I really think you're right about the piano opening up so many possibilities too!

mom17, he's being taught with this series at school: www.amazon.co.uk/Enjoy-Playing-Guitar-Tutor-Book/dp/0193371340/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1443102035&sr=8-6&keywords=guitar+book

thank you Shelling, it's nice to have suggestions for different styles too!

atticus and flowery...yes, I have considered that we could be doomed to failure... I'm not expecting to teach him through grades or anything, just to get the basics and see if he likes it as we can't afford lessons for a third instrument right now! We'll see...

Thx Lovely

Lovely just to counter the doomsayers. I have DD1 who I taught from age 7 and DD2 who started to learn, gave up and came back to it age 10. For us it was much easier to do it myself for time management and because I didn't want to push them down the formal exam route. They both got to starting grade 5 level with me and now go for formal lessons. The transition to a proper teacher was painless, but by grade 5 standard they did need a more disciplined approach which meant it was better it was not me teaching.

For DD2, because she was older I used the Adult teach yourself books "It's Never Too Late to Learn". She found John Thompson confusing when she was younger, but his books worked well for DD1.

I'm teaching DD and it's going quite well (although I do agree that lessons aren't as structured as they are for my pupils, I just follow her lead really) and I've just started with DS too. They are homeschooled though so in a way their piano 'lessons' are really no different from me teaching them maths or whatever.

I promised myself I would never push lessons on them and wait til they asked me, can't deny I was ecstatic when DD first asked me to teach her though! I'd bought the get set piano books on offer a few months earlier (in secret) so I just brought them down and got started.

My mum taught me a little, she'd never had lessons but taught me the notes on the keyboard and I went on from there until we got a piano, I was 11 and then got proper lessons starting at grade 5.

Another one who taught her own DC. It's lovely. You can tailor everything.

Here are some more suggestions of music:

Kenneth Baker has various tutor books, and song collections of music in different styles:

www.themusicpeople.co.uk/acatalog/The_Music_People_The_Complete_Piano_Player_30.html

Fanny Waterman has various tutor series, for adults and younger students. However, some of her books seem to use a 'colour coding' system to identify notes, which I DO NOT like, and could be counter productive I feel.

Alfred Music have various series, which a lot of piano teachers use:

www.alfred.com/AlfredPiano/PianoMethods.aspx

ABRSM have various tutor books, and their 'Theory in Practice' is a work-book series for each Grade. Eric Taylor's 'AB Guide to Music Theory' is in two volumes, and is invaluable to lean more about music.

AB publications are reasonably priced, and may be available from good music shops.

On-line prices vary, but I often find The Book Depository very competitive, and no postage charges.