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Piano students are often introduced to music notation from their first lessons without learning how to link the sound of what they are playing with what they see written in the score. Their attention is primarily focused on reading, which distracts them from listening to their playing, refining the sounds they are making, and connecting what they see with what they hear and play.

This approach is problematic because it may lead to:

• Decreased aural sensitivity
• Undermined musical memory
• Lack of expressive abilities
• Atrophy of creative abilities
• Feelings of frustration and boredom
• Neglecting important aspects like tone and touch

They learn notation by reading notes individually, merely as instructions for which fingers to push down – which represents a very narrow form of understanding the purpose of staff notation – instead of comprehending notes as part of meaningful melodies or melodic phrases.

In this blog post, we will discuss eight tips to overcome these issues.

1. Initially, help them grasp the basics of how sounds are made on the piano

Encourage your students to experience and enjoy making sounds before introducing reading. Allowing them to explore the piano’s sounds prioritizes music’s cornerstones: sound, access to music making and human expression. This exploration can spark curiosity and foster a sense of freedom, which is crucial for nurturing motivation.

Teachers can use this stage to help students understand essential musical concepts like high and low pitches. On the piano, higher pitch notes are on the right, and lower pitch notes are on the left. While this may seem intuitive, it isn’t always for beginners. Playing games and doing activities on this topic can help establish the link between auditory perception and motor coordination, laying a solid foundation for their subsequent notation learning and enabling them to connect it with reading. You can find related activities in My First Piano Book!

2. Encourage them to create their own music notation

Encourage students to create their own notations for nursery songs they know, a rhythmic pattern, or a melody. This activity helps them develop the ability to think about and reflect on music more deeply and analytically. By inventing their own notations, they gain a foundational understanding of the purpose of staff notation and how it works.

3. Ensure the music notation is large and clear

When children begin learning notation, they first notice the lines and curves of musical symbols and notes. Gradually, they start to recognize individual symbols like clef signs, time signatures, and notes by focusing on the staff lines. At this stage, the size of the notation is essential – they need to easily and clearly see the features of staff notation. If the symbols are too close together or too small, it can be frustrating and tedious for them, making it difficult to distinguish differences and undermining their learning process.

4. Apply new concepts immediately

All new musical concepts introduced in the lesson should be used in the pieces or exercises the student will play next. The process of reading music can be very slow and difficult for children if they are learning elements that are not immediately applied in the music they perform. Make sure all new information is directly relevant and has practical use in what they are about to play.

5. Play listening games to connect sounds with written musical patterns

This approach introduces notation in a more musical and holistic way, encouraging students to first understand and reflect on what they hear. By linking the overall sound of musical patterns with the correct notated patterns, students learn to read notes as part of a meaningful melody or musical phrase, rather than isolated symbols. (You can get a free sample activity at the end of the article!)

6. Emphasize playing familiar pieces by ear

Encouraging students to play pieces they already know by ear helps establish ear-to-hand coordination skills. Later, when they play the same piece using the score, they can better associate the sounds and motor movements with the notation.

7. Sing the melody before playing it

Before starting a new piece, it’s helpful to spend some time on preparatory exercises or warm-ups that focus on different aspects of it, especially if the piece introduces new musical elements like a new rhythmic pattern.

One effective preparatory exercise is to sing the melody while reading the score. It’ll help focus their attention on the piece’s overall flow, sound and shape, preventing them from concentrating exclusively on reading and playing notes without understanding their context. Additionally, having the sound of the melody in their mind helps reading “ahead” which also contributes to a more fluent playing.

8. Promote playing without a score

The primary goal of learning music is to engage in music making. Encourage your students to compose short melodies and improvise using the musical patterns and notes they learn in their piano lessons. This approach helps keep their imaginative skills alive and develops the full range of their musical abilities.

First piano lessons may have a big impact on how students feel about their future lessons and themselves as pianists. The following features aim to spark curiosity and interest for the piano as well as make the first lesson enjoyable for them.

1. Engage the student musically

Despite its apparent simplicity, playing the piano in their first lesson is an essential aspect, regardless of the student’s hand size or finger dexterity. They don’t need to know the notes or where they are in the stave. A traditional approach to music often prioritizes introducing notation in a first lesson – a distraction from the main purpose of music: the quality of sound, listening and enjoyment.

I’ve made an introductory game my students love and always works as a motivating and inspiring activity – you can download it here.
Firstly, I show them three small illustrations named rain, bell, and wave, each one represented by a musical pattern made of 3 piano keys numbered from 1 to 3. Afterwards, we do a warm up exercise singing and playing each pattern a few times until they feel comfortable. Once they do, it’s time to play!
I start by naming an illustration out loud, and instruct them to play the correct musical pattern or keep repeating it until I choose a different one. To make the activity more musical, I accompany them with a 4-chord progression.

Sharing this experience with the teacher inspires them, reinforces the importance of listening while playing, and encourages them to match the teacher’s quality of the sound. 

2. Maintain a sense of ongoing progress in the lesson

Begin with a task your student can easily accomplish and has a low risk of embarrassment, like recognising and playing both groups of two and three black keys. Once completed, praise the achievement, fostering a feeling they “can do it“.

Following up, introduce short activities that logically build upon the previous ones – achieving short-term goals keeps the student engaged and gives a sense of moving forward. 

It’s crucial to ensure the student is focusing on improving the quality of their sound and to make the necessary corrections and adjustments in their hand or body posture before moving to technically harder musical patterns.

3. Involve the student in a creative activity

As a consolidation exercise, students shall engage in a creative activity related to their lesson (i.e. they could create their own musical patterns using the piano keys you’ve introduced – I include similar activities in My First Piano Book). This can also be an opportunity for the student to assess their improvement during the lesson.
It will nurture freedom and autonomy rather than dependency – motivation is strengthened by empowering students to manage their learning, explore, and experiment on their own. We teachers should reinforce the feeling of choice, as activities imposed without consent can undermine motivation.

4. Assign homework that students can practice at home

Given their young age, parental supervision during practice is very important. Emphasize this importance to parents, along with consistent and regular home practice for their child’s progress. Address any misconceptions about parental impact on musical development, specially with non-musical parents, encouraging active involvement regardless of their musical knowledge.

I sometimes use the app PracticeSpace for parents as it allows me to record the activities, pieces and corrections explored in our lesson and write goals to be achieved at home. Often, I also end up recording a ‘guided practice’ explaining step by step how and what to practice.

5. Be flexible and adapt your lessons rather than having a single model

Every student is different. The suggestions provided were tailored for preschoolers who’ve had no exposure to the piano or music in general. It’s what’s worked best for me and the children I teach, but there are many other approaches.

Comment your thoughts, and don’t forget to download the free ‘Rain, bell, wave’ activity here!