After studying the piano to grade eight, I passed my final exam and never touched a piano again. I wasn’t a natural and the long hours of practise put me off. Nevertheless I would still let IJ learn if she wanted to, so I was interested in receiving the first book in the series of Lisa Childs Piano Books to review.
Book 1 is for beginners and uses coloured stickers as a visual stimulant, which is considered easier to follow than the traditional ‘alphabet’ method.
I am initially unsure about putting coloured stickers on a piano keyboard but Valerie Childs, the owner of the Lisa Childs Piano Books, reassured me that the stickers would not injure the piano in any way. Valarie has used the stickers on a number of expensive pianos including a Steinway with no problems at all. So we went ahead and used the stickers without any issues.
The sticker method is completely new to me and it seemed more logical to teach a seven year old the names of the keys. Valerie explained that, "The reason we use coloured stickers is that children can recognise colours before they are able to learn the alphabet. Adults also use this method as it is faster and easier. The colours are just a stimulus.” So we used the stickers but also named the keys as well.
We found it a really good way of spending some quality time together and IJ did enjoy pretending to be a concert pianist although she sounded anything but, and the book gave her her first introduction to the piano, which she would not have had otherwise.
The book was published in 1982 so some of the photographs included at the beginning are a little dated, but don’t be put off. The book will provide children and adults alike with a comprehensive introduction to piano playing and includes a range of pieces for them to play.
It does mean putting a range of coloured stickers on your piano keyboard but the aim is that they are only there for 6-8 weeks until players progress onto book 2. The book’s distinctive learning method has been used successfully for many years and has the added advantage of being a method that can be used with very young children.
I did struggle initially with the use of stickers as I learnt using the alphabet method, but it did prove a helpful way of helping children become familiar with the piano keyboard.
Giveaway
I have one additional copy of the Lisa Childs Piano Book to giveaway.
To enter just leave a comment on this post including the word piano, before midnight on March 23rd.
The winner will be selected at random and the name added to the end of this post on March 24th.
UK entries only as I am paying for postage.
Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Marylin who has won a copy of the book.
The Lisa Childs Piano Books can be found on Amazon, priced around £11.99. We received a free copy to review. For more information visit www.childspianobooks.co.uk.
I can play the Piano, piano, piano.....(actually I can't but if i win, who knows. Plus, it was all i could think of that includes the word Piano!)
Posted by: Domestic goddesque | March 16, 2011 at 11:47 AM
I would love to help Zack learn to play our piano, I just don't know where to start!
Posted by: Marylin | March 16, 2011 at 12:56 PM
I'd love a copy - I'm starting teaching Bigger to play and whilst the idea of stickers on my lovely piano scares me I can see that it might help her recognise the notes (we're a long way from alphabet stage)
Posted by: Muddling Along | March 16, 2011 at 03:03 PM
That sounds really cool. I've always wanted to learn to play the piano.
Posted by: Frankie | March 16, 2011 at 03:48 PM