Intro to Piano for 5 Year Olds - Little Mozarts

Well, last night was the first piano class for my oldest son (who just turned 5). I wasn't sure what it was going to be about - if it was more just music and fun or more piano - but this is strictly a beginner piano class geared toward kids (which I was hoping for).

My son has been really interested in piano only since I started learning the piano from Andrew. But he really enjoys it, and even more now since the competition from Thomandy!

The materials for the class seem pretty well geared for little ones:
http://musicforlittlemozarts.com/piano_course.html

So far, so good. I hope he continues to enjoy it and progresses nicely.


And the other thing, the class is taught at a local piano store, where they have a bunch of acoustics (the class is done on electric keyboards). We plinked around on a couple of grands, but I didn't want to go nuts. I'm not sure if it was appropriate or not to be playing the pianos they were trying to sell. Very different than my Fantom, that's for sure!

So we had our second class this week. Still going good. Moved on to using 3 separate fingers on the 3 black keys and quarter notes. The teacher is strongly urging parents to have kids practice every day to develop finger strength. Just a little is ok. So far, so good!

We got to plunk around on more pianos this week. On the more inexpensive pianos, I didn't like the action at all. On one Yamaha I could actually feel a sort of click or hesitation at the bottom of the keystroke. I don't think that's supposed to be there.

I loved the feel of the high end Yamaha pianos. Very slick. Yamaha's Clavinova's were really nice too. I'm tempted to trade up now.


And lastly, while we were there before we left, on of the store employees was jamming on a piano. My son thought it was great, looked at me and said, "He's better than you!". Now that I think of it, while he's seen people playing piano in band / concert settings, I don't think he's ever heard anyone just play the piano. Up until that point, I may be the best (and only) person he has heard play. I need to get him on you tube and show him some Horowitz.


(sound familar? )

OK, about 1 year later, and I can say that the Little Mozart class was absolutely phenomenal! I think having a proper teacher in this setting is the most important thing. The teacher we had was really great and good with the kids, and always pushed them to do better which they always responded to.

We covered the first three books, and the classes went until the spring. All the white key names were learned and by the end of the third book, hands together pieces were introduced. Really an outstanding series, and my son learned a lot!


We moved to private lessons at the end of summer. We would have started at the beginning of summer, but long story. Anyway, he's doing great, and continues to develop and soak up every new thing presented to him (even with a little resistance, but some gentle nudging has thus far produced consistent practice. )

I don't expect him to be the next Mozart, but at least I hope he will learn an art very few kids are learning these days (at least in the US) that he can carry into adulthood and enjoy forever.

So, yeah, I highly recommend the Little Mozart series for your young children if group classes are offered in your area!

That is so great! I can imagine that you'll need to "nudge" once in a while, as kids probably have short attention spans and so many things going on around them. But if not sooner, then later in life he'll thank you for giving him this opportunity!
Way to go

This is sweet. So happy you introduced this in his life and is investing on him. He's a lucky child for having this opportunity so young. You've done great.

You know what I would like to hear more about, is those first months when little Wolfgangus started poking dad's harpsichord, and Leopold showed him a bit of this and a bit of that: what were those first explorations like? Is that in a book somewhere?