Any Parent Can Teach Piano At Home!

[Today’s article “Any Parent Can Teach Piano At Home!” is a guest post by Nikki Truesdell.]

If you had asked me 15 years ago when I began homeschooling if I would also teach my children to play piano, I would have said definitely not! After all, I’m teaching them everything else, aren’t I? That’s what piano teachers are for!

But 5 children later, and a couple of years of long afternoons juggling kids and activities in the car parked outside the piano teacher’s home, I had to re-think piano lessons. We live in the country, so drive time and teacher location are also considerations.

Now here we are, 15 years into homeschooling, and piano is one of our regular subjects. Just so you know, I did take piano lessons as a young girl, but only sporadically and only 2-3 years at most. So I am not an expert, but I had enough knowledge to get started.

So, with the help of basic piano books and a few great websites, I took the plunge.

**Try out some free piano lessons from Hoffman Academy here.

Here’s what I have learned about teaching piano at home:

• ALL of my kids were receptive to it, very unlike the typical attitude toward piano lessons and required practice.
• A daily lesson (even if only 5 minutes) by mom greatly speeds up progress! Instead of one lesson per week, they learn a little something new every day.
• I never have to remind them to practice, because of the daily lessons and the fact that they don’t see this as an “assignment.” (In fact, I sometimes long for a “piano-free” hour in my house!)

For my young beginning children, these are my favorite home piano teaching resources:

• Hoffman Academy – free video lessons online. Perfect for introducing kids to the world of piano!
• Piano Pronto books – These are basic, straightforward lessons that most parents can teach from, and get the children playing simple songs very quickly. I start with Prelude for the beginning student.
• Simple Apps on the iPad, including The Most Addicting Sheep Game (teaches rhythm) and  Flashnote Derby (helps with note-naming).

Printable Games to Teach Piano at Home

There are lots of fun printable games as well as online games available for the younger crowd. You can also find flashcards and printable theory lesson worksheets. Follow Gena’s Music in Our Homeschool store has lots of great options!

• Music Alphabet Handwriting Practice Sheets for Elementary
• Music Theory Flashcards and Manipulatives for All Ages
• Percussion Printable Set for Elementary
• Music Fun Printable Set for Elementary
• Instrument Families Printable Set for Elementary
• Dynamics Flashcards and Picture Cards for Elementary
• Recorder & Music Activity Pack for Preschool and Elementary
• Beginning Sight Singing with Solfege Hand Signs printable set for Elementary/Middle School

 Older/Advanced Students:

For a parent with basic music knowledge, young children are easy to teach. But what about the older or advanced student? There came a point where my teenage daughter said, “If you’ll get me a lesson book in the next level I can teach myself.” Um, okay!

This is the essence of homeschooling right here. Teaching kids to be eager learners and able to learn whatever they desire.

There are occasions when my daughter encounters a new concept that she doesn’t understand. I have found a couple of helpful resources for these times:

• My favorite is Theory Lessons app from the AppStore – this is our first go-to helper for basic theory questions (both for my students and myself!). This is pretty comprehensive, but if we still need clarification, we go to the internet.
• PianoLessons.com is a great site with free videos.
• MusicTheory.net (from the makers of the above app) has free lessons on their website.
• Gena has a Beginning Music Theory course for elementary students in her Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership, as well as an Advanced Music Theory course for upper-level high school.
• A Beginning Music Theory for Teens course will be ready at Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com in the fall of 2023.

The older kids have reached the point where they can play from sheet music, look up new songs to play, and hunt down the info they need to learn what a mark on the music means.

Some of my children will want to progress further than I can teach. At that point, we will definitely hire a piano teacher. But for now, the early years of piano are fun and easy to do in the comfort of our home, and on our family’s schedule. And as with all subject areas in homeschooling, my favorite part is that I get to share the learning experiences with my children!

Piano for Preschoolers

KinderBach beginning piano and music theory for preschoolers is back! Learn all about this innovative and effective program that you can do in the comfort of your own home here.

Other Instruments You Can Teach Your Kids At Home!

Piano isn’t the only instrument you can teach your kids at home. How about Recorder? Get help from Mr. Jerry with the online course Recorder Time with Mr. Jerry.

Or, singing, too! Gena has a series called Singing Made Easy that takes you through 5 levels of singing lessons — for the whole family!

And, the newest instrument course is Guitar Time with Ben, beginning guitar lessons for ages 10 and up.

Related Posts about Teaching Piano at Home:

• 3 Helpful Tips for Parents of New Piano Students
• How to Help your Homeschool Student be Successful with Piano Lessons

 

     Nicki Truesdell is a 2^nd-generation homeschooler and mother to 5. She loves books, freedom, history and quilts, and blogs about all of these at nickitruesdell.com. She believes that homeschooling can be relaxed and that history is fun, and both can be done with minimal cost or stress, no matter your family’s circumstances. You can also find her on  Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.