Piano Question

[mom31257]

My 5 yo ds is interested in piano. My dd takes lessons from a friend of ours, and I asked her to pick up some beginning books for me to do some with him (I did take a few years and played flute). He really wants to do them, but my question is should he because he's having a lot of trouble holding his fingers the right way. Will it "mess him up" for good if he doesn't have the right hand position yet? His fine motor skills are not the best yet. My dd's teacher is not certified, and is a college student with many, many years experience, but I haven't asked since she isn't certified.


Thanks for any advice!

[Marty]

My oldest dd started when she was almost four. Yes, they do have trouble holding their fingers right.

Our piano teacher taught her 'finger exercises' to begin with. Playing 1-2-3-4-5, then 5-4-3-2-1. With each hand. We even put numbered masking tape on the keys when needed. You can teach different combinations of finger exercises. They are easy to 'learn' while actually learning techniques:

We're proud to be able to learn music, so we sit up straight. (this is a hard one to remember at the same time as doing lessons) Also, she was to sit more to the edge of the bench, not back too far. And not sit right up against the piano. So the bench was scooted back a little.
Later, they will need to be sitting back from the piano (to have better manuverability in reaching keys far to the right or left), rear on the edge of the bench, feet on the floor. So teach good habits now. ;)

Teach him to pretend there is an apple/egg/ball under his hand, to show him how to curve. And we pretended that the edge of the piano was hot, so she shouldn't want to rest her hand on it. Also, she was told to play with her fingertip and her fingernail. That way she wasn't flattening the end of her fingers. We'd say "hot-apple-fingernails" to remember.

You'll think of more little things like this as you go... :001_smile:

[GailV]

I remember my dd putting the pad-tip of her thumb with the pad-tip of her finger (typically the middle finger) and pretending it was a chicken pecking the ground. That was to teach her how to curve the finger to strike the key.

To this day my best posture is when I sit at a piano -- it was so often repeated to NOT SLOUCH SIT UP STRAIGHT.

We folded a blanket for dd to sit on, since she was actually too low to hold her arms properly when seated on the bench.

It's a process -- constant gentle reminders will get the job done over time.

[Paula in MS]

My daughter is 6 and I am teaching her myself. To make it easier to round her hands while playing, I set up an adjustable bench so that she can sit higher. It is impossible to round your hands when your elbows are below the keys. If you don't have an adjustable bench, try a phone book to sit on. Also, put a box under his feet for support. Trust me; it will help immensely. It will also give him a little more strength in his fingers.

With all that said, at 5, If there are problems with his finger position, focus on theory. Count music; learn where the notes are at the piano. Then, start again at 6.

Paula