Wowospot Kids Piano Blog

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How to Choose Your Very First Piano Method Book

December 17, 2022

by Lisa Cheng

Very Young Kids Can and Love to Play Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars

Becase young children are very responsive to songs they are familiar with, I believe the best way to make young children interested is to introduce piano through songs. For example, Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars, Jingle Bells are the two songs that almost every child knows by heart before turning six; they always make wonders in a child’s very first piano lesson. They can be played by one hand and most of the time a child can play and sing with just several times of repetition following the teacher’s instruction. So, how do we choose a proper piano beginner’s book? I always look for a method book (if I choose to use one for convenience) that contains very easy folk tunes presented on proper music staves. Below are a couple beginners’ method books Wowospot Kids Piano loves:

Teaching Little Fingers to Play

This lovely book has been used for a long time in Asia. At least it was my very first piano book when I started piano at five and a half. The author was John Thomson. The songs were very thoughtfully designed for small fingers so each song is achievable for a young kid to play. Other than that, every piece was song-like with melodies that can be sung along with lyrics. For one thing melodic lines help young children remember the tune, for another lyrics give young kids vivid imagination to go with the sound of the piano.

ABC of Piano Playing

This purple book has been my favorite in Canada. It was written by Boris Berlin. From lesson to lesson there is a continuous step-by-step introduction to musical ideas without skipping and haste. It is a book that gives very solid foundation, preparing young kids for future challenages. Students are allowed generous time to develop their familiarity to the huge looking instrument – piano, without having to feel overwhelmed. I also love the simple but easy to explain line art on every song page, which gives children an opportunity to “color” and to tell the story by themselves.

Peanut Butter Tower, My First Piano Song Book

We are also very pleased to annouce that Wowospot Music and Media is now designing and writing our piano beginners’ method book – Peanut Butter Tower, My First Piano Song Book, dedicated to young children aged 5-8. We wish to provide a fresh approach for teachers to offer a more engaging and balanced materials for children to learn. In particular, our ambition is to select great oriental folk tunes in the song book, which have not been seen much in the current available beginners method books in the market. We believe including lyrical folk songs such as Jasmine Flowers (Chinese) or Momotaro (Japanese) will bring more diversity and richer tonal colors to a young child’s music world.

如何選擇幼童的第一本鋼琴書

因為小孩子對他們熟悉的歌曲反應非常快，我相信讓小孩子感興趣的最好方法就是通過歌曲來介紹鋼琴。例如，Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars 小星星、Jingle Bells 聖誕雪橇，是幾乎每個孩子在 6 歲之前都熟記於心的兩首歌曲；他們總是在孩子的第一堂鋼琴課上創造奇蹟。它們可以單手彈奏，大多數情況下，孩子只需按照老師的指示重複數次就可以彈奏和歌唱。那麼，我們該如何選擇一本合適的鋼琴入門書呢？我總是在尋找一本方法書，其中包含在適當的五線譜上呈現的非常簡單的民謠曲調。以下是Wowospot Kids Piano 喜歡的幾本初學者方法書：

Teaching Little Fingers to Play-

這本可愛的書在亞洲已經使用了很長時間。至少這是我五歲半開始學習鋼琴時的第一本鋼琴書。作者是約翰湯姆森。這些歌曲專為小手指精心設計，因此每首歌曲都適合年幼的孩子演奏。除此之外，每首曲子都像歌曲一樣，旋律可以和歌詞一起唱。一方面，旋律線可以幫助幼兒記住曲調，另一方面，歌詞可以讓幼兒生動地想像鋼琴聲音和圖像。

ABC of Piano Playing-

這本紫色的書一直是我在加拿大的最愛。它的作者是鮑里斯·柏林。從一節課到另一節課，有一個連續的逐步介紹音樂，沒有跳過和倉促。這本書提供了非常堅實的基礎，讓年幼的孩子為未來的挑戰做好準備。學生們可以有充裕的時間來熟悉這種外觀龐大的樂器——鋼琴，而不必感到不知所措。我也喜歡每首歌曲頁上簡單但易於解釋的線條藝術，這讓孩子們有機會“著色”並自己講述故事。

Peanut Butter Tower, My Very First Piano Song Book-

我們也很高興地宣布，Wowospot Music and Media 正在設計和編寫我們的鋼琴初學者方法書 – 花生醬塔，我的第一本鋼琴歌曲書，專為 5-8 歲的幼兒設計。我們希望為教師提供一種全新的方法，為孩子們提供更具吸引力和平衡的學習材料。特別是，我們的目標是在歌本中選擇優秀的東方民謠，這在目前市場上的初學者方法書籍中並不多見。我們相信，包括茉莉花（中文）或桃太郎（日文）等民歌將為幼兒的音樂世界帶來多樣性和更豐富的色彩。