Children are often curious about the pedals on the piano when they first come to piano lessons. There are four common questions inquiring, young musicians want to know about the pedals. Here are the first three.

When am I going to use the pedals?

How come your piano has three pedals and mine only has two?

Why does your piano have pedals? My keyboard doesn t have any?

Below are definitions of the three pedals on a traditional, acoustical grand piano. From left to right they are the una corda pedal, the sostenuto pedal, and the damper pedal.

1. The una corda pedal Una corda means one string. It is generally called the soft pedal because it adjusts the piano action so the hammers only strike two of the three strings and the volume is reduced.

2. The sostenuto pedal - Sustains (or holds out) only the strings of the keys that are already pushed down.

3. The damper pedal - Lifts the dampers so all of the strings continue to sound even as more keys are played.

The above definitions, however, will need to be simplified a bit for a 6 year old. Teachers usually start by showing young students examples of how using the pedals changes the volume or sound as the keys are played.

If your child has a keyboard without any pedals you can purchase a sustain pedal for it. This would be a great idea as the sustain pedal is the first pedal students learn to use. If you have an acoustical piano with only two pedals, don t worry about it. These are the Una Corda Pedal and the Damper Pedal. The Sostenuto pedal is rarely used but is nevertheless nice to have when needed. However your child in piano won t miss it.

Here is one more important question children almost always ask about the pedals at their first piano lesson, How are my feet going to reach them!?

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f ree internet newsletter so you can download f ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

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Raising children can be trying. At times so much so that it even tempts devoted parents to wonder, How does the world manage to re-populate itself? So keeping a sense of humor is really important. Here s some crazy things kids say when taking piano lessons and practicing that parents need to be prepared to laugh at. Let s start with the whining. Amazingly these are things I ve heard young, beginning piano students say right after they have played a simple piece of music beautifully?

Student: But it s too hard.

Parent: It s only too hard if you think it is.

Student: My fingers nails hurt.

Parent: We can trim your nails.

Student: Why do I have to look at the music?

Parent: Do you think I should look at the road when I m driving?

Student: I m thirsty.

Parent: I m Dad.

Student: When can I play Fur Elise?

Parent: When you know how.

Student: When will I know how to play every song on the piano that I hear?

Parent: When you re 18.

Student: Why do I need to play at home when I played piano at my lesson?

Parent: Because we can t afford to play on your teacher s piano every day.

Here s what parents of young children need to get. Kids whine. Everything your child complains about doesn t mean anything. It s kind of like my cat. He always stands at the door and whines, even when I just let him out. He will then whine by his food dish even though I just filled it up with his favorite kitty pellets. Why? Because it makes him feel secure to see me open the door for him one more time, and put a few more pellets in his bowl. Will he ever get tired of me opening the door and giving him more kitty pellets that he isn t going to eat? No.

So don t take your little kitten in piano lessons too seriously and in a few years they ll be saying, I can play the piano better than my parents, because I ve been taking lessons and they didn t get to do that.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f ree internet newsletter so you can download f ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

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Piano lessons have so many benefits for children, such as improved math skills, improved reading skills, and improved overall educational progress. Parents don t want their children to miss out on this fun, educational experience. The fact is, however, the earlier your child begins piano lessons the more they will benefit. Many parents wait until their children are 9, or 10, or 14 years old to finally enroll their child in piano lessons. Why? The excuse most often stated by parents for this delay is, I m not quite sure my child is ready for piano lessons. Here s what parents need to understand about waiting to give their children piano lessons.

Music is a language. Young children are programmed to absorb languages. So waiting to give your child piano lessons doesn t really make sense. Here s what you can do, however, to make sure your young child is ready for piano lessons. Just as parents can teach their young children pre-skills for learning to read at home they can also teach their young children foundational music language pre-skills at home. But to do this well, parents need the right materials to guide them in a step-by-step process so learning goes smoothly for their child. Today there is no reason why this should be dificult.

In the past music educators have tended to view themselves and their profession as an elite group with special talent others should be so lucky to have. Music materials were often couched in unnecesarily technical language that made learning inaccessible to the lay person. With the advent of the internet this is no longer true. In fact, piano teachers who still operate under this dogmatic perspective are shooting themselves in the foot, while other piano teachers are sharing what they know with the world, so that everyone benefits from the gift of music.

If you’re a parents of a young child don t hesitate to enroll them in piano lessons. But first prepare them for piano success at home. This way you won t have to worry about whether or not your child is ready for piano, because you’ll know that they are. You may even decide to take piano lessons yourself.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f ree internet newsletter so you can download f ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

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