Dogs & Birds piano teaching method

 

Coming from a very musical background (we’re Welsh, what can I say?) I was encouraged to take up a series of musical instruments. The violin, guitar and saxophone are gathering dust in the attic *ashamed face*, but I do have a (battered old) piano in the lounge and was keen that Alfie should learn to play, as like foreign languages, music is best learned from an early age. I was conscious that I was a bit rusty and didn’t really know where to start so was delighted to discover Dogs & Birds, a fantastic piano teaching method specifically designed for young children. It’s a beautifully simple idea – small tiles depicting animals are placed on the keys, each representing a note, so C = cat, D = dog, E = egg (there’s a chick peeping out, don’t nitpick), F = fish, G = goose, A = ant, B = bird. Then in the books, the notes have corresponding animals on them, while still being in the correct place on the stave, so not only enable small people to play simple tunes by following the animal symbols but help them to read music. I thought Alfie would be a bit young for it at three, but was proved wrong. He can now bash out Twinkle, Twinkle and is always asking to ‘do piano lessoning’. Early musical ability has been shown to result in improved memory, concentration and coordination, which has got to be a good thing. The Complete Music Set for Beginners contains everything you need to get started with your aspiring Lang Lang: two music books (one with animal notes, one with blank), parent and teacher notes, a set of animal tiles, a large printed set of staves and a manuscript book (probably more suited to older students), for £34.95 with free delivery. Carnegie Hall here we come…