Right now i accepted 3 students. They are all new at piano, and they are all young. What i mean by new is that they have no piano experience whatsoever, what i mean by young is they are around 5-6 years old. One of them is extremely nosy and noisy.

I need some advice in teaching kids how to read notes, and i'm wondering if anyone know how to do that

I know about that...um..FACE or that other thing Hiei said, but i need some tricks and tips on how to deal with little kids with a troublesome thing such as teaching them how to read notes.

Get one of those beginner books with loads of pictures on them. They should have the first few songs as just a couple of notes in crotchets. Start with rhythm first rather than teaching them notes. So teach quavers, etc. because it has variation to keep a child occupied rather than thud thud thud persisitantly on different notes. If they persist to be noisy, I suggest bringing their parents into a piano lesson with them so that the parent would tell them to shut up after you tell them ot settle down. If they're nosy, tell them that they have to perfect what you teach them first before giving them their answer (answer doesn't have to be true though ;) ). If I think of more I'll post more.

Be harsch on them, at least in the beginning. That's all I can help you with =)

hm..ya being harsh in a way, but whew i'm not sure if it has positive effect

That's why I said it should only be done in the beginning. That way, they will know that you're there to learn, and not something else. If the teacher is strict and fair, the students (no matter what age) will learn more, and have more respect for the teacher.

I need some advice in teaching kids how to read notes, and i'm wondering if anyone know how to do that There aren't very many ways learn to read notes. Personally, the FACE stuff gave me no help at all, and I think that will just confuse the kids. I think what you should do, is get flash cards, and make up a game with the cards. Something like the game "memory" where you have to match cards. Or anything along the lines really. Try to make it fun, cuz they are just little kids, but don't let them get out of hand. I started taking lessons about a year ago, and stopped six months later. I was lucky, I had a hottie 15 year old teacher :drool:

hm...flash cards, arg i'm not good at this stuff, can you show me a brief thing about flash cards? and how that might work?

Well, what my teacher did, was she had Musical Flash cards, and you know about the math flash cards like this (http://www.kidslovepublications.com/Flash-Cards-(Set-Multiplica.jpg). They have an equation on the front and the answer on the back. Well they make the same thing for piano. And basicly it shows a staff with a note on it, and the student has to say what note it is. So basicly what you do, is you show them the card, like for example it could have a crotchet note on the F line. The student would then say, "That is an F" and hit the F key on the piano... And so, it helps the kid memorize the staff and stuff. I'm not sure how you can make it a game, but like if you do do that, praise them like you would a dog, only more human like >.>

As for me, well I was taught up the harsh way when I was a child because I had a different mentor back then. I was really bored with playing the piano until a new mentor came in which was my mentor at age 10 and above and previously my college proff. As a child, of course learning something uninteresting as piano would really be a bore. I did everything as a routine, practiced hard as an obligation and read every notes and pieces as if it were the last of my days. That stupid hag was my worst nightmare, teaching me like I was some estranged zombie only to play, practice and supposedly be the best of my abilities. How could you play with the best of one's abilites if your piano teacher bashes your fingers and smacks your hands with a ruler and a book.

Until, the new teacher came. That hag had to move somewhere else that's why my mom had to find a new mentor soon. And she did, she found an angel. At first she asked me what were the pieces that I have learned, and she let me play them. And then, she asked me if whether I liked those pieces and I just nodded and agrreed. She must have known that I never did like them. Anyway, she just showed me a great time, she showed me that you could play something so uninteresting and make something of it so wonderfull and beautifull. She just made it such a wonderfull experience for me. At every lesson we had, she always plays a piece advanced of my level or a piece that I wanted to hear but never could play, just so that one of them could be my pieces. Every mistake that I had, she told me, " A bee will never rest until it finds it's flower, and so do you should you have the patience to practice with passion...maybe by next week, that bee would have already flown to the most beautiful and precious flower. "

Well, this is too long. I have so many stories to tell about my mentor, but one advice. Don't ruin a child's future by being too harsh and EVIL and making things the boring and hard way. Put some spice into it, a child's passion lies into his interest. Make the best of everything. As of now, you are a preschool teacher who teaches piano to kids. Please do not ruin their basic foundation by being hard on them, make things as fun as possible. And I assure you, they'll be thanking you as much as I am praising my mentor who saved me from hell....

That's why I said it should only be done in the beginning. That way, they will know that you're there to learn, and not something else. If the teacher is strict and fair, the students (no matter what age) will learn more, and have more respect for the teacher.

Depends on the personality of the student. If you do that with your own kids, they'll start to resent you. You have to compliment them when they do something good to encourage them and sort of help them through things they find difficult. People only give respect when they are given respect so I don't think the harsh thing will work as effectively as other methods. You don't want to terrorise the kid into playing the piano, it's something that's meant to be enjoyed rather than "do this! no that's not right! practice boy! practice!" If I had a teacher like this, I'd associate piano lessons with terror or a similar emotion.

You don't get my point though. Thread maker said that the kids were noisy and stuff, and that's when you need to be strict and inform them that you are the teacher, and they are there to learn.

I agree on being strict, because that's how i was taught in when i was learning piano at age of 5, and i was a noisy kid. I will probably be strict and force the stuff on the kid. Hm...i'll try that flash card method of teaching these kids, if only they would sit their butt down on the piano chair and actually listen!

You don't get my point though. Thread maker said that the kids were noisy and stuff, and that's when you need to be strict and inform them that you are the teacher, and they are there to learn.

Yeah being strict is ok, just don't overdo it really.

also, before trying a new song, you should have them clap the rhythm, name the notes, and basically pull apart a song before you play it. my teacher did that and it worked well ^_^

I think I was really traumatized by my mentor back then because she really was a terror. And I was a very quiet and obedient student so maybe that putrid teacher was a horror for me, we did'nt match. Anyway, I think implementing the strict rules and regulations in teaching someone would be good for a rough and annoying child. But then, if it still does'nt work, then reverse psychology would be the best for them. Like showing and making them feel like they are not studying and practicing something as an obligation but doing something they really love. Which is to play...the piano.

Thanks for the ideas, i'll try them out ^^

do what beethoven's father did >;P