The way to work with children depends on a range of factors, including their age and cognitive development, their ability to concentrate, and their personality and gender, according to Alison Ruddock, a music teacher. Tailor your lessons to each pupil individually. For example, younger children need more time to grasp music concepts than older kids do.
When beginning each lesson, do the warm-up. This may include rhythm work -- clapping simple four-beat rhythms for the student and getting him to clap them back. After the child masters the basics of sheet music, the warm-up may include such activities as sight singing -- singing from sheet music -- and sight reading -- playing the piano from sheet music.
Teaching simple piano does not require the pupil to be able to play Schubert or Tchaikovsky. Still, learning the basics of sheet music is extremely important. While the explanation of sheet music for the piano goes beyond the scope of this article, the topics you can cover include rhythm and note duration, the names of the notes, and how to locate and play the notes on a piano keyboard. Chords -- a group of notes sounded together -- are also important.
Certain skills make the music you play sound better, and developing those skills in children is necessary to ensure they play well. According to the Guildhall School of
Music and Drama, a skillful musician should develop accuracy, control of instrument, musical awareness -- awareness of the structure, style and character of the music she is playing -- and quality of sound, which includes clarity of focus and consistency of tone,