[hongkongphooey]

Hello

We are parents of two children 3 & 6 years old. I would like the family to learn the piano but even my wife & I are total novices. I'm not too concerned about our youngest for the moment, I'll just see how much interest he takes in it from watching his Mum, Dad & Sister learn. I wondered if anybody had advice regarding a book for a 6 year old and another for a couple of 40 year olds?

John Thompson's Easiest Piano Course seemed quite colourful & interesting when I flicked through it (not that I know what I'm looking for!). Another junior title I noticed is The Piano Tree. Is there any reason why my wife & I shouldn't start with the same text as our daughter since neither of us have ever struck a key in anger [I'm hoping of course that we might progress a little faster than a 6 year old though I wouldn't wager too much on that ] As for adult beginners; Piano Tune, Piano for Dummies and The Complete Piano Player are titles that keep cropping up? Does anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks,

PS. I'm hoping to find a local tutor as well so we are not totally dependent on self-teach books.

[Gill the Piano]

There's one by Pauline Hall called something like 'Ten Fingers', or another called 'Me and My Piano', both of which I see on pianos where there are littluns having lessons. They seem popular with the kids - and obviously with the teachers, ior they wouldn't recommend them. However, I would wait until s/he has lessons and see what the teacher prefers - everyone has their own favourite system. You won't be able to teach the kids yourselves; adults learn so slowly in comparison that the kids get bored and frustrated. Anyway, you're only dad, so they aren't going to listen to you!
For humans, I recommend the Complete Piano Player;not patronising, fast enough to be interesting but slow enough that you don't get confused, using songs you know (Abba, Elvis, Beatles, etc) so you know when you've gone wrong.