How to Teach Piano Theory to Kids

Workbooks are an essential for school age children learning piano.

A good workbook provides a well designed course for your student. It gets children writing music and solving theory problems. This helps children understand theory better. 

Workbooks are also helpful  because they stop you from needing to design a whole theory course for your students. Of course you'll need to add other tools and activities for learning theory but the workbook acts as the core to your theory lessons. Your role as a piano teacher is to make sure your students understand the material in the workbook lessons. it is also to link these ideas to playing piano, correct any mistakes they make and provide learning support for anything they don't understand. 

There are many workbooks available for children learning piano. I like the "Fundamentals of Piano Theory" the best. The workbooks start from the prep level which means you can start theory from the very beginning of lessons. This is much better for everyone. The activities and theory covered are also essential core concepts for young pianists rather than music students in general. This gives your student a more targeted theory education. I find this has better results. 

When learning theory (or piano) many children have problems understanding some concepts - such as the value of each music note. This is because they often haven't covered the associated math idea in school. So take a deep breath and try to think of ways to explain these concepts that a child can relate to. This means rather than explaining things from a theory viewpoint try to use examples from everyday life. This means some creative thinking from you as their teacher. But the results will be much better if you can explain in a way the child can relate to then to merely repeat the core ideas of the theory concept they find hard in the same way. 

Rather than flash cards I always used real piano music. I would usually choose a music piece from a slightly higher level for this activity. With this real music I would point to music signs and symbols that I had taught my students. I would ask for it's name and sometimes for an extra piece of information that they had been taught. This way my student was seeing the signs and symbols in the context of real music rather than out of context on a flash card. But it doesn't have to be an either/or choice. This activity could be used in conjunction with flash cards for a well rounded approach to learning piano theory.

Music theory wipe off boards are also a good tool for students to practice piano theory at home. I found it easier to buy a few at a time then resell them to my  students (I only asked the price I had paid for them although some teachers add a small surcharge for their effort too.) Having needed piano lesson books and tools "in stock"  works well because often families take too long to buy what is needed for lessons. Some parents are busy, some forget and some don't realize their child can't learn without the right tools. Selling items to students means they get them when they need them so learning doesn't stop. Parents don't buy the wrong item by mistake. It also looks very professional to have these things ready and waiting for students. For items that can be used from the first lesson (or within the first month) you can ask for the money at the start of the semester and give the books and tools all together as a pack. If you teach students who might find this hard money-wise you can provide them one at a time to spread the cost out a bit. 

Fractions are a hard concept for younger children. But reading piano music needs an understanding of fractions to understand things like how whole notes are divided. When you teach young students how to read music there is a good chance their school teacher hasn't explained fractions to them yet. So you will need to fill in this gap in their understanding. This is a hard job when you aren't a math teacher. It can also make it  hard to know which child is having problems with piano theory because they don't understand fractions. 

But you can work out if your piano student doesn't understand fractions? The first step is to know what grade children usually learn this in. If your student is in a younger grade it's probably safe to assume they haven't been taught yet. If the child is about the right age to learn fractions at school ask them if their teacher has talked about fractions. Then find out what has been discussed and what concepts your student understands. That way you can predict any possible problems. If your piano student is having a lot of problems with things like how a whole note is broken down into crotchets and quavers it's usually because they have a problem with fractions. 

Now you know what the problem is what can you do? You can use the same methods parents can do to help their child understanding fractions with just a few small changes. The idea of using everyday life to explain fractions works well for piano teachers. The way a whole note is broken down into smaller parts can be explained to a child by linking it to how a cake or apple is cut into pieces. Games and books about fractions can also be useful. Books can be used to help explain things to a child in lessons. Games can help develop understanding at home. You can have copies of suitable books and games to either lend to families or to add to your supplies to be resold. You will need to talk to parents about the connection of fractions to piano theory though. Otherwise parents will be confused. But they are usually very happy to help their child learn fractions and piano theory at the same time. (It gives extra value to piano lessons too). 

You can find tips on teaching fractions, as well as suitable books and games in the article "How Can I Help My Child Understand Fractions?"

When teaching piano theory to kids it's best to be creative. The more hands-on games you can think of the better your piano students will understand theory. The more they will enjoy piano lessons too. 

One idea for younger students is to make up some colorful, paper fish cards. Each with a musical symbol on them. Then have your piano student "go fishing" for the symbol you ask for. They can either 'catch' the fish with their hands or you can add a metal paper clip to the fish and catch them with a magnetic rod. You can use a rod from a store-brought magnetic fish game or make your own with a magnet. 

So when you are teaching theory think of these words and how you can apply them to your lessons. Variety. Movement. Color. Play. Question and Answers. Reading. Writing. Creating. By looking at theory from many different viewpoints you will have a better chance of providing a well rounded learning experience for your students. By creating you can become a master teacher on how to teach piano theory to kids.