piano for 3- and 4-year-olds

The early childhood years are a critical period for cultivating children’s interest and skills in music. With that in mind, we have developed unique piano resources for the young child, which are conceptually suitable, age appropriate, and promote positive first-time experiences for learning to play the piano.

The products found in Piano for 3- and 4-Year-Olds (in the Products Gallery) include piano-related activities (finger numbers, key names, etc.), matching and identification games, and pre-reading exercises and songs. These are designed to help children acquire basic piano skills and introduce them to the primary elements of music.

Additional resources in this category include:  The Piano Book,  First Play,  and  Songs on the Black Keys. The three books, when presented in the order listed, offer a progressive, preliminary guide to piano instruction, beginning with basic music concepts, finger numbers, fingers on the black keys, stem direction, and pre-reading exercises and songs. The presentation of content in each book is colorful, straightforward, and easy to understand; a perfect combination for adults without piano or music experience who want to introduce a young child to the piano.

The Piano Book presents the fundamental concepts of music (i.e., sounds that are high/low, loud/quiet, long/short) and the first steps of learning to play the piano, including spatially identifying and physically playing higher and lower sounds on the keyboard, identifying black key groupings, and learning about finger numbers.

First Play is a compilation of 3-note exercises on the black keys for first-time playing experiences. These exercises promote finger independence, reinforce the use of finger numbers with opportunities for right- or left-hand playing, and incorporate left-to-right eye tracking on a single line.

Songs on the Black Keys is a collection of multi-measure, pre-reading exercises that use simple rhythms and highlights the use of stem direction to indicate right- or left-hand playing.

Please note:  Before downloading the resources available on our website, make sure that Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed and working properly on your device. Follow this link to download the app free of charge for Windows, Mac OS, and Android devices: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/pdf-reader.html.