Who ever said that you had to be named Mozart to compose as a little kid? And were his compositions that brilliant at that age? I beg to differ. All he did was mash together pieces of songs that he had been exposed to from an early age....there's nothing brilliant about that at all. In fact, all of my young students have done the same thing when GIVEN A CHANCE. Most teachers, I think, don't believe that little ones are capable of creating any coherent music. But they actually are, especially when they've been exposed to basic structure in songs they've played. It's just like when they learn how to speak.
I usually start out by letting the student (even as early as 3 years old) experiment with sounds for about 5 minutes during the lesson. If the banging really bothers you, bring ear plugs. But I would rather you listen how they slowly discover cause and effect and patterns.
Next, I usually get blank sheets of paper and ask them to press notes they want and I write the letters (or colors or numbers) for them. Then I let them decide on a name. It's amazing how much ownership over a piece encourages them to participate and do more composition and be more active and aware during lessons.
If the student is learning to write letters already, I then allow them to write their own letters. If you're still just using colors to denote notes, give them markers or crayons and let them draw circles of colors in the order that they make up a song.
Once they are learning how to read real music notation, I first write the notes for them but when they are comfortable I encourage them to write notes themselves.
The best part of this process is that the piano student has ownership of the activity and feels like they are directing something themselves. And of course, the titles they come up with can leave you giggling for days. One little five year old made up a song and played it for me. When I asked her what it was called, she turned her big eyes to me and disclosed: "I call this one 'Single Lady' " I was practically crying from laughter!
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If you're looking for piano lessons in West Los Angeles or more music resources in the area, check out my site Brentwood Piano.
If you are looking for tutors & music or art instructors in Los Angeles, especially those trained and experienced in working with special needs students, check out Able Scholar.
