Quite surprisingly, my brother shares my motivation to pick up piano again. Since I played piano three years longer than he did, I still remember how to play (although I did have a bit trouble reading bass clef in the beginning). However, my brother remembers nothing. He doesn't know the location of notes on the keys, how to do scales, or how to read bass clef at all. He can't read notes and play, and his weak fingers have trouble playing a C-major chord. It makes me want to face-palm.
So today I tried to teach a bit to my brother. Thank goodness he plays violin, or else he would be hopeless. I taught him the location of notes, but he still can't figure them out without counting from the middle C. I dug deep into my old piano books and found a junior Hanon book, which is a book of finger exercises for the piano. I flipped to the first one, and tried to get him to play it without his fingers tensing up or losing that ball shape that piano teachers remind you about many times. This kid has a long way to go.
So today I tried to teach a bit to my brother. Thank goodness he plays violin, or else he would be hopeless. I taught him the location of notes, but he still can't figure them out without counting from the middle C. I dug deep into my old piano books and found a junior Hanon book, which is a book of finger exercises for the piano. I flipped to the first one, and tried to get him to play it without his fingers tensing up or losing that ball shape that piano teachers remind you about many times. This kid has a long way to go.
My teacher makes me play Hanon and it’s actually really fun (I never practice though so I only end up playing those exercises once a week). That’s great that you’re teaching your brother how to play the piano! It’s hard to teach little kids piano, mostly because they get tired and lose focus. Even I don’t always have the urge to practice. There’s so many Youtube videos online now that anyone can learn piano from.
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