I have one more thought about your question. I believe that the Simply Music approach to beginning piano is a “living” one in the same way that the Charlotte Mason approach to learning is a “living” one. As such, I think it is generally the best foundation no matter what happens next. I think the Simply Music approach probably forms more effective connections within the brain and between the brain and the hands than the approaches that have come to be considered traditional nowadays. It certainly forms more effective connections between a growing ability to play and the joy of playing the piano than other approaches!

With warm regards,
Leslie

My daughter has been so busy with her singing and schooling that she hasn’t been able to push forward as much as she wanted to with the Simply Music DVD’s since we did the interview. She will devote a large chunk of time to completing them this summer, however. My hope is that she will go on to do the teacher’s training and, therefore, get the rest of the program that way. Whenever it is she gets to the next stage with it, I will write another post as an update.

I will say, however, that there would be no problem with going through the Simply Music DVD’s and then going with a piano book or music theory approach at that point if necessary. A joyful foundation for making music on the piano will have been laid which is critical. From such a foundation a student would only be stronger as they move into reading music and learning music theory in whatever manner is available.

I wish you well with making the best decision for your family,
Leslie

Thanks to you and your daughter for the very informative interview. It’s great to get the perspective of someone who has actually used this product, instead of relying only on the “marketing materials”.

We also homeschool our three children. This sounds like a convenient and inexpensive way for me to teach them piano at home. It sounds much more enticing than other, traditional methods.

I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind:

1. Now that five months have gone by, how do you and your daughter feel about the Simply Music program? Has anything changed about your original opinion?

2. What would you or your daughter change about the program or wish it did differently?

3. Like you, we don’t have any Simply Music teachers nearby. I’m concerned about completing the Level 1 and Level 2 DVDs, and then not having anywhere else to go to continue with Simply Music or to learn note reading the Simply Music way. I don’t know how much of a problem it will cause to have to switch gears completely and some point to another piano method (Bastian, Piano Adventures, etc.). I wonder if it would be better just to go with a piano method that can be followed for many years. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance for responding. As you can tell, I’m conflicted about what approach to take.

Kurt

Bravo,

A Thai Nguyen
Licensed Simply Music Teacher
Orange County, CA, USA