Charlie has wanted to learn to play an instrument forever and has asked to learn how to play the drums because it is what I played in Highschool. Although he has a Guitar, he was given for Christmas a couple of years ago and hasn’t been able to use. With us, Homeschooling Charlie its the perfect time to find an instrument Charlie would enjoy learning to play as it would be his Music class.
I plan on introducing Charlie to a website called Zebra Keys and letting him try out the Piano class and see if it would be something Charlie would enjoy learning. Because if it is, I can look for a local class for Charlie to take and if it is something he doesn’t enjoy we can find another instrument for Charlie to try out.
Age Range: 13-18 (Grades 8-12, with parental supervision)
Learn the basics of playing the piano with the over 50 free lessons at this website.
After reading the home page overview information, select the “Start Lessons Now” button to begin with lesson 1. Please note that you will need to have Flash installed to view the animated experiences and be sure to have your volume on so you can hear what is happening.
Lessons include instructional text and animations as well as videos and other online tools. Practice what you are learning on the Zebra Keys Virtual keyboard using either your mouse or computer keyboard then test your knowledge on an interactive keyboard trainer.
Lessons are broken into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels and divided into five mini sections:
- Learn Songs
- Chords
- Music Theory
- Improvisation
- Technique
Suggested that if the student is new to the world of playing the piano that they should start with the “Preparation” section to learn basic playing concepts.
Browse the left-hand sidebar menu to find:
- Sheet Music – downloadable PDFs of piano music as well as links to specific song lessons
- Articles – general information from tips on buying a piano or keyboard to how to learn to read piano music and more
- Links – links to outside resources to anything piano related
- Reviews – opinions on piano related DVDs, books, keyboards and accessories
- Reference – Read the FAQs, search the glossary, use the music notation chart, or access the virtual piano chord chart to locate chords on a keyboard.
- Music Tools – Here you will find links to the Virtual Keyboard, Keyboard Trainer, Note Trainer, Interval Ear Trainer, Scale Ear Trainer, and Chord Ear Trainer tools used throughout the lessons.
An excellent site for anyone wishing to learn the piano or improve their playing skills.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
