Amazing Grace

Daniel's piano playing is coming along quite well (although over the Christmas holidays he hasn't been practicing too much). I was looking for some music that he could play that had some meaning for him. The kids love to pretend to play church together so when I found Amazing Grace music that included all notes he has already learnt, I couldn't go past it. I asked Daniel if he wanted to learn some church music and he straight away responded with 'Yes!'

Here he is after his first couple of lessons. He found it tricky to get the timing right but learnt that with practice he can get there.

Over the next few weeks we built upon the lines and notes that he had learnt, focussing on the timing of his playing. By the end of the term, Daniel had learnt the whole song, including the bass notes at the end. He was very proud of himself, as are James and I!

We mentioned to him that maybe one week he could play the song with Daddy's band at church in a practice or even in the service if there was an opportunity. He got quite excited by the idea. I am keen to help him see a purpose for learning music and learning different songs.

He has also learnt Happy Birthday and so I got him to play the song for Maddie on her birthday and sent it to her for her birthday message. He loved doing it! 

I'll continue to teach him for the start of the year and see how it goes. It would be good for an actual piano teacher to help him learn and to teach him notes and theory more than I feel I can, but I am enjoying teaching him, especially when I can see his progress like this!