Little KeyNotes offers the perfect first step into piano playing for young beginners.
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Lessons are lively, musical, and imaginative ā€” filled with songs, games, and creative tasks that build understanding through play.
With clear structure, repetition, and meaningful themes, children learn the fundamentals of rhythm, pitch, and keyboard geography in a way that feels fun and natural.
At this stage, learning throughĀ characters and experience is key.
Little KeyNotes connects music to the world around children ā€” from animals to weather to minibeasts ā€” helping them understand how music can represent what they already know and love.
Little KeyNotes lessons are active, imaginative, and full of discovery.
Each session combines singing, listening, movement, and playing ā€” introducing musical ideas through character, song, and sound.
Short, varied activities keep children engaged, while clear routines help them feel secure and successful as they learn.
UnderstandingĀ
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Recognising high and low sounds, loud and soft dynamics, and fast or slow tempos
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Learning simple rhythmic patterns through movement, tapping, and games
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Understanding musical structure, repetition, and contrast through songs and stories
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Discovering pitch patterns, steps, and leaps on the keyboard and in melodies
Skills
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Developing finger strength, control, and independence through playful exercises
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Building coordination between hands, eyes, and ears
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Singing finger numbers and letter names to connect pitch and movement
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Beginning to play short, patterned pieces using 5-finger positions on the keyboard, building fine motor skills
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Strengthening early reading andĀ tracking skills in preparation for notation work
Mindset
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Building confidence through regular performance and positive reinforcement
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Learning focus, turn-taking, and teamwork in a supportive group setting
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Developing curiosity, imagination, and a sense of musical ownership
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Experiencing pride and joy in progress ā€” every child feels successful
Little KeyNotes is designed specifically for the way young children learn best ā€” through imagination, repetition, and active exploration.
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Each workbook follows a consistent, cyclical structure so concepts are revisited and reinforced over time.
With differentiated parts, ensemble options, and built-in creativity, Little KeyNotes provides a rich musical foundation that prepares students for lifelong learning at the piano.
Ā Children love music. They naturally and instinctively understand so much more than we realise. We can help them to use this understanding and apply it to different intentions. Why is a high pitch good for representing a bird? How can we use tempo to show the differences between a snail and a beetle? Our themed workbooks ensure that there are plenty of opportunities to explore musical elements in relation to characters, stories, ideas and moods. Plus, of course, we have many games that make the exploration even more fun!
Pitch
Children don't need much introduction to the concept of pitch where it comes to highs and lows. However, we go further and consider how pitch can be used to represent different characters or stories.
Dynamics
Through songs and games, and varying the dynamics of our playing, children learn how louds and softs can impact the mood in music, building suspense and creating some wonderful moments of surprise.
Tempo
Tempo is another one that needs little introduction with children, but learning Italian terms and being able to march, tip-toe and dance in time with the music, whether it is fast or slow, is an incredibly important (and fun) skill.
A solid foundation in keyboard geography
Little KeyNotes students get to know what the notes are, where the notes are, how to find them independently. Through games, songs and pompoms, they are given anchors to help them build their knowledge and be able to navigate a piano or keyboard without gimmicks or tricks. We teach our students that a C is a C, not a random animal or some other object. They are very good at singing the musical alphabet and can apply that knowledge to the keyboard.
Child's Play
Learning through play is a well-established concept at this age, and luckily for us, we can very easily ensure that we are meeting this important learning process. First of all, we enable them to play and explore the piano! Something which they very naturally enjoy! Then we can teach skills and concepts through games. Each of our games follows the theme for the workbook and ensures that learning objectives for each lesson are embedded.
Technique from the very start
Our pieces build finger strength, 5-finger positions and a bubble hand posture. We have games and exercises that develop knowledge of the different sounds that can be achieved through the way that we play the piano, and these relate to the stories we are telling.
Supporting parents to support their child
We are so passionate about the importance of parents' role in their child's piano-learning journey; it is key to the child's confidence, self-efficacy, and perseverance. As such, we provide an area of our site where parents can watch practice videos for each lesson. This is in addition to the parent practice sheets that teachers are able to hand out each week.
Accompaniments
Accompaniments help to bring the programmatic elements of the pieces to life, as well as making sure that everyone stays in time!
Our accompaniments are played on the piano as we want to highlight the many different and wonderful effects achieved on just one instrument!
Here is an example taken from our Under the Sea workbook.
Our Workbooks
Little KeyNotes has five workbooks, each lasting approximately 12 weeks. Each workbook is based on a topic, and all learning, playing and gaming are based around them.
KeyNotes Has All theĀ Tools You Need To Build A SuccessfulĀ Group Piano Program
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