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Friday November 21st, 2003

Baldwin dealers help revive 'Anybody Can Play' program for preschoolers

Pre-school children will have the opportunity to take piano lessons for $1.70 a month through a program endorsed by Baldwin dealers called "Anybody Can Play." Educator Karla Hastings created this national program for the Baldwin Piano Company in the 1980s, which was taught from books and tapes to thousands of children, and now the curriculum will be available online.

Children aged 4-6 years are given a five-minute piano lesson daily from the printable Worksheet Piano Lesson Program available at www.anybodycanplay.com, and the lessons build step-by-step musical comprehension and keyboard skills. Even without a musical background, pre-school and elementary teachers and parents can teach children with the lesson plans, which include answers and suggestions for additional activities. Parents can log on at home and obtain a free duplicate set of lessons for their child so they can share what he/she has learned. The songs are presented at multiple skills levels to challenge individual children in a group, and music theory is presented in a way that is easy and fun to understand.

There is compelling evidence to suggest that early music education dramatically enhances a child's ability to memorize and concentrate, while improving self-discipline, patience, sensitivity and coordination, while developing self confidence. According to the Music Educators National Conference from The College Board, the SAT scores of students involved in musical performance, on average, are 51 points higher on the verbal portion and 39 points higher on the math portion than those students with no experience or coursework in music. The piano allows a broad application of musical concepts that transfers well to other instruments and allows a child to develop rhythm, a sense of harmony and melody.

Hastings made her singing debut at age 3 and could read piano music by age 5. The familys first piano was a mahogany Baldwin Acrosonic, and her mother would point to the key and then play the note. When she started formal piano lessons, the teacher realized she was very advanced for her age because she was skipping entire piano instruction books within the first few weeks.

She began teaching piano lessons in the 1970s, first using the Suzuki method, but had philosophical differences with the teaching methods, so she began transcribing violin books for the piano. She then devised her own method and taught lessons by color - for example, Old McDonald Had a Farm was green. She has instructed thousands of children, some of whom have Downs Syndrome.

I want every child to experience the joy of music, Hastings says. When you start something [like piano] very young, it gets in their subconscious and it never goes away."

Baldwin dealers are sponsoring the program by providing funding for "Anybody Can Play." Hastings will jump-start the program in participating preschools across the country.

For more information about Baldwin Pianos go here, visit your nearest Baldwin dealer or call 1.800.876.2976 anytime, 7 days a week to speak personally with one of our piano experts