Start beginners with listening, creativity and play instead of a method book – with a free No Book Beginners Lesson 1 plan and videos.
This article is part of our complete guide to how to teach piano.
What’s the best way to start a brand new piano student?
Is it opening a method book and teaching them how to find middle C?
Or is it:
If you ask me, beginner lessons should be the most exciting, creative and engaging lessons you teach. It’s your chance to start a lifelong love of music – and you can do it all without touching a method book.
I call my approach No Book Beginners. In this guide I’ll show you why I teach this way, what I want beginners to learn in their first 10 weeks, and exactly how to run Lesson 1, with a free lesson plan and videos.
Ask yourself
Keep your answers in mind as you read on!
One of the biggest mistakes I see piano teachers make is starting beginners with reading.
Think about how a child learns their first language. We listen, copy and babble. With encouragement we learn words, then phrases, then sentences. Our vocabulary grows long before anyone hands us a book.
We’d never teach a child to read and write before they could speak – so why do we do it with music?
Elissa Milne describes the old-fashioned first lesson perfectly: fifty or sixty years ago it covered everything from semibreves to semiquavers, dotted notes, time signatures, both clefs, the names of every note, accidentals, leger lines and a scale or two. “At the very least.”
My approach to beginners owes a lot to Gordon, Kodály, Orff and Suzuki.
Edwin Gordon describes five parallel music vocabularies: listening, singing and chanting, audiating and improvising, reading and writing. And as he points out, listening comes first – in music just as in language.
Paul Myatt from Forte School of Music puts it in a simple sequence: listen, sing, play, read, write. Read his article Why Teaching Music Reading Is the Wrong Way to Teach Piano for more.
Reading still comes, and it still matters. It just lands far more easily when it sits on top of real playing experience.
Before you get out any books or resources, find out where your new student is at.
Ask
Can they already play something? How musical are they?
Listen
What’s their sense of rhythm like? Can they keep a steady beat?
Explore
Can they make up a simple improvisation? Do they have a sense of “home” in a key?
Plan
1-on-1 or a group? Will parents be involved? Do they have any special needs?
And it all comes back to your philosophy: why are you teaching? What would you be proud of your students being able to do in five, ten or twenty years? If you haven’t thought about it for a while, read my article on deciding on your teaching philosophy.
How they’ll feel
What they’ll be able to do
All of this can be explored through play, experimentation and improvisation – without reading a single note.
The best way I’ve found to do it is to keep the method book firmly closed for the first 8-10 weeks!
No Book Beginners is my sequence of 10 weeks of creative lessons that come before reading. It’s a scaffold of ideas for your own teaching – not a script.
Students
Students around 6 to 11, in 1-on-1 lessons of 30-45 minutes. The activities work in groups too, with a few tweaks.
Pace
10 weeks for some students, 6 weeks or 6 months for others. Go at your student’s pace.
Flexible
You can bring in reading at any stage and run No Book Beginners alongside it.
Adapt
Explore, change and remix it as much as you like. I’m not precious about how my ideas are used!
For teenagers and adults I keep the same goals but choose different stories and activities – and teach them the music they want to play alongside. My free Teaching Teens Toolkit has more ideas. For under-sixes, see our early childhood teaching ideas.
Grab the full Lesson 1 plan below and print it out so you can follow along with the videos.
Watch me explain exactly how to teach Lesson 1 – how to find out what your student can already play, and how to set them up at the piano.
Then we start improvising on the black keys. The lesson plan includes accompaniment patterns to get you started.
Lesson 1 is just the start. Across the full framework, your students will explore:
What will the parents think?
If parents grew up with method books, they may expect the same – so they might need a little coaching.
As Elissa Milne says, it’s much more important to explore rhythm, pulse, creativity and improvisation before reading, and she’s never had a parent who wasn’t thrilled to see their child exploring the whole piano and having a ball.
Remind them how much their child will benefit from getting these foundations right, and I bet you’ll have them on your side.
The book and the course
The book. Want the “why” and the “what” in full? My book No Book Beginners is a step-by-step framework for creative piano teaching, right from lesson one.
The course. The No Book Beginners course gives you all 10 weeks: lesson plans, practice plans, teaching videos, sheet music, printables and backing tracks. It’s included in TopMusicPro’s Studio plan, or you can buy it on its own.
See how it works in a real studio in No Book Beginners: A Piano Teaching Success Story.
Do you think this way of teaching beginners would work in your studio? What activities have worked well for you? Let me know in the comments!
Leeanne Innes says:
I totally agree with teaching playing and improvising without reading to start with. It really is the natural way to learn, just like we learned to talk before we learned to read and write. I leave it even longer, a year before students start the reading process. I use the Simply Music Piano method.
Tim Topham says:
Wow – a whole year before reading?! That’s amazing… although I guess that’s also like Suzuki too. I see you’re using Simply Music – how’s it going?
Roger says:
Hi Tim,
Thanks for offering this course! I was wondering your thoughts on teaching this method in conjunction with a by-the-book method? In your opinion/experience, would that be possibly beneficial, or would it be confusing/frustrating for the child?
My specific situation: I’m 41 and have played piano all my life. I started with traditional piano lessons. A mentor at church noticed my interest as I was able to play hymns and introduced me to chords. Although I’m sure I had theory lessons under my traditional piano teachers, I remember not paying attention to them and not really liking them. When my mentor (who played by ear) showed me chords and how to use chords in different ways to accompany singing and instruments, this opened the door to improvisation and composition which I hadn’t previously thought of. She didn’t know she was opening a door for me. She was just an enthusiastic and encouraging pianist who wanted me to participate in church music in a different way, and she wanted to show me how she does it.
For me, that experience is probably what kept me interested in piano in the years to come. But I already had some basic knowledge of reading music at that point. I was getting the best of both worlds – but it came with traditional first, then improvisation, then simultaneous. When I went off to college, I rediscovered music theory and very much loved it.
I have a 6-year-old daughter who is showing interest in piano. I vowed to myself not to force my daughters (x2) into piano or anything specific that I enjoy. I would rather them find what they like on their own. She has shown interest in piano on and off in the past, and I have showed her some simple tunes like “twinkle, twinkle.” Today, she spent 30 minutes trying to play a simple tune from a cartoon by ear on her own. The cool thing is I could tell by her cadence and distance of notes what she was trying to play! I showed her the correct notes a couple of times. I was working (from home) at the time, so I quickly recorded it on her iPad so she could watch and learn. She left frustrated because she couldn’t remember it. I asked if she wanted to learn how to play the piano. She said yes.
I have never taught before, but I have enough experience to do so. I just need some guidance. I found your course and was intrigued, especially since it’s geared toward kids.
So that’s the background in case it helps. Thanks, in advance, for any help/suggestions/guidance you have on that question I asked at the beginning of this very long comment. 🙂
Sincerely,
Roger
Tim Topham says:
Hi Roger – thanks for the comment and apologies for my slow reply! I hope the lessons for your daughter have been going well and congratulations on not pushing her into anything! In answer to your question, there’s no issue using a method side-by-side with NBB, but just make sure the first 3-4 lessons at least at “no book” to really cement for students that playing an instrument is about fun and creativity and not all about being fixated on reading. Good luck!
Heather Pruner says:
Hi Tim!
I am possibly about to start a couple of 4-year-old students and wanted to try the no-book beginners course. I remember you mentioning on your podcast that there is a pre-K version of the course that is more geared towards kids below 7 years. Is that version included if I purchase the regular course? I can’t seem to find where is would be on your website, but didn’t want to assume it’s included. Let me know how I can try out/buy the pre-k version.
Thanks!
– Heather
Tim Topham says:
Hi Heather. The preschool NBB is available only inside my Inner Circle membership. You can get access here: topmusic.co/community. It’s designed especially to suit under 7s so would be perfect for you 4 year olds 🙂 You’ll get the full pack of lesson plans and can watch the teaching in action.
Sandy says:
I can’t find the lesson first lesson download. The one that is free
Tim Topham says:
Hi Sandy. There is an opt-in box just above the headline “Lesson 1 – Part 1”. If you can’t see it, please reload your page. If you still can’t see it, please try another browser or use your mobile/tablet instead.
Lee says:
Aloha, My grandson shows interest in learning music. He goes on our piano to randomly play notes and just makes up some tunes with the keys. It’s been over 30 years since I’ve played but may play with books by reading notes that I’ve had back then from time to time and very rusty. I want to teach my grandson and think this a great way as I have no teaching experience nor can I play like you. Lessons are expensive, too and with sports and school I’m going to try to fit in the time with him. I’ve downloaded the first plan you have and will begin there, as I have to relearn as well. As I follow you on all your social media I will benefit from that and hopefully can join in the community at a later time. After a few times, I will then purchase the one coarse and see how that works for now. Thank you for sharing. This is a helpful beginning way for me to teach him.
Tim Topham says:
Hi Lee – lovely story and I wish you all the best. Take it in small steps and see how you go. Things will come back to you 🙂
Maple music teacher says:
I like the valuable info you provide in your
articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and test again here regularly.
I’m relatively sure I will be told a lot of new stuff
right here! Best of luck for the following!
Kate says:
I just downloaded the first free lesson. I’m very interested as I am going to start teaching my 6 year old granddaughter. But I don’t understand the “backing tracks” you refer to.
Tim Topham says:
Hi Kate – thanks for your interest in the NBB approach. If you’re an Inner Circle member, you get access to fully orchestrated backing tracks for these improvisations. If not, I recommend recording yourself playing the accompaniments on the piano and then sending that file to your students to play long with. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!
Miriam says:
Hi Tim, this framework is great. You mention this is for beginner students ages 7-11. I have 2 new students starting who are 12 years old. What method or framework would you suggest?
Thanks!
Tim Topham says:
HI Miriam – it’s up to you. You can certainly take the ideas from NBB and manipulate to suit the slightly older age. 12 year olds can be tricky because sometimes they can be like 14 year olds and sometimes like 9 year olds, so you’ll have to play that by ear.
I’d definitely approach this openly for this age group and find out what they are keen to play/learn. Perhaps do some pop/chord composing (topmusic.co/chords) – just flexible is good. They’re almost teens, so will enjoy some autonomy.
Hope that helps,
Tim.
Lynda Irvine says:
Hi Celeste, If you are in Australia I sell them through my website at http://www.music4all.com.au and I am sure Hal Leonard sell them as well. If you are in the USA they are often in the dollar stores or you can google them as stress toys/balls and that should find them for you. Regards Lynda
Celeste says:
Love Linda the Ladybug and how she travels down the forearm! I’ve searched for soft toys like that in stores and on Amazon several times and have not hag much luck. Do these toys have a specific name or do you have a particular place or link you normally use? I often use a soft hair band to gently affix the toy to the inside of the student’s hand. That way they can move around on the keyboard with the sensation of the arch without having to grip. Thanks!
Roger says:
Hi Celeste, I found this on amazon. I haven’t purchased yet, but based on the comments it seems like it’ll work. Expensive though! https://www.amazon.com/ALPI-SG_B002XNMVP4_US-Ladybug-Squeezie/dp/B002XNMVP4/
Jacques says:
Hi Tim, love this article, makes sense to me.
I’ve never taught piano and have thought about it a few times. I was recently asked if I would teach someone, an adult (20yo). I don’t know where to start. All I know is I don’t want to teach the way I was taught 30 yrs ago. I’ve always been a sight reader and envied those who could play by ear and improv, be more creative. Suggestions?? Thanks.
Tim Topham says:
Hi Jaques. Lovely to read your comment and I’m so glad that you’re not going to teach the way you were taught! For adults, I’d start with looking at chords and what THEY want to learn. Check out topmusic.co.chords to get started.
However, if you’re serious about this, please do consider joining my membership at topmusic.co/community.
I have lots of full teaching courses for beginner teachers and we can support you with any questions in our community 🙂
Fatima says:
Hi! Did you try the Mango Piano Method for Grade 1? I find it quite good. My little girl is enjoying it a lot.
Tim Topham says:
Hi haven’t heard of it, Fatima. Will check it out online.
Sarah Krause says:
Hi Tim. I live in the U.S. but have been unable to download your free pdfs the last two days. Any suggestions?
Tim Topham says:
Hi Sarah – we were having some technical difficulties, but all back and working now. Thanks for your patience! Tim.
Brent says:
Tried to download “NO BOOK BEGINNERS; LESSON 1” but I kept getting “An error occurred while submitting your data. Please try again” No matter how many times I tried. Just giving you the heads up. Brent
Tim Topham says:
Hi Brent. Sorry about that. Can you please email support@topmusic.co if still having issues and let my team know what’s been happening for you? Thanks!
Krista says:
Hi! I am starting a new student this summer, a 15 year old boy! He plays the saxophone so he reads some music. Where do I start with him?
Tim Topham says:
Hi Krista. The above article’s not going to work for him. Instead, find out what music he likes and help him learn it while you do the fundamentals. Teach him about chords – search my blog for “chords”. I’ve got a full 30 minute training called a “crash course” on chords as part of my Teaching Pop Piano course inside my Inner Circle – I think it’d be really helpful for you 🙂 Find out more: https://members.topmusic.co/inner-circle/join-the-community/