The other day, Jacob was jamming away on his toy piano singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ – eyes closed, head bopping, slamming random keys on the key board… I loved the enthusiasm and figured the boys are probably old enough to start reading beginner sheet music, so I decided to put together a few songs for them.
I am by no means a musician, but I did play piano back in the day and remembered some of the basics. I wanted to keep it simple with what I feel is a reasonable goal for toddlers and preschoolers: Find Middle C and play a simple song with one finger (not at all insisting on proper finger placement). I’m not trying to raise Mozart – I just want them to have fun and become comfortable with the basics of sheet music while doing so.
POST UPDATE: I originally cut down circle dot labels I had on-hand (as seen in my photo below), then upgraded to these Color Coding Dot Labels which coordinated perfectly. Once we upgraded from their Fisher-Price Keyboard to an electronic piano, I created these Removable Color Coded Piano Key Labels – Now the colors coordinate exactly and I love that they have a less harsh, easily removable adhesive.
Using the color-coded labels, I created coordinating sheet music for a couple of their favorite songs. Click on below sheet music image to download a FREE printable.
For more song selections and coordinating color-coded sticker labels, please visit my Etsy Shop.
As simple as that – now my boys understand the concept of reading and playing music on the piano. With or without an accurate rhythm on the keyboard, watching their faces and sense of accomplishment after completing a song is absolutely priceless!
Related: Star Wars The Imperial March Beginner Piano Sheet Music
Related: Color-Coded Beginner Piano Music Book
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Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am about to start teaching a friend’s 3-year-old daughter and was going to do this exact thing – you just saved me some of the work. 🙂 I’ve been surprised that I haven’t been able to find any books using this concept.
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My pleasure 🙂 So happy to hear you will be using them! Thank you for visiting my blog!
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So my son is 4 yr (older one is 9 yr and is playing piano for about 2 years now), so we printed out “Twinkle, … ” and my 4 yr played it the first time!!! I just put some colored squares to match the colors on the sheet music and used brother to get labels with the correct letters… he loved it and we can’t believe it! HA! Thank you so much! Will look into purchasing a packet in etsy. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you so much! My nearly 3 yr old won’t let me practice violin or piano, because SHE wants to practice. This means she can play one piano, and I can play the other, and she’ll have her own laminated music in front of her. Greatly appreciated!!! 🙂
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Mom and daughter practice sessions — how adorable!! I love it. Thank you for sharing. That fills my heart.
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Great idea/article – Thank you!
Do you mind sharing some info on the piano we see in the pictures – brand, pro’s/cons of it?
Thanks again,
Chris
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Thank you!… My boys received the Fisher-Price Music Play-Along Keyboard as a gift from their grandparents. The stand and stool have been well used, and definitely appreciated features. Could be considered a little flimsy, but expected with the price point and we’ve never had any problems with it. They also have enjoyed the demo button, which plays a good collection of classic kid songs that they sing along to… While the keyboard has been great since the boys turned 3, I can see them outgrowing it in a year or so (they are 5 now). But as I mentioned – well used. With three kids, worth every penny in my opinion…. I’m not sure how it compares with any other “kid keyboards”, but I’d image they are all similar – with the expectation that an upgrade is needed as they get older/advance.
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Hi! Would you be willing to share how you created your piano sheet music? My son LOVES these songs but really wants some others: Old MacDonald, etc. I’d love to make my own but have no idea where to start. Yours are so easy to read!
Thanks
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Hi Sheryl! I created the music sheets in Photoshop. I had someone else request blank sheets as well – so below is a link to an attachment you can print, then fill in your own song and notes. Hopefully it helps. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Click to access music-sheet-template.pdf
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This is perfect for our 4 year old son wanting to learn to play piano! We’ve started something similar to this, but like your song choices, esp the Star Wars one, he will love that. Thanks for providing this for free as well!! Would you also happen to have a template of a blank music sheet so that we can make a few more songs we might know? Thanks!
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Hi Ellen! Thank you. Happy to hear you appreciate my music sheets. I have created a blank template that you could draw your own song name and notes on. Hope this helps! https://projectsinparentingdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/music-sheet-template.pdf
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Hi these are great and so simple it genius. I cannot find anything on the net to buy like this. I think you should publish an A4 book with them in and some stickers for the keys ,then sell them, because i would of bought one . 😉
Regards
Richard
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Thank you so much for giving this piece of information! I am a piano teacher and teaching two 4 year olds so I was looking an easy way to teach them.
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I’m so happy to hear you were able to benefit from using my music sheets! I just created more and plan on posting them soon. Make sure to stop back and take a look. Thank you for visiting my blog!
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I am teaching a 6 year old and found it is easier for him to learn with colors first. Thank you so much for posting this!!
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I had felt badly because I felt he wasn’t learning enough for what I was getting paid, but these worksheets have helped so much!
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Aww. So happy to hear they have been helpful! Knowing someone else is enjoying them gives me joy 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
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