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You don't have to name the black keys, because they don't have a name, except in relation to the key you're playing in. AZN referred to keyboard geography, much more elegantly than I did, BTW, but even students with various disabilities can grasp the difference between a pair of keys and a group of three keys. Students don't need to know the names of black keys until they begin raising and lowering tones, which is towards the end of the Primer series in most methods.

Eventually, we all play using keyboard geography, not by key names, so why add the extra and unnecessary learning step?

Try making a game of it, and use questions that make the concept look ridiculous, such as, "Do you label your mouth so you know where to put the fork?" "Do you label your hands, so when mom says, 'Go wash your hands.' you'll know what to wash?"

John, it's probably not my place to picture these method books that begin with black keys, but that's what I was trying to do. How, in a book, would you designate a black key that you want to have played? Short of a diagram with an arrow pointing to an unnamed black key saying "push this, then the one beside it"? If it's in notation form, a sharp or flat has to be beside it because you can't notate a black key without that. You can't give a letter name without sharp or flat. I'm trying to imagine how these method books that start with black keys would portray them in order to indicate what should be played. I could imagine a teacher demonstrating, or the sound imitated by ear - but I'm not imagining how it's written precisely because:

Sorry, curiosity got the better of me.

I made up a game with a spinner. It is the size of a dinner plate, is covered with cool music paper, and it has every note on it. C#, E#, Bb, F# etc...( I start teaching them naturals right away, along with sharps and flats). The first few lessons, we will play this game.

We each have a piece (I use rubber erasers) on the lowest key on the keyboard. She spins and moves her piece to the note it points to. Then I spin. I put it on. After I bit, I tell her if I put mine on the wrong key, she gets to move ahead an octave. They learn quickly that means the next one of the same name. We do this until they know all the notes by both names (C#,Db) and are comfortable with them.

I use mechanical pencils for prizes.

This is a fun way for kids of all ages to learn the note placement on the keys. There just really is no need to ever use stickers JMHO.

No problem - they use pictures! Or more correctly, drawings. It's really easy to make a drawing of a keyboard, and then, assign fingers 2 & 3 to the group of two, and 2, 3, & 4 to the group of three, then simply write out finger numbers to be played.

Example: (LH) 2 3 4 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 (RH)2, etc for Mary had a little lamb.

No danger of associating notes with fingers?

Well, there probably is, but students don't stay on this for more than a couple of weeks, then they begin transitioning to white keys and note names, using the letter names for a couple of weeks, then we introduce actual notes. Now this is true for some methods, but not all.

Thanks, John. I'll stop being a pest now.
KS

Great game! May I copy/borrow/steal this idea? Love it! I bet it's fun for the kids.

This is great!
I'm going to start doing this by drawing flashcards out of a deck.
Thanks!

Of course you can "copy/borrow/steal" this idea!!

If anyone can tell me how, I will scan and post a photo of it (if you want)

I had one set of siblings a few years back who had some stickers on their keys, but they were kind of snazzy clear plastic static/sticky sort of deals. Their piano came that way from the store!

At first I thought it was kind of nice and it served as a good learning tool for the younger boy. Of course once we took the stickers off a few months in it was a disaster and the kids were really frustrated -- duh! Hindsight I should not have allowed them to take this shortcut in the first place!

Needless to say I will never let that happen again...

~Jennifer Eklund

My very first recital, I proudly went up to the bench sat down and proceeded to sit. After what seemed like endless hours, when in reality it must have been seconds, my grandmother, who was my teacher came up behind me and asked, "What's wrong?" I told her that I couldn't find middle C. She smiled and pointed to it and I played and was fine. But since that I always try to make sure my students know where middle C is by pointing and telling them to look at the name (of the piano) on the piano and the set of two black keys and showing them it is the note to the left. So they have some reference point. Because even though every piano is the same somehow the keyboard has a way of looking different then your own. Which is similar to the pencil letter on the middle C technic. Other than that my question also is why would any teacher want to put names on the piano? It is a bad habit teaching the kids to find the keys by looking down and so terribly hard to break. They should know where the keyes are by reading the notes in the music not by looking down at the keys on the piano. God gave them a brain and while it may be a little slower at first having to use it to reason the names of the keyes without looking down it will be faster and smoother in the long run with reading and playing music. As long as they are made aware of the pattern of two and three black keyes and how they corrolate to the 7 letters of the alphabet simply repeating over and over either higher or lower the exact same pattern most students lock in and there is no problem.

I agree that note name stickers are, and should be, unnecessary.
We never had them in my day.

However, I found the use of a colour coded template, absolutely essential, when teaching a teenaged boy with severe autism.
Without that aid, his parents, and I, would never have seen the look of pure joy in his eyes, when, after many, many patient months, he was at last able to play 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

I kept the colour code theme, when designing a template for my online lessons. (although I never use the template in real life lessons)

I am always amazed at the number of visitors who arrive at my website, having Googled 'piano key template', or similar.

I have seen stickers made just for piano keys in music stores - Sam Ash in particular.
I've also seen alphabet stickers in drug & stationery stores, but they might
be harder to remove.

There is also a paper cut out I've seen in music stores that fits behind the keys
and shows the keys themselves with their names. It fits perfectly and can be removed easily if another player in the house doesn't need it.

Good luck!

Joan