Little ones and damper pedals…

How many teachers have worked with young students at acoustic pianos that were completely fascinated with the damper pedal, only have the realization that it is going to take quite a few years before they can reach the damper pedal themselves? Sure, you can purchase an adjustable piano pedal extender bench, but most families of young children that are just starting piano aren’t going to be super willing to drop over $100 for something that they signed their kid up for to give them something to do outside of school. Most importantly, this is not going to help you in the moment of distractibility.

Today, I worked with one of my incredibly playful 4-year-olds and they were sliding off the bench constantly so that their little feet and toes could try and wrap themselves around the damper pedal. It was extra adorable that they were almost fully leaning off the bench and attempting to play, however they were still unable to activate the sustain! I let them know that we will get to play with the damper pedal afterwards, but that they need to play through the song first (the classic “In the Jungle,” the first song in the Faber Piano Adventures Primer Level Performance book). While I was pointing at the finger numbers and my student was playing, my brain started racing to come up with a fun way to engage with the pedals.

After they finished playing, I praised them for their wonderful reading and let them know that it was time to play the same song with the damper pedal! I told my student that my arm was going to be an extension of their foot and they would need to sit with their bum on the bench and their legs dangling off so that they can press my arm with their foot. I let them know that because I will be down on the floor, this will mean that they will need to be able to read the music all by themselves without me pointing so their eyes will need to stay on their music.

As we played through the song, my student was excitedly pressing my arm to “activate” the damper pedal but holding and also lifting off naturally when they wanted the sound to stop (which I didn’t even talk about to this student)! At the end of playing the song, my student excitedly said with wide eyes “it sounds like elephants!”