The story behind 4 square piano

A mission for effective practice

A teacher once asked me to divide every hour I practiced into 4 equal blocks, each focusing on a different skill. As a music student, this advice started me off on a quest to find the most efficient ways to practice, so I could achieve my professional goals. At the same time, I found myself asking similar questions in my first job, teaching instrumental lessons to young children in a school. How could I help them enjoy the feeling of successful practice? I began writing my own teaching material, tailoring each musical task to be motivating, systematic and achievable, so that they could accomplish maximum success with optimal efficiency, and I have been improving it ever since.  4 square piano has evolved over the last 20 years from the small start of that 4 block idea, and includes some key lessons I have learned from my pupils. First, that students of all ages love to play music by great composers. Second, that playing duets together is one of the most efficient and fun ways of passing on musical skills in a lesson. And third, that a visual practice schedule of bitesize tasks is invaluable for guiding pupils through the hours they spend playing at home. There is nothing as encouraging as tangible progress week by week, so splitting music into compact challenges to conquer helps a pupil-teacher team to spot and celebrate all those little wins. This gives 4 square piano its three core objectives: play great music, play together, and practice like a pro.

Repetition and reward

Finding smart ways to practice has never been more crucial than for the current generation of children, who have so many things competing for their attention. Apps and online games often use similar statistics to a slot machine: a small reward for every 3-4 repetitions and occasional unpredictable ‘jackpots’ - a powerful combination that can get us hooked on all sorts of things! We can use this human wiring for reward to learn to play the piano - a truly life-enriching skill. I have designed each musical task in 4 square piano so that progress should be noticeable after 3 repetitions: a small reward. Occasionally, every pupil should experience a ‘jackpot’ reward - impressing a teacher or family member; playing in a concert, mastering a favourite song, winning a prize or passing an exam. Duets can feel rewarding: as pupils we're often in awe of our teacher's playing, and creating music together feels incredible. And learning well-known music helps to elicit social rewards at home - nothing beats a ‘Wow’! from Grandma as she recognises a snippet of Mozart or Beethoven!

Lesson one to grade one, free for everyone

I have decided to share levels 1-3 of my method free of charge for everyone, to print or to read from a tablet. There are more levels and resources on the way, so keep an eye out for new additions! I have put a huge amount of my favourite music into 4 square piano, and I hope that playing these little moments of genius from great composers of the past will bring as much joy and inspiration to your lessons as they have to mine.

The story behind House by the Ocean theory

Using imagination to learn location

In 2004, I taught a group of 5 year olds as they transitioned from colour-coded notes to black and white notation, and was dismayed to discover that the children had been relying 100% on colour, and no information about the location of dots had registered at all. They now had to learn to read music from scratch. I therefore began developing ‘House by the Ocean’, asking the young students to visualise the treble staff as a house and the bass staff as an ocean. I wanted students to imagine a creature or object occupying the specific location of each dot. For example, 'jellyfish G' is recognised because its head touches the surface of the ocean as it swims. If they confuse a G with a B, we can remind ourselves that 'Jellyfish G' swims under the surface but 'B like a boat' floats above it. This method has been very successful with my younger students and the names of the characters have evolved over time with their help and suggestions.  If a student isn’t sure of a note, I always ask them where the dot is on the 'house' or in the 'ocean'; they imagine the little mouse or the little sea creature, and its location tells them what the note name must be, just as its name also tells them about its location. With this method, children become aware of the lines and spaces and of intervals between notes, which further helps with fluency. My son Zac very kindly drew each character for me and I keep these by my piano for beginners to refer to in their lessons. I recommend using this system for all students age 12 and under.