Piano Info & Resources

Teacher Resources

Free, downloadable resources to help students discover the joy of playing the piano.

Lesson Plans

The Piano Revealed - A fun lesson that trains student in the basic parts and functions of the piano mechanisms and acoustics while preparing for a recital. Also includes worksheets for learning the parts of the piano.

Keyboard Puzzles - A lesson that helps young students learn the arrangements of piano keys.

Piano Sounds - A lesson that explores how the different parts of the piano work together to make sounds.

Special Events for Pianists - Ideas for incorporating National Piano Month, Jazz Apreciation Month, Classical Music Month and Music In Our Schools Month into your lessons.

Preparing for a Performance - Use the book "Henry the Steinway and the Piano Recital" along with other tips to help your students get ready for a piano recital. Elementary age level.

The Music Box: The Story of Cristofori - Learn about the history of pianos by reading about the creator of the first modern piano. Elementary age level.

Group Games

Quick and Easy Musical Games - Adapt games kids already know to reinforce and enhance music lessons.

Follow the Music Game - Get the wiggles out while learning common music directions.

Piano Baseball - Turn learning into fun when students compete to see who knows the most about the piano.

Play It, Don't Say It Card Game - Put your knowledge of tempo, dynamics and articulation terms, symbols and marks to work.

Express Yourself - Activities to help your students learn and practice working with tempo, dynamics and articulation terms, symbols and marks.

Piano Science - Help kids connect music and science with experiments and activities that help them explore the concept of sound waves and how the different parts of a piano work together to create the sounds we call music. Elementary and middle school age level.

Explore Sound - These Interesting activities from Exploresound.org will help you learn more about sound. Apply what you learn to how the parts of a piano work together to create sound. Geared towards 6th grade and up.

Puzzles/Worksheets

Name the Piano Parts - Learn the different parts of the inside and outside of grand and vertical pianos.

Piano Parts Word Search - Puzzles for elementary and middle school levels, reproducible.

Test Your Piano IQ Worksheet - Elementary and middle school levels, reproducible.

Pianos Through the Ages - Learn about the history of pianos by completing a word search puzzle. Middle school age and up.

How Does A Piano Work? - Identify the parts of a piano and see how they all work together. Includes a fact sheet, a piano facts quiz and diagrams of the inside of a piano.

Piano Activity Place Mat - Print out your own on 8-1/2" x 14" (legal size) activity mat.

What's It Called - Match the parts of a piano to the correct descriptions.

PLC Treasure Hunt - Explore the student area of the Piano Learning Center by finding the answers to questions on how a piano works, history, care and more.

Teaching Tools

Music Staff Paper - 8 stave, 8 1/2" x 11". Download and print PDF.
Music Staff Paper - 5 stave, 8 1/2" x 11". Download and print PDF.
Student Practice Record - fillable PDF.
Student Reward Bookmarks - Print these colorful bookmarks on cardstock and cut apart for a fun reward at the end of a lesson, reproducible. PDF.
Write A Book Review - Enhance lesson time or integrate music and reading. Includes a review form, suggested book list and sample.

Art

Piano Activity Place Mat - Print out your own on 8-1/2" x 14" paper, reproducible

Origami Piano - Fold your own 3-D vertical piano, reproducible.

Grand Piano Art - Cut, fold and glue your own miniature grand piano. PDF includes full-color, detailed pieces and instructions. From Accoutrements.

Coloring Pages - Sample pages from the PTG coloring book; preschool and early elementary levels, reproducible.

Student Reward Bookmarks - Print these colorful bookmarks on cardstock and cut apart for a fun reward at the end of a lesson, reproducible.

How a Piano Works

How Does A Piano Work? – Identify the parts of a piano and see how they all work together. Includes a fact sheet, a piano facts quiz and diagrams of the inside of a piano.

Name the Piano Parts - Reproducible worksheets you can use to learn the different parts of the inside and outside of grand and vertical pianos. 

What’s the Difference? - Learn about the unique characteristics of an acoustic piano and how the different parts of a piano allow you to “express” yourself.  Includes a student fact sheet, discussion questions and piano exercises. Middle school age and up.

Acoustic Pianos Fact Sheet - Compare the advantages and disadvantages of acoustic and digital pianos.

Basic Rules of Piano Care - Learn how to care for your piano.

How A Piano Works - An introduction to the vertical piano action.

Virtual Factory Tours

Petrof Factory Tour  - A 360 degree panoramic tour that allows you to walk through the Petrof factory and explore images and video clips to see how pianos are manufactured.

Hailun Factory Tour - A 360 degree panoramic tour that allows you to walk through the Hailun factory and explore images and video clips to see how pianos are manufactured.

Steinway Factory Tour - A YouTube video of a tour of the New York Steinway factory narrated by John Steinway.

Yamaha Factory Tours - A series of four YouTube videos describing the process of piano-making at Yamaha from start to performance.

Literature

The Piano In Children’s Literature Reading List - Read aloud to your child or class, assign book reports or incorporate these stories into your lesson plans.

The Music Box: The Story of Cristofori - Learn about the history of pianos by reading about the creator of the first modern piano. Elementary age level.

Write A Book Review - Enhance lesson time or integrate music and reading. Includes a review form, suggested book list and sample.

Science

Tuning Forks - Learn how a tuning fork is used to tune a piano.

Piano Science - Help kids connect music and science with experiments and activities that help them explore the concept of sound waves and how the different parts of a piano work together to create the sounds we call music. Elementary and middle school age level.

Piano Sounds  - A lesson that explores how the different parts of the piano work together to make sounds.

Explore Sound - These fun activities from Explore Sound.org will help you learn more about sound. Apply what you learn to how the parts of a piano work together to make sound. Geared towards 6th grade and up.

Tuning Fork Acoustics - From the National Museum of American History.

History

The Music Box: The Story of Cristofori - Learn about the history of pianos by reading about the creator of the first modern piano. Elementary age level.

Pianos Through the Ages - Learn about the history of pianos by completing a word search puzzle. Middle school age and up.

Piano History Fact Sheet  - See how the piano has changed over the last 300 years.

Videos

How A Piano Works - An introduction to the vertical piano action.

How Piano Actions Work - A link to a video clip of a demonstration by Clarence Zeches, RPT.

Grand Action in Motion - see a YouTube video of a grand action moving in real-time and slow motion.

How an Upright Piano Action Works - 3D animation of an upright action mechanism. Also includes a schematic of all the parts making up the action.

Introduction to Tuning Forks - From the National Museum of American History.

A Series the Piano Technicians Academy Has Created for Teachers

How an upright piano works

How the grand piano works

What do the pedals on my piano do?

How many strings on a piano?

Parts of a grand piano cabinet

What is a piano soundboard? 

What is the plate of a piano?

Beginners

Intermediate

Advanced

Helpful Links

MTNA Teacher Directory - Search online for an MTNA-certified music teacher.

NAfME: The National Association for Music Education - NAfME is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education.

National Music Council - The National Music Council promotes and supports music and music education.

Recreational Music Making (RMM) - Learn about an innovative program that reaches adult learners through group-based music-making activities. See a video about the benefits of RMM and find out about teacher training opportunities.

Music Research & Advocacy - Information on the benefits of music education and how you can support music education programs.