During the mid-nineties I had the opportunity to teach piano at a Waldorf school. Learners from various cultures and walks of life, with different music backgrounds, had to be accommodated and I had to think outside of the box. Some Waldorf ideas and teaching methods found its way into the material and my own lifelong obsession with developing children’s imagination and creativity, also determined the content of this course.
Most of all the openness, creativity and honesty of many learners over many years taught me what and how they wanted to learn about music and playing the piano.
In 2016 I met Danell Herbst-Müller, lecturer at the Department of Music at Stellenbosch University, who saw the potential and relevance of the Kingdom of Music approach, agreed to come on board as co-author and with her academic insight, advice and practical know-how, helped to take these piano courses for beginners and the accompanying Teacher’s Manual to their final, publishable form.
The aim of these courses is to use age-appropriate material to build a firm foundation in musicianship and piano technique while at the same time stimulating teachers’ and learners’ imagination and creativity.
