Reading notes

My daughter has been taking piano for a 1 1/2 and can't play a piece without her teacher showing her first. How long before she will be able to read music without instruction. At the moment she can only recognize the notes if her teacher marks them with numbers. Is this ok? She is 9 years old.

Hi Emma Piano,

It really depends on each individual student. Some children can pick it up a lot sooner than others.

Does she still have joy in it? It can make a lot of difference if the child is truly interested in the piano or not.

Some children just have no affinity for understanding the concepts of music.

Just some ideas.

~B~

Hello,
This is an important issue and it's good that you are concerned.
I wasn't able to tell from your question whether your daughter has been taking lessons for a month and a half or a year and a half.
After a month and a half (6 weekly lessons) it isn't too serious, but a year and a half? Learning to read the notes of the treble and bass clefs is a basic building block in a beginner's music education and an inability to do so needs to be addressed.
Check out the website musicwithease.com/read-music-notes-beginners.html
It offers an ebook by a piano teacher that I think would be a big help to your daughter.
Flash cards are another method for learning to read the notes.
And for you, I recommend to all my friends with children taking music lessons Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson by Tricia Tunstall. She's a piano teacher who specializes in beginners, and her book is a great look (and funny too) at the process of learning piano.
I would let her teacher know you're concerned about this.
Hope this helps!