TEACHING METHOD
& PHILOSOPHY:


CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS:

Ages 3-5
Three years is a good age to begin taking piano lessons.   From ages 3-5, lessons will be around 15 minutes.   Lessons will consist of the child observing his or her parent receive instruction and then copying it.   For example, the adult will learn how to sit at the piano, how to hold the hands, how to play by ear, etc.   The child would switch places with the parent or sit beside the parent and copy these skills.  

Practice time at home consists of the parent sitting with the child at the piano and reviewing these habits several times a week.   At this age, the child learns to play by ear.   Very little attention is given to reading music.   The intention is to cultivate an interest in music by establishing good habits that make progress easy and training the ear to pick out simple pieces.


Ages 6-18
Beginning students will learn to read music and play simple pieces, hands together.   They will become familiar with both clefs and learn basic music theory.   Students will write their own pieces and improvise using patterns they know how to play from their learning books and theory.   For example, a student will learn the "five-finger C position" and receive homework such as "make up your own song using that finger pattern," or "using a song you've learned, switch the pattern to make your own song.   "They will also begin to train their ear by picking out pieces by ear.   Often this needs little instruction as students of this age naturally try to play songs they haven't learned, simply using their ear.  

When they are ready, students will progress to method books.   These are the books beyond the beginner books.   I prefer the Keith Snell books which are divided into musical periods (such as Baroque and Romantic) so that students are playing reputable repertoire from the earliest levels.   A theory book also accompanies this repertoire.   In addition, the student will prepare certain extra pieces edited or written for their level such as holiday music, movie themes, popular songs and challenging classical pieces.   Ear training and improvisation continue through these levels, along with composition.   Advance students will, in combination with their theory study, be able to notate their own pieces!





ADULT STUDENTS:

The adult beginner will use an adult beginner book for those first few months of learning the basics.   This is tedious since mentally, adults are much more aware of their limits and not as entranced with their new abilities as children are.   The simple advice is to grin and bare it, because adult beginners have the advantage over children of improving leaps and bounds in just a few weeks and quickly progressing to more complicated material.   The beginner material includes learning to read music, playing simple pieces with hands together, etc.  

Adult students who are beyond the beginner level will study classical music. This is not always what one envisions when seeking out piano lessons.   You may be more interested in playing your favorite Elton John or pursuing singer/songwriter styles.   However, classical music is why the piano was born and remains the most thorough way to learn the instrument.   If you're interest lies in other areas, prepare to be surprised.   Classical music lays the foundation for playing all techniques and styles.  

Adult students will learn through classical study, theory and improvisation how the various classical styles compare to one another and other styles built around them.   Half-hour lessons are not long enough to accommodate all the material that intermediate students are curious to explore.   If an adult takes a longer lesson, composition and theory will be more heavily explored.   This creates an even more thorough understanding of the pieces they are studying.   Other pieces are also incorporated into lessons such as popular songs, holiday music, movie music, etc.   All students will learn effective practicing techniques and receive weekly practice homework.





SONGWRITING & COMPOSITION:

These lessons include piano instruction with the emphasis on improvisation and composition.   Half of the lesson time will be spent on piano instruction, including: learning to read music, playing with both hands, playing simple pieces.   Once the student has progressed beyond this level, the piano instruction portion will include learning one or two classical pieces at a time.   In addition to working on technique, these pieces will be used to study form, and expand the songwriter's "idea bank" in regards to harmony, melody and rhythm.   Theory study will continue as a means of lending the songwriter further inspiration and equipping them to effectively communicate their pieces.

The second portion of the lesson will include critiquing the student's own songs and aiding the students in strengthening their weak areas in the craft. Homework will be given in the form of songwriting exercises, such as: write a song about the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, pick a geographic location and write a song about it, write a lyric set rhyming each line and then rewrite it so that nothing rhymes, etc.