~ Brad

Yes that’s right, music has the power to change the way people feel, and can give them desire. To be able to play music then, is like having the power to change people. Cool huh?

Music opens up whole new worlds to people that have yet to be discovered by them. Combine this with learning and the only conclusion you can come up with is that students will tremendously improve in all facets of life. This has been proven time and time again through scientific research, I have seen in first hand in my own piano studio. The good news is that anyone can learn music!

Music is fun. Plain and simple. It opens up human minds to great dreams and possibilities. This doesn’t just apply to kids. People of all ages love music!

Let’s recap. Music is powerful. It has the ability to change the way people feel. It can unlock learning in an individual like nothing else can. And we love learning it! What more reasons do you need?

Music enriches your life in so many ways, even if you’ve never touched an insrument or sung a note, it’s never too late to learn. If you’re looking for your child, then you are doing a wonderful thing by offering them this experience!

Good news and bad news. Which do you want first? I chose bad news

Bad news: There are no rules as to when exactly a person, regardless of age, should begin piano lessons.

Good news: There are signs children and adults show that you can use to determine if they are ready for piano lessons!

These signs are easily recognizable, and can be tested with equipment every household has. Let’s go through 6 of them together:

1. Tune your radio to piano music

If you own CDs yourself, even better! Put on some chopin and watch how your child reacts. This has side benefits of developing knowledge and a stable rhythm throughout their body. With rhythmic patterns, harmonics, and melodic ideas already well established in the child’s musical ear, the segue into lessons will be an easier process because the child can see a well-defined goal for the lessons.

2. Is the parent ready?

The younger the child is when beginning lessons, the more involved the parent will have to be. Actively helping with practice time, attending the lessons, and giving encouragement to the child every step of the way.

3. How Mature is Your Kid’s Brain?

Your kid should be able recognize numbers 1-5, and understand the correlation between the numbers on the page and the finger numbers. It also helps if your kid knows alphabet letters A – G, the letters of the keys.

Most beginning books will spend a lot of time reinforcing these skills, so don’t be too concerned if the knowledge is not always perfectly articulated.

4. Can your child sit still?

Your child should be able to sit still for about 10-15 minutes while focusing on having fun at the piano. Under no circumstances should you expect a little one to be able to sit for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time while keeping a strong focus on any one musical concept. Don’t expect the student to hold still for any longer, either.

Some approaches to break up the time are:

* playing notes at the highest and/or lowest parts of the piano
* going up and down the keyboard saying the letter names of the notes aloud
* going up and down the piano finding all the groups of two and/or three black keys
* finding the individual natural keys on the piano
* having the child clap their hands and/or march in time to certain rhythmic notation.

5. Owning a Piano is Not Mandatory

While having an acoustical piano is beneficial, it is not mandatory for the beginning student. If money is a factor, there are many cheap keyboards that are great options to starting lessons on. If you choose this route initially, the keys need to be the size of a normal standard acoustical piano and touch sensitive. This is so beginners can be introduced to dynamics as soon as possible.

If you have an acoustical piano, please make sure that it is in tune. An out of tune piano will frustrate the child, as in the lesson music will sound much differently than at home.

Having a piano tuned is expensive. If you have a nice piano, look into getting a humidifier installed. They are around $600, and make it so it needs to be tuned much less. Mine paid for itself in 4 years.

6. It’s okay to try lessons out

This is true for children of all ages, but especially for really young students. If, after some lesson time has transpired, your teacher feels it is best for your child to stop lessons for a while and wait a bit before restarting, it generally best to accept that advice. Wait six months to a year before restarting lessons.

No one has failed and it doesn’t mean your child will never be ready to begin lessons. Nothing negative should be thought of the concept of waiting a bit to restart lessons. In the meantime, keep the music flowing at home, let those notes continue to be heard. Then you can restart your child’s lessons a little later with the child still having an interest and desire to learn.

Putting your child in the right environment, with the right teacher can be a taxing search. Find a good match for you guys, and your piano lessons will be a positive and life-long endeavor for all involved.

The student recital I held at the end of the year went very well! Now that I have graduated I am missing all of you. For those of you who have yet to compete in Guild next week, good luck! I know you’ll all do the best that you can.

While most of you are on summer break, I am working hard to start my own studio, and to build my presence in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’m looking forward to meeting new students, and I hope that they are as much fun to teach as you all were! Speaking of which, for those of you who gave me testimonials, whether by camera or even some right here on the blog, thank you. It means a lot to me to know you guys have loved being taught as much as I loved teaching you.

Happy summer, and don’t forget to keep practicing!

First we played a game that exercised the student’s knowledge regarding musical terms. I wanted to start with some basic level so old and young alike can participate in the events to follow. Next we all got together and learned a little about Gershwin, which culminated in a duet put on by me and a fellow teacher Mary Abraham. The kids liked that a lot. During the performance they were told to listen for specific things about the piece using the terms earlier and they did fairly well, though one poor girl raised her hand for Gershwin being a baroque composer.

Then we all took a test to find out what type of learner they were. Based on the results, they were put into 4 groups, each with their own activity to do based on the test results. One group’s activity (the aural group) was to listen to a piece of music and write a story to it based on how the music went. The story was perfect! I loved it, especially the end of it (when the music became happy again.) Students in that group, make sure to tell your parents the story. Extra credit for having the piece of music playing in the background as you tell it!

Lastly, the students performed. A highlight was when one student lost his place and just couldn’t remember what came next. Trey, recognizing the piece, ran up with his book and set it in front of him. It was one of the prouder moments of my young teaching career. These kids can teach us a lot! I know they have impacted my life.

So, those who couldn’t make it, do not fret. There is always another group lesson right around the corner it seems. We are really winding down right into the recital. Just three short weeks left! I’m looking forward to the culmination of all your kids hard work and am going to enjoy listening to all the great music they have learned.

If you are interested in guild, please comment below on what pieces you will be playing this coming semester by February 5th! I’m excited for you all to participate. We will be talking more about this in your lessons next week.

• Recordings of your student playing in video and audio
• Downloadable worksheets on rhythm, aural skills, improvising, and other areas of music
• A online metronome (no excuses for not having a metronome anymore!)
• Games designed to encourage growth in music

These are just some of the great ideas that I will be rolling out. Look forward to more interactivity with this studio through the website shortly.