Music lessons are an investment in your student’s education. Through regular music lessons your student will gain skills that will last them a lifetime and help them in other areas of their life, such as college (most colleges have required arts courses). Most of you have young children and the best time to seize the opportunity and gain these skills is now while they are young.
Our goal with music lessons is to take you on a journey from being a student, to a musician. We define a musician as a person who has the following skills:
GOAL – Piano/Guitar Player
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1. Read basic notation in an ensemble setting
- Standard songs by the masters of music
- Pop/Rock/Country songs that interest the student
- Composition & Improvisational Skills
2. Play all repertoire with correct rhythm, understanding of the basic rhythmic alphabet
3. Scales – Major, Harmonic Minor, Pentatonic
4. Chords – Triads, 7th Chords, inversions
5. Repertoire – 50 songs consisting of:
GOAL – Singer
The voice is the most popular instrument and also the most difficult instrument to learn correctly. Most of what we work on in singing is abstract, you can’t see it, only hear it and feel it. Singing consistently in time and in tune requires a great amount of patience and perseverance.
- Able to sight sing using solfege(or numbers) in an ensemble.
- Technique
- Able to find and match any pitch played on the piano.
- Able to play warm up exercises on the piano.
- Able to play all of the major/minor chords & scales.
- Sing any interval above or below a given pitch.
- Basic Harmony skills.
- Tone
- Able to sing all vowels correctly.
- Demonstrate singing in the different registers smoothly.
- Repertoire 50 songs consisting of songs that interest the student as well as some Classical literature perfectly in tune and in time.
- Basic Composition & Improvisation skills.
How long will it take?
These are the goals we are working towards and the amount of time it takes to reach them depends on a number of factors.
- Length of lessons. At the start, the lesson is the most important activity. This is where the student will have one-on-one time with the instructor to work on the subjects we want to accomplish. The longer the lesson the more the student will learn.
- Ensemble Participation. Music is a social experience and every student should be in an ensemble. Having the student experience social pressure with his/her peers is an excellent motivating factor.
- Consistency. Showing up to lessons and not taking long breaks is crucial. Even the best students forget a tremendous amount of information over long breaks.
- Exposure to inspiration. This is where parents can be most helpful. Introduce your student to new music and music that you love. Having them excited about their repertoire can supercharge music lessons!
- Practice. Practice is one of the most misunderstood activities in music lessons. Most students practice without purpose and most parents try (and fail) to make their student practice without purpose resulting in unnecessary stress and conflict. We provide several opportunities that the student can work towards. Practice should happen naturally when there is social pressure (ensemble) and inspiration. If those two elements are present, getting the student to practice is easy.