WHAT IS DISTINCTIVE ABOUT YOUR APPROACH?
- In the early stages, children are not limited to playing only what they read from notes;
- an early start is often possible and usually desirable;
- because parents attend their child’s lessons, they are more in touch with work covered in the lesson, and are able to be more meaningfully involved with daily practice;
- CD recordings of the pupil’s pieces are an integral part of their learning process;
- pupils are routinely involved in performances; this is an important element in motivation and focus.
We do begin the work of learning to read music from the first lesson usually, but we also ensure children have plenty to play which is not dependent on music reading. Short pieces with easily memorised patterns and tunes (the words of the song can be a help too) can be taught by demonstration in the lesson. The CD recording allows the children to absorb the sound of the piece at home, and the parent will also have learned at the lesson something of how the piece is played. This way, young children are able to engage in the activity of playing the piano in an interesting and exciting way, right from the outset.
Piano playing embraces a huge range of styles and has a vast literature. As well as following our course, pupils are encouraged to be adventurous, to explore, and to acquire any music that they find attractive to try out for themselves.
Learning to play the piano takes concentration, discipline, and commitment, but we always bear in mind that children – and adults – undertake it with the expectation that it will be an enjoyable way to spend time. Once under way, pupils find the energy to sustain their efforts precisely because they experience the rewards that success brings. We want our pupils to feel in themselves that they are managing well. Our approach, then, is to balance the desire for speedy progress with the need to ensure that the tasks set in the weekly lessons are manageable in the short term. Pupils need encouragement (lots of it!) from their teachers and their families. Equally, they need to see results from their work. In time, the satisfaction of playing well becomes the principal motivator to improving one’s playing.