Tips for Adult Beginners

How hard is it in general for adults to learn how to play the piano?

That's a great question. It depends also if you are interested in playing classical music or popular music from the radio with chords, or jazz improvization or a bit of everything.

Potential Challenges
Adults will understand music theory, the structure of chords and why notes sound good together (mathematically) as well as the the concepts of note reading and rhythm, much easier than a young child would. However the the hand eye coordination may seem harder for an adult, the hands may be more rigid and tense (that is a generalization). But there's no reason that an adult couldn't learn to play piano.

The other challenges that adults may face are the distractions with work, tv, sports, life in general and some are not likely to practise.   All my students are young children or teenagers who started with me when they were younger.  The oldest beginner was 13 when he started.  I've had alot of inquiries from adult beginners but I've been relucant to accept one based on my schedule and personal preferences.

Finding a Teacher
If you are seriously looking for a teacher, it sounds funny but you could ask a piano teacher you already know for contacts, or look on usedottawa.com or kijii and browse the piano teacher ads. Some will actually say that they are accepting students of all ages and adults too, while others will say children only. So you know who to call.  Check out the Ottawa Folk Music Center or Long and McQuade music store or, Yamaha on Bank Street or Granata Music.

The Yellowcat Music Sheets that I use in my lessons for the kids work well for older beginners too.

Success Stories
The potential to succeed is there. It depends alot on your committment, your personal goals and the right teacher to tap into the talents you already have.  My mother's friend started taking beginners piano lessons as an empty nester when the kids went away for university and left the piano behind. She started from Beginners and Grade 1 and studied with her kids' piano teacher for about six to eight years.  She just used her kids' piano books.  At the time we talked a few years ago, she was playing Grade 10 RCM level pieces (classical music) and even offering substitute piano lessons when the senior teacher was not available.  This is an amazing feat because if a child starts piano lessons at age 6 an average or non-music-performance-major student would probably reach the Grade 10 level around age 15 or 16.

If you have the desire in your heart and the means to make it possible, just do it. You won't regret piano.

Piano, Violin, Cello, Guitar, or Flute?

Not really sure if piano is for your child? Would you like to introduce him to other instruments and see what other kids are up to?

Ottawa Suzuki Headstart Program - Strings
The Suzuki Music School in Ottawa runs a week long music camp each summer for the students in Suzuki violin, cello, guitar and flute at the Canterbury High School. Formally, this is called a Summer Institute where the levels 1 to 8 are available.  The 2012 dates are not listed yet, but in previous summers this took place at the end of July.  Another course offered during that same week is the Headstart Program which is a five day workshop focusing on an introduction to musical concepts and rhythm instruments, and each day a string instrument is presented to the class. An older child from the camp will perform a short recital piece the younger children on his violin for example, and then invite everyone to have a turn to try it out.  The Headstart program actually runs all year on Saturdays for a series of 5 weekly lessons in the fall, winter and spring.

My daughter age 3 at the time, and son age 2 attended the class and they learned all about "Mississippi hot dog" and "pepperoni pizza". Here is more information quoted from the website:

Headstart Suzuki is a pre-instrumental programme designed to introduce three and four year olds to basic musical concepts and beginning Suzuki rhythms and repertoire. Emphasis is on rhythm, singing, motor development and aural training, aided by the playing of percussion instruments. There are 5 sessions per term; on Saturdays at Canterbury HS. The fee is $90 per term.
Download the Registration Form here, though check again for summer information.


Musicland Adventure Camp
I model my Musicland Adventure Camp course a bit like the Headstart Program, packed with more emphasis on Piano and Suzuki Book 1 music appreciation, for 10 lessons at the Pre-Twinkle level.  Children ages 3-5 are at the right age for group learning of early keyboard skills, pre-staff music reading, solfege pattern recognition, melody playback by ear and more!

ABOUT Musicland Adventure Camp (10 classes)
GROUP classes for ages 3-5 will involve storytelling, magical characters, interactive games, song and dance to introduce kids to playing piano at the introductory level. Topics include keyboard geography, right and left hand independent playing, note reading, music writing skills, music performance and beyond.

Royal Conservatory Smart Start
This program caught my eye but it must be only offered in Toronto. Sounds like it would be competing with other franchises like MYC, Making Music Together or Kindermusik. They classes for ages 0 to 12 months, 12 - 24 months, age 2, 4, 5, 6, 7+ Orff

A brief course description: Typical classes begin with the introduction of the day’s musical concept, often explained using a familiar rhyme, poem or song. Students further explore the concept by locating it in other songs or rhymes and improvising their own small musical pieces. Instruments used are un-pitched percussion, such as rhythm sticks, drums, etc., and pitched instruments, which have been designed specifically for the curriculum.


Judging a book by its cover, I would say this course sounds alot like my Musicland course though my target age group is 3-5, followed by private lessons in the Suzuki method.


Royal Suzuki Program
I found this on the Royal Conservatory of Music website for Violin and Cello. At one time there was a job posting for a Suzuki Piano Teacher at the RCM in Toronto requiring Suzuki Book 2 and a music degree.  Perhaps they are changing the approach to beginners piano and this is converging point of the two methods.

Piano Teacher in the home studio or a Music School?

Most piano students will do private piano lessons in the home studio of an established piano teacher or at a music school, for example a school, academy or conservatory (this term is more widely used in Quebec, more restrictive in Ontario).  Just to point out, in North America most students will do piano lessons in the piano teacher's home studio or a music school setting, whereas in Hong Kong, it is more common to go to music institute or music school operated as business establishment.  In New York, because parents are too busy working on Wall Street to take their kids to lessons, I have a friend who is a piano teacher on wheels (actually she travels by subway) who teaches at the students' home, with the nanny!


Here is a list of music schools in the area I wanted to mention about. Some of them are recommended by my colleagues at work, others from graduates or transfer students. In your search for the best piano teacher, I urge you to consider all options and be very selective with your search. Choosing the best piano teacher is the most important decision you will make for your child's musical eduation and future advancement.

HOME STUDIO
Some piano teachers are very selective. If they have a very full and active studio, there may be only a specific age or playing level they are looking for in a prospective student to fill a spot, if any.  You may be invited to an interview. As a parent, take this as an opportunity to interview the teacher! Visit the teacher and even observe a lesson if possible. Discuss your musical goals and ambitions for your child. The teacher should also have a series of interview-like questions for you and your child and do not be surprised if your child is required to play something on the spot. You may be lucky to receive a free impromptu lesson the spot.  Look for the musical qualifications such as minimum Grade 8 RCM piano; a Music Degree in Pedagogy or Performance and/or  ARCT Teachers Certification would be even better. Look for years of experience, manner of approaching technical diffulties, patience, how she deals with her own children, command of language, studio setup and just an overall gut feeling. If and when you get to the discussion on payment, expect to pay the tuition up front for the year, in post dated on the first of every month or quarterly.


CONSERVATORY
Conservatoire de Alymer/ Conservatoire de Hull/ Quebec belong to the same government program, offering free piano lessons to residents of Quebec, if the children meet the audition and admission requirements.  It is a very competitive admission process to this prestigious school.  I have a friend named Ruth (age 25) who did her piano lessons at the Conservatoire de Alymer from age 5 until she recently graduated and now she's doing her Masters in Piano Performance in New York City. She just came back to Ottawa on the weekend to play at the NAC to sub for a piano solo for the Mamma Mia pianist, her first professional gig at the NAC!

Macey Conservatory of Music 819-682-8888 http://www.conservatoire.ca/ Offering lessons in piano, violin, singing, guitar,drums etc. They offer instrument rentals and a free six week music discovery program before a child chooses an instrument. The rates seem to be $25 per half hour.

As previously mentioned, the word Conservatory may appear to be widely and broadly used in Quebec. In the USA, the Conservatory level is equated to the post-secondary institution level. In the rest of Canada, you'll hear about the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) which is a national school of national-wide standarized exams and repertoire; or the Canada National Conservatory of Music (CNCM). You'll have to be your own judge what is a true "Conservatory".


MUSIC SCHOOLS
Sonart Musique in Alymer, www.sonartmusique.com 819-557-0776 All the instructors have music degrees, owner Vincent Boudreault is a frequent judge at CEGEP en Spectacle and they have good ties with the Conservatoire in Hull.



The Ottawa Music Academy on Conroy Rd. My friend used to be a part-time piano teacher there; she's a professional financial analysts in the federal goverment (not a music major) but she was still very qualified to teach private piano lessons. She felt that the tuition rates were reasonable but the payment for the teacher was not.  I also have two transfer students who played beginners piano there for two years. Although their mother felt that the piano teachers were young high-school/ university age students and junior quality, I have to point out that they did a fairly good job teaching the kids. A strong foundation in listening, rhythm, tone and touch.

The Long and McQuade music store on Alta Vista @ Bank has music school. I have an older former piano student in high school who moved her lessons there because it was closer to her high school and she could work the schedule better with her part time job and sports etc.  I buy my music materials for my studio from this music store because they have a wide selection, the staff is friendly and they offer me a piano teacher discount on books!


The Yamaha Music School on Bank street offers private and group lessons too. About 10 years ago I took piano lessons there too because I was preparing for piano teacher exams and I needed a teacher too.

RATES
The going rate for piano lessons truly varies for the wide spectrum of teachers qualifications and the demographics for the city. I would say that the starting rate for a high school student just starting to teach piano is probably about $15 for half hour lessons.  Advertised in an expensive newspaper ad for a music teacher in Ottawa offering private lessons at the studio or student's home, $25 for half hour or $40 for an hour.  My own teacher with over 30 years of experience and teaching at the advanced levels but claiming to no rate hikes for years, charging $45 for one hour lessons.  My friend teaching piano in New York, the one traveling to the suburbs by subway, charges $90 per hour.

PIANO LESSONS AT SCHOOL

At my daughter's school and many others in the public school board, they have a program offering group, semi-private or private piano lessons after school hours to the children ages 6 and up - 30 minutes/ week for 32 weeks.  The fees are $365 for group class, semi-private cls is $499 and the individual instruction is $799. The contact information http://www.ocdsb.ca/Continuweb or http://www.artsforkidsatocdsb.com/ 613-239-2747

The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) also has a program called "Music Therapy" sponsored in part by Long and MacQuade. I don't know the details about how the course is run or which patients qualify for the lessons and how it is funded, but it sounded like something that might be on a volunteer basis perhaps.

Happy Birthday Dr Suzuki!

Today is Dr. Suzuki’s birthday! Born on October 17, 1898, he spent the better part of his nearly century-long life helping the world to realize the amazing potential that is poised waiting to be unleashed in every human being.

Suzuki training courses (supported by the Suzuki Association of the Americas) not only grounded me in a positive core philosophy but it also gave me a “toolbox” of communication and teaching strategies that I draw upon every day. If you have a moment, please watch this video and show your support!


http://suzukiassociation.org/giving/community/

Which Piano Teaching Method is best for my child?

CLASSICAL PIANO
I used to feel that kids weren't ready for formal private piano lessons with me until age 7. Because I teach classical and music reading, it can be very hard for kids younger than 6-7 to focus and sit still and manage all the data they have to process to just play piano, the traditional way.  I believe I was strongly influenced by own piano learning experience and my own piano teacher who is a very traditional teacher and established performer herself, from a certain European east block country, who gave me sage advice not to start piano too early for my daughter.

SUZUKI METHOD
However since I learned more about the Suzuki method and how natural it is for a child to play the violin, cello or even piano, they could be ready to learn by age 3-4. The suzuki method is very natural, alot like how a child learns to speak his native mother tongue (or English) by imitation, repetition, exploration and praise. I saw little kids performing in a violin ensemble, age 4-5 playing really beautiful music, like twinkle twinkle little star (and something else too). The kids I saw in Las Vegas in the piano program, needed alittle bit more discipline but maybe piano is harder or something, but the potential is there. I feel that my son AJ (age 3) is ready because he is willing to listen to the music CD, he respects me as a teacher and he listens well to directions how to play a few simple rhythms on the piano. I wanted him to play with purpose, instead of hitting random notes on the piano with a bad hand form. They are not reading the music at this stage, just focusing on perfect tone and all the aspects that create perfect tone in the most natural way.

I also run a Pre-Twinkle Level class called "Musicland Adventure Camp" which is a series of 10 classes for ages 3-5; storytelling, magical characters from Yellowcat's Musicland, games, song and dance. Topics include keyboard geography, right and left hand independent playing, note reading, music listening and writing skills, music performance and beyond. I also use materials from Yellowcat Publishing which uses colours and characters to teach kids the letter names of the keys and pre-reading skills.  Upon completion, students are ready to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by heart or for beginner’s piano, though it is not a prerequisite.

MUSIC FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Maggie on the other hand has a different learning style. She's in the Music For Young Children class, Sunshine 2 in the fall with her teacher. I will bring her to class and participate as all the other parents too. There is homework, they have a very structured way of learning music reading from the get go. She likes it alot, but I would still categorize this as the "traditional" learning method. She knows the names of all the notes on the piano; she can play a C scale and A minor scale, she can read the pre-music reading with little characters. Each note on the piano is associated with a character, for example Critter C, Dino D, Edith the Elk, Fireman Fred, Grumpy Grouch, Amy the Anteater, Becky (copyrighted).  Staff reading is much too hard for her right now but there is a kid in her class the same age who is good at it. So it must depend on the child.

Maggie started in the Sunrise class for ages 2.5 with fun music activities, music patterns, listening skills and alot of singing, moving, crafts and homework. There was a long break and we started Sunshine 1 when she was 3.5 in the Fall 2010. The homework assigned with the lesson for the week was the basis of our learning activities at home, for example learning the alphabet, cutting out pictures of things that start with "C"; forte and piano, so that's cutting out pictures of loud sounds and quiet sounds; allegro and adagio, so cutting out pictures of things that move fast fast fast or slow slow slow.

Some folks ask me why I'm not teaching my own daughter. Well, as a matter of fact I am. She is part of the Musicland group class I run in my home studio. However my course runs for 10 lessons probably about once a year because my studio focus is still on private lessons.  Her weekly group lesson runs all school year with the MYC teacher and lasts one hour, however at home I practise with her everyday (more like 5 days out of the week) for a good 20 minutes if you include the extra games, homework, charades, and chatting. She listens in on my teaching sometimes, and we also play piano together just for fun. We play duets where she simply plays a bass note to support the harmonic structure below the melody that I'm playing, or vice versa. I have to mention, by listening she's learned when to "switch notes to make it sound nice". Remember, alot of kids go to public school or private school, but the mom (and dad) at home are models and teachers too.


YAMAHA MUSIC WONDERLAND
Yamaha on Bank Street also runs a music school, and they have the world famous Yamaha Music Program. These are group classes at various levels starting from Tunes for Twos, something for age 3 and Music Wonderland for ages 4 up, and then a series of graduated level for older kids to continue on.  I called the school though, and they only have keyboard time at the age 4 level.  Although my parents enrolled me in this at age 4 in Calgary, and I still have the tin box with the grand staff and the magnetic music notes for the staff and keyboard and some of the workbooks, I don't remember too much about it.  I  found out about the Yamaha school (again) by  coincidence.  There was an air force colonel (a soccer/ piano mom) who was selling the entire collection of Yamaha music books and workbooks and CDs volumes one to eight for $50 on usedottawa; books that her children used and were done with and she was moving for the next posting.  When she came to deliver the items, we also had a good chat about the music program and about raising a military family etc. I looked through the books, and figured out some of the major components was possibly music appreciation, ensemble playing (playing the chords and notes, following along with the group and the CD accompaniment) plus alot of crafts and fun worksheets.  I would've enrolled my kids but the timing on Saturday morning didn't fit my schedule well. Highly recommended and not to expensive. Fall and Winter start dates.

KODALY METHOD
Kodaly is an excellent music program designed to teach basic musicianship through singing and body movement. It is based on an approach to music education developed by Hungarian Zolton Kodaly in the early 20th century. Kodaly methods are adapted by many music teachers in the school system when teaching music reading and musical language to students from kindergarten to high school.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0001864