Piano Lessons

Here you can find out about piano/music lessons, including an overview of my schedule and teaching philosophy.
If you are interested in lessons, please email me at ShawnaBeltEdwards@gmail(dot)com.

PIANO LESSON OVERVIEW 2011-2012

SCHEDULE: 

Piano lessons are held every week for 30 minutes, except for the last week of the month, when we have Group Lessons, which will last about one hour. There’s a little more about Group Lessons at the end.

I teach in 2-month sessions, with a different focus each session to keep things interesting and give the students a chance to learn new skills. Here’s the session schedule for this year:

SESSION 1: EVALUATE

(September)

We’ll get back into the swing of things, evaluate where the students are at, make some goals together, discover how they learn best, and where their individual musical strengths and weaknesses are.

SESSION 2: CELEBRATE

(October/November/December)

Holiday music!!!! I will choose really fun, fun, FUN Halloween and Christmas music for each student to learn, which they will most likely have a chance to show off somewhere – maybe at a fun family party or program.  We will also hold a fun holiday recital before the Christmas crush.  (Did I mention the word “fun”??)

SESSION 3: COOPERATE

(January/February)

This is Duet-Fest. Duets will force each student to learn their music with an extra amount of precision, because they won’t want to let their partner down. The students will grow a LOT during Duet-Fest. I will team them up with another student on a similar skill level. Lesson times for this session may be changed, and will be 40 minutes instead of 30. (They will overlap withtheirr partner for the first or last 10 minutes so they can work together at lessons.) We will hold a Duet recital at the end of this session, which everybody loves. Duets are a blast.

SESSION 4: CREATE

(March/April/May)

This is where the students will learn to make their own music. The instruction in this session will draw heavily on the principles of music theory – Yay, Theory! – and will teach them to do everything from making small changes to the pieces they’re already working on to writing their own simple music, depending on their interests. I will encourage every student to come up with something original to play at the recital for this session, which will be held at the end of April. (And I’ll play you a new song that I’ve written, too.)

I WILL TAKE THE MONTH OF JUNE OFF. THE STUDENTS SHOULD, TOO.

SESSION 5: EDUCATE

(July/August)

We will mix it up and do Group Lessons every other week during July and August. During Group Lessons, we will learn to sing the “Singing Smart” songs, which are songs that teach, for example, US Presidents in chronological order, state capitals, countries of the different continents, major inventions, the structure of US government, etc. The students will LOVE these songs, and will draw on them time and time again throughout their lives. (My kids learned these songs when they were young, and still used the knowledge they gained from them in college courses and exams – no kidding!) And yes, there WILL be a recital of sorts at the end of this session – but just a little program where the students will sing for their parents. And have treats. Of course.

POLICIES:

FEES:

Lessons are $100/month, due at the first lesson of the month, whether there are 4 or 5 lessons in the month. Families with more than one child in lessons receive a 20% discount – making the lesson fee $80/month.

NEWS FLASH:

December lessons will only be held for the first 2 weeks of the month, and they are FREE. (Merry Christmas!)

ABSENCES:

If you miss lessons, I don’t refund your parents’ money, but if you let me know in advance, I will try to give you a makeup lesson. If I have to be out of town, I will adjust the lesson fee accordingly.

PRACTICE:

I don’t have a set time requirement for practice – I leave this up to you and your student to decide. However, here’s what I’ve learned about practice: 1. It is better to practice every day for 30 minutes than once or twice a week for an hour or more. 2. It is better to reserve a daily practice time than to just try to fit it in. 3. It is better to practice slowly than fast.

GROUP LESSONS:

This is the last thing – I promise. Group lessons are invaluable. We have a lot of fun – games, treats, prizes, etc. – and we ALWAYS perform for each other (including me). That way, they students practice hard, because they know they will be playing at least one of their pieces in front of the others at the end of every month. Group lessons are the bomb!

That’s about it. Please email if you are interested in lessons at ShawnaBeltEdwards(at)gmail(dot)com.