When are lessons scheduled?
Lessons are currently scheduled Monday-Friday. Daytime, evening and lunch hour lessons (for the busy professional) are offered .
Where are lessons offered?
Lessons are offered in my home studio, conveniently located in Allen, off of Custer and McDermott.
How often are lessons and how long?
Lessons are weekly. We meet year round with periodic breaks for holidays. Lessons range from 30-50 minutes, depending on the number of students in the class:
What ages do you teach?
Ages 6 to 106! For students younger than 6, special consideration will be made depending on the student and the level of parental assistance available.
What are shared lessons and why do you offer these over private lessons?
Simply Music uses a multi-sensory learning approach, meaning that we use a variety of techniques that appeal to all learning styles. One of the most important of these is observatory learning. This occurs when students are able to process information while watching and interacting with other students. In shared lessons we do a variety of activities that just aren't possible in a private lesson envronment including mentor groups, peer-to-peer teaching and ensemble playing. A shared lesson is more fun and more energetic than a private lesson. And often students progress through the program faster in a group environment than they do on their own. Traditionally, piano lessons have been a solitary experience, but because Simply Music utilizes a more natural learning process, group lessons actually increase the success of the method.
What if I have already taken piano? Why switch to Simply Music?
The traditional approach to piano generally limits students to reading music only.
In Simply Music, students start playing blues, contemporary, and classical from the very first lessons. They also learn accompaniment, which includes learning how to play most contemporary chords: major, minor, 7th, major 7th, minor 7th, augmented, diminished, 2nd, 6th, 11th, 13th and split chords. This opens the door to being able to play virtually any song; pop, country, Christian, blues, etc.
In addition, we also learn how to compose and improvise. Students become self-generating musicians, as opposed to the more receptive skill of purely reading. We learn strategies on how to see different patterns and shapes in music, and how to map those onto the keyboard. We don't need a map to drive to school, or to church or to Wal-Mart. So why do we only rely on the page in front of us to play music? Instead, we treat music the same way: We map it onto the keyboard, much like we map out on the road when we're driving. This results in a deeper, more thorough understanding of a song (as opposed to purely memorizing). Reading music is certainly a crucial part of becoming a musician as well, and Simply Music presents reading in an extremely natural way.
How much time do I need to devote to practice?
A minimum of 15 to 20 minutes a day, 5 or 6 days a week.
