Class Description

     - Course description:

Let’s Learn to Play the Piano presents the essential skills it takes to learn how to play, or play and sing, a song and breaks it down into easy to learn steps.  The class is divided up into five areas each week. Students will get a rhythm exercise, a chord exercise, and a sight-reading exercise each class. We also take a few moments each week to illustrate how music intertwines with one of their core subjects, such as Math, Science or English. Finally, at the end of the class students present their performance piece to their peers.

Each assignment is simple and easy to understand and should only take about 15 minutes to practice each day, as daily repetition is key in reinforcing the basic concepts of the piano.

The chord assignments are especially geared towards those who love to play and sing, where the sight-reading assignments are geared towards those that want to learn how to play instrumental melodies. This ensures each student will be able to focus on the part of the piano that interests him or her the most. 

For the performance assignment each student gets to pick out the songs that they WANT to play, ensuring they will enjoy themselves and stay interested.  With daily practice, students should be able to play a song or three by the end of the semester!

        - Class structure:

We start the class by checking in with everyone to see if there were any challenges throughout the week that they may have questions about. Then we go around the class, having the students demonstrate their proficiency on the rhythm, chord and sight-reading exercises for the week. Then we go over the exercises for the next week. After that, we take a moment for a brief presentation on how music relates to one of their core subjects, such as History, Math, Science, English, Social Studies or Geography. This helps illustrate music’s far-reaching grasp into many areas of our lives. Finally we take the last part of the class to check in with each student to see how they are doing with the song they have chosen to perform. This part of the class organically brings up new concepts and skills needed to perform on the piano, outside of the basic curriculum.

        - Syllabus:

WEEK 1

Introduce Whole, Half and Quarter Notes

History 1 – Instrument history

Note Names

WEEK 2

Play and Count Whole, Half and Quarter Rhythms. Introduce 1/8 notes

Math 1 – Rhythm as fractions

Learn WWW Chords

Learn C-D-B

WEEK 3

Counting 1/4 and 1/8 notes together. Play and count 1/8 notes 1-4

Science – Sound Waves

Play WWW/C-D-B

Learn WBW Chords/# and b’s/ Treble Clef Spaces / Song 1

WEEK 4

Play and count 1/8 notes 5-8

History 2 – Instrumentalist history

Play WBW Chords/ Treble Clef Song 1

Learn BWB Chords / Treble Clef Space Song 2 and 3

WEEK 5

Play and count 1/8 notes 9-12

Social Studies-

Music’s role in World Events

Play BWB Chords / Treble Clef Space Song 2 and 3

Learn BBB Chords / Treble Clef Line Song 1

WEEK 6

Play and count 1/8 notes 13-16. Introduce 1/16 notes.

Math 2 – More fractions

Play BBB Chords / Treble Clef Line Song 1

Learn B Chords / Treble Clef Line Songs 2 and 3

WEEK 7

Play and count 1/16 notes 1-4

Science – Dual sound waves

Play B Chords / Treble Clef Line Songs 2 and 3

Learn Bb Chords / Treble Clef Line Song 4

WEEK 8

Play and count 1/16 notes 5-8

English – Lyrics as poetry

Play Bb Chords / Treble Clef Line Song 4

Learn Sus Chords for C, D, G and A / Learn Bass Clef Space Song 1

WEEK 9

Play and count 1/16 notes 9-12

Geography – Location and found sounds

Play Sus Chords for C, D, G and A / Learn Bass Clef Space Song 1

Learn Sus Chords for E and F / Bass Clef Space Song 2

WEEK 10

Play and count 1/16 notes 13-16. Introduce dotted rhythms.

Math 3 – Uneven fractions

Play Sus Chords for E and F / Bass Clef Space Song 2

Learn Sus Chords for C# and Ab / Bass Clef Space Song 3

WEEK 11

How to count dotted rhythms using 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 notes. Play and count dotted rhythms 1-4

Social Studies- How syncopation shaped culture

Play Sus Chords for C# and Ab / Bass Clef Space Song 3

Learn Sus Chords for Eb and F# / Bass Clef Line Song 1

WEEK 12

Play and count dotted rhythms 5-8

English – Lyric analysis

Play Sus Chords for Eb and F# / Bass Clef Line Song 1

Learn Bsus Chords / Bass Clef Line Songs 2 and 3

WEEK 13

Play and count dotted rhythms 9-12

Science - Multiple

sound waves

Play Bsus Chords / Bass Clef Line Songs 2 and 3

Learn Bb Sus Chords / Bass Clef Line Song 4

WEEK 14

Play and count dotted rhythms 13-16

Geography – How music changes from North to South

Play Bb Sus Chords / Bass Clef Line Song 4

        - Interaction:

Students are encouraged to compliment or give constructive feedback after a student presents their exercises and performance piece. They are also encouraged to share in each other’s learning process as we present the challenges and concepts particular to each student’s individual piece.

        - Learning goals:

Rhythm: Be able to play and count rhythms that include whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and dotted note values.

Chords: Be able to find and play all 48 major, minor sus and sus2 triads.

Sight Reading: Be able to find and play all 21 notes of the grand staff.

Performance: Be able to perform at least 1 song.

        - Homework / practice time:

Students should practice the assignments a minimum of 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, as daily repetition is essential in showing progress on the instrument. 1-2 hours a week will ensure they show progress weekly. However, the more time they spend practicing, the quicker they will become proficient on the instrument.

        - Assessment:

I give verbal assessments during the class for each student highlighting where they are excelling and where the challenges lie in their playing. Parents can request a written assessment via any messaging format.

        - Distribution of Class Materials:

During these online classes, students will see screen shares of the worksheets for the following week as the instructor explains the assignment. The worksheets will be emailed in a PDF format to all the students / parents after the class has concluded.

        - Teaching style:

Dave is very patient, energetic and compassionate to the challenges of learning music. He stresses the importance of balancing discipline with fun and tackling a number of small tasks instead of one large task in order to learn music swiftly and with much less stress.

        - Teaching experience:

I have been teaching private music lessons from my own studio for 24 years, with additional teaching experience in public schools and employee training while working as a music librarian for Disney Studios.  I teach group lessons in piano, ukulele, guitar, song writing and music geography. I have worked with children ages 4-18 throughout my teaching career. While at Disney I also helped prepare the scores for numerous films such as Frozen, Big Hero 6 and many other family classics. This experience allows me to prepare custom pieces for my students based on their interests and favorite songs because of the skills acquired while working in the film industry.

I have been playing piano for over 40 years, and guitar and ukulele for over 10 years. I have created my own curriculum for these instruments, emphasizing taking complex ideas and simplifying them for any age group so students can play music AND understand how music works. I have been writing songs for 37 years and focus on my students releasing their creativity while learning how to give and receive constructive feedback to their peers. I have studied world music and culture for over 31 years, which greatly informs my understanding of Music Geography. 

        - Next steps:

After this class, students will be well prepared to start taking private lessons on the instrument.

Additional Information

Class size: 3-5 students

Supplies: Students will need to purchase the following items

        - Materials:

Students need to have a 3-ring binder with plastic  pockets on the inside of the front and back covers. Keyboards can be purchased online through Sweetwater. Here is a link to a great, affordable starter keyboard:  https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PSRE263--yamaha-psr-e263-61-key-portable-arranger

Prerequisites

No music experience necessary for this class.

Class tags:
Piano