Learning the Piano

The benefits of music; what to expect from piano lessons;and buying a suitable instrument

This booklet is put together using material from Susan Hallam's The Power of Music 2015,various blog articles from The Curious Piano Teachers and Caroline Blount from SurreyMusic School. To ensure the best outcomes for your child Surrey Music School onlyworks with qualified staff and follows the principles discussed. Please don't hesitate tocontact us if you have any questions or would like to enquire about lessons.

Contents

1. Why music matters & why the teaching does too (taken from Susan Hallam The Power of Music 2015 and The Curious Piano Teachers' Blog August 2015)

2. What does learning the piano involve? (taken from The Curious Piano Teachers' Blog September 2015)

3. What to look for in a teacher

4. What instrument should I buy?

1. Why music matters, and why the teaching does tooListening to and making music is a wonderful experience, with many benefits.

a) Music reshapes the brain Music can help with phonics

Learning to read music notation may help with reading text as many of the underlying principles are the same

There is lots of evidence that musical training provides individuals with better overall aural memory

There is strong evidence that making music has an impact on spatial reasoning

Rhythm and movement seem to be particularly important for us as a species

b) Musical training matters'Children who experience musical training have an advantage across all subjects except

sport'

In research studies children who learnt an instrument made better progress in school, no matter the level they started from

Start young!

The longer the training the bigger the impact

c) Music has a direct link to our emotions‘It reaches the parts of the brain other things can’t do’.

Music can improve our mood

Music can reduce anger

Singing and playing with others gives a sense of belonging

d) Music improves self belief‘When children engage in music and get positive feedback it helps them to

develop a stronger self belief’

The opportunity to perform with positive and constructive feedback can be highly motivating (performance can cover a variety of contexts including informal and more formal settings)

This all adds up to a very persuasive argument, doesn't it? But onevital question remains….

What about the teaching?All the benefits come with a vital health warning:

'If the quality of music tuition is poor and unstructured thereis no impact'

Even worse, the impact of poor music tuition goes evendeeper and may have:

'negative outcomes'

It is the responsibility of instrumental teachers to improve their knowledge of what goodquality teaching looks and sounds like and the only way they can do this is through

professional development (see chapter 3)

2. What does learning the piano involve?Taken from The Curious Piano Teachers' Blog September 2015

a) Learning for LifeMusic is with us for life, it brings us joy and helps us reach places emotionally weotherwise might not. Taught the right way, learning the piano should be aboutdeveloping a life long love of music and expressing thoughts and emotions through theinstrument. Taught the wrong way it can lead to dislike of music and the instrument.

b) Creating the right conditionsIf you want your child to flourish musically the right conditions need to be created athome:

Is the piano tuned regularly or do you have a good digital piano that is a pleasureto play?

Is the stool at the right height and is there a foot rest if the child’s feet do notreach the floor? (Foot rests that you use for your child to reach the wash basin areoften perfect.)

Is the room warm and inviting with good lighting?

Is it quiet but not isolated from the main action of the house?

It is not always easy to get these conditions right, but they make a big different and areworth considering.

An important part of creating the right conditions is finding a suitable time of day for aregular practice slot and integrating it into your child's timetable. Practice as 'a practicalarrangement rather than an ongoing, emotional negotiation …. will really help it to be apositive experience'. (Sally Cathcart, The Curious Piano Teachers)

Think about how you can encourage a wider love of music, beyond the lessons. Do youplay different genres and styles at home, can you attend local concerts or festivals?

c) Encouraging curious and playful practice

The old adage ‘practice makes perfect’ is actually a myth! Practice makes permanent!So if the passage has been played wrongly 5 times each day of the week the child iswell on the way to learning it the wrong way and unlikely to be able get it right even withthe teacher's help, without getting extremely frustrated. The child is also thoroughlybored!

Instead of thinking of practice as a boring activity, let’s think of it as an exploration, anadventure that is full of surprises and delights. The practice of experts is full of curiosityand a sense of playfulness and, although young children will need help and guidance, thissame approach should be encouraged from the start.

For example, you can help them to ask questions about what they are learning – whatpassage are you going to play? Why are you going to play it? How are you going toplay it? What happened? Why? I wonder what it would sound like it you played it sadly /happily / in an excited way / in a different place?

We have a separate document to help with practising which we give to all our newstarters.

d) Establishing firm foundationsLearning the piano is a complex activity requiring many different skills to be learnt andunderstood. In fact, learning the piano is one of the hardest things your child will everundertake.The early stages can’t be rushed as firm foundations for all the different skills have to beestablished. There are musical concepts to be learnt, pianistic skills to be mastered,reading skills to be developed, musical sensitivity to be nurtured – and that’s just forstarters!

Early piano lessons should be just as much about developing musicianship skills as about‘learning’ the piano so expect to hear singing as well as playing.

Children who don't get a good foundation often want to give up as they don't have asolid foundation on which to build more.

e) So much to learn Did you know there are 10080 minutes in each week?

Your piano teacher has just 30 of those minutes to teach all the skills just mentioned and,to be honest, in majority of cases that just isn’t enough time! Just compare it to how manyminutes children spend learning to read at school and at home each week and, ofcourse, they start to learn to read when they are already pretty fluent and confident withtheir language skills.

Making sure that the pianistic foundations are firm and secure takes time. You willprobably find that the different skills come on at different rates and that is completelyexpected. For example, the ability to play the piano can develop quite quickly whereasestablishing secure note reading often takes more time. An experienced teacher will

know this and will create individual programmes for each pupil, allowing the different skillsto develop in their own time with the appropriate support and back up.

f) Making progressThere are a whole range of piano tutor books available for teachers and the books oftenplay an important role in making progress.

Beware the danger in thinking that the goal is to get to the end in the shortest timepossible! Many of the most popular tutor books mainly focus on learning to read notationand playing and developing musical awareness can easily be neglected. Always keep inmind that ‘playing’ the piano is the ultimate aim and it is this that keeps the motivation tolearn going.

The same advice applies to the instrumental exam system (ABRSM, Trinity etc.). Mostchildren are simply not ready to ‘take Grade 1’ within one to two years of learning thepiano, at least not if you want them to keep learning in the long-term. Rush them throughwithout the necessary understanding and you will find that quite soon they will feeldefeated by the whole process and will be asking when they can ‘give up because it isboring’.

g) CommunicatingIt is important to recognise that you are part of a triangle; teacher, pupil and parent. Allsides need to communicate clearly with each other right from the start. Of course withyounger pupils the main points of communication are going to be between the parentand the teacher. This might mean sitting in on lessons and making notes (but notinterrupting) or it might mean a short de-brief at the end of the lesson about what hasbeen covered and clarifying what is to be done at home.

Research shows quite conclusively that good, open lines ofcommunication between teacher and parent are essentialfor effective learning to take place and that there isevidence to show that the teacher-parent relationshipdirectly affects musical achievement.

h) Commitment

Learning the piano is a commitment and of course, at some point in the learning process,it might get tough to keep the motivation up. You know your child better than anyone andwill need to have some strategies to encourage them to keep going. Always talk to theteacher as soon as a problem arises so it can be addressed.

3. What to look for in a piano teacherA qualified teacher will be able to deliver quality music lessons, leading to the positiveoutcomes listed in chapter 2 and avoiding the negative ones.

In the UK opportunities to develop as an instrumental teacher are limited, with manyteachers feeling they do not need to undertake professional development. As such thequality of piano teaching varies widely depending on the background of the teacher.

When choosing a piano teacher it is a good idea to find one who can not only play thepiano but has undertaken some sort of professional development related to musicteaching so you can be sure your child will receive the benefits of learning music listed inthe previous chapter and avoid the 'negative outcomes' bad teaching can have.

To help you, some opportunities teachers have for professional development are listedbelow although the list does not claim to be exhaustive.

Until around 2010 there was the highly regarded Music Teaching in ProfessionalPractice (Mtpp) postgraduate course at Reading University

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music used to offer a certificate ininstrumental teaching

Both these are now, sadly, defunct.

The European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) offers a Piano Teachers Course

York University offers an MA and Chichester a BA in Instrumental teaching

The exam boards offer diplomas however teachers need to study independentlyfor these

The Curious Piano Teachers launched in May 2015 to address the need forprofessional development amongst piano teachers and delivers monthly 'curiosityboxes' including videos, workbooks, webinars and a facebook group

Kodaly, Orff and Dalcroze are approaches to music education and provideprofessional development opportunities.

4. What instrument should I buy?If you are thinking of signing up your child for piano lessons it is necessary to have asuitable instrument from the first lesson. Toy keyboards are not suitable instruments!

There are three different types of keyboard instrument (discussed below, courtesy ofHelen Russell). Ideally you should have one of the first two. The electronic keyboard willonly do for a year and even then is not ideal.

Acoustic Pianos

• the sound is created when hammers strike strings inthe body of the instrument

• they need regular tuning (the recommendation istwice a year costing £50+ per time)

• they are large and heavy• you can buy new or second hand• prices vary, especially for second hand instruments• Don't buy one older than about 50 years unless it's been reconditioned as it's not

likely to be able to be tuned properly.• can’t use headphones or adjust the volume• the most realistic in terms of sound and touch!

Digital Pianos

• they will need to be near a power supply (somesmaller ones can take batteries)

• some are portable but the more expensive modelstry to look like acoustics

• sound is synthesized by a computer inside the instrument• the quality of the sound varies depending on the model• the “feel” of the keys varies depending on the model• you can practise using headphones or adjust the volume• they often have different “sounds” and other options like recording

Electronic Keyboards

• the cheapest and smallest option• keys can feel light and cheap compared

to pianos. Touch is totally unrealistic anddoes not lead to good piano technique.

• sound is synthesized and can havehundreds of different “sounds” and sound effects

• they come with inbuilt rhythms and accompaniments to play with• you can practise using headphones or adjust the volume• essential if the student wishes to study electronic keyboard• serious piano students will need to upgrade after a year or so

Digital Piano Recommendations

Because most families do not have room for an acoustic piano we have visited a localmusic shop to try out some entry level digital pianos and share our thoughts below whichfocus solely on touch and sound. All the instruments had other features however we didnot examine these.

You would need to not only buy the digital piano but a stand and stool as well. It isessential you visit a music shop and try out various instruments, much like you try a carbefore you buy. All prices are as of July 2016.

1 Roland FP30 - This has a lovely mellow sound, a touch that is very like a piano andfeels very realistic. Price around £580 for instrument, stool and stand.

2 Casio Privia PX160. The feel is not as good as the Roland (above) but better than theYamaha (below). It has a mellow sound. Price around £500 for instrument, stool andstand.

3 Yamaha digital piano p45. Bright sound, very typical of Yamaha. Feel not as realistic asthe two above but will still allow for expressive playing. Price around £350

4 Casio CDP130 most plastic feel of all but still touch sensitive. Price around £349