7 Easy Steps to Understanding Piano Lessons

What's going on during piano lessons for kids in Brooklyn? The long-term goal is for your child to become a piano player, but how is this goal to be accomplished? To help you better understand the process, here is quick look at 7 things piano teachers teach budding pianists:

The instrument. Students learn about their instrument. This includes the keys, the pedals, and the basics of how a piano works.
The notes. Learning to read music is a big part of piano lessons. Teachers teach students to recognize, name, and locate notes on the staff.
The rhythms. Students learn how to read rhythm notation and how to count it out.
The technique. Movement is a big part of good piano playing. Learning correct hand positions, wrist rotations, and other techniques early will make mastering complex playing easier later.
The patterns. Music is made of patterns called scales and chords. Students are taught to recognize and play these patterns. Think of the patterns as being equivalent to sight words for early readers—students recognize them on sight, rather than needing to sound out each letter. In the case of pianists, players recognize familiar patterns and can play them without needing to read each note individually.
The music. Piano players are musicians and, as such, need to learn about music. Piano teachers instruct students about different styles of music and different composers. The students learn that Mozart is played with a much different technique than Chopin and that rhythms are different in ragtime than they are in a waltz. Students learn to tell a story as they play, using all the building blocks of music.
The practice. Piano teachers teach students how to practice. They give instructions on how to learn a piece and what they need to do at home to practice and master what they have learned.