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Private Piano Lessons

Fun and engaging piano lessons for beginners to intermediates that include composition, improvisation, technique, theory, and repertoire taught by a professional classical musician with over twenty years of teaching experience.
Amanda Vallejos
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(38)
Class

What's included

Meets on Demand
schedule meetings as needed
45 mins
per session
Teacher support
Certificate of Completion
Certificates of Completion are offered for finishing a lesson book and for composing an original 16 measure piece.

Class Experience

Beginner - Intermediate Level
Private piano lessons are ideal for older beginner and intermediate pianists. Learners are encouraged to use books from the Piano Safari series. These classes are driven by the learner's needs and will be based on an assessment of their strengths. Learners will discover the secrets of music theory and history as they never have before through games and composer study. Every class includes opportunities to listen to a wide variety of repertoire, learn to play familiar melodies, build healthy piano technique, tackle the psychological side of performing, and improvise original melodies in a fun interactive environment. Learners are encouraged to research and purchase music they would like to learn to play. These pieces will be used to enrich our lesson material. Here are eight weeks worth of lesson plans, but please note that these plans will be customized to suit the needs of each learner. 

Week 1: (assuming student is a late beginner)
- Warmup routine including stretching fingers, wrists, shoulders, and building correct posture done in every class.
- Play "Snow Flurry Hurry Game" to review intervals
- Sight read "Clementine" and build I-V7-I cadences with aural training
- Play the G major scale and improvise against a backing track
- Listen to Bach's "Minuet in G" (try to play the first two measures by ear)
- Ear training with DO, RE, MI, SOL, LA 
- Play "Clap, Tap, Think" rhythm game

Week 2: 
- Play "Ssslurs"to review slurs and ties
- "Go Round the Mountain" folk song transposition exercise
- Review "Clementine" and sight read "Mexican Hand-Clapping Song"
- Play D major scale and improvise to a new backing track
- Play "Swap - Swap"
- Listen to "Scherzino Mexicano" by Manuel Maria Ponce Cuellar (compare to "Mexican Hand-Clapping Song")

Week 3:
- Build rhythm snakes with "Relative Rhythm" cards 
- D major improvisation and parallel motion scale
- Review "Go Round the Mountain" and add harmony
- Review "Mexican Hand-Clapping Song" and sight read "Love Somebody"
- Listen to Beethoven's "Symphony No.6: Mvt 1", discuss emotion and music
- Play "Beethoven's Bucket Dunk Game"

Week 4:
- Q&A rhythms
- A major scale and improvisation
- Play "Sidestep Solfa"
- Review "Love Somebody" and "Clementine" and sight read "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
- Marie Antoinette and French folksongs - Haydn "Symphony No.85"
- Play "Interval Bob"

Week 5:
- "Bells in the Steeple" pulse singing
- A major parallel motion scale and improvisation
- Counting with Rhythm Vocab cards
- Sight read "Yankee Doodle" and play learner's favorite song from the last 4 weeks
- Discuss music that built nations
- Play "Accidental Abacus"

Week 6:
- Play "Interval Sprinterval Shminterval"
- Solfege handsigns with "Bells in the Steeple"
- Syncopation march
- Sight read "William Tell Overture Theme" 
- E major scale improvisation 
- Listen to "Cat Duet" by Gioachino Rossini

Week 7:
- Play "FACEjibbidy" to review skips alphabet
- Add harmony to "Bells in the Steeple"
- E major parallel motion scale and improvisation
- Sight read "Hometown Pride" and play "William Tell Overture" and "Yankee Doodle"
- Play "Rhythm Race" with Rhythm Vocab Cards
- Listen to national anthems from around the world

Week 8:
- Play "Signature Sprint" 
- Whiteboard notation exploration (Zoom annotation capability would be very helpful)
- Review "Hometown Pride" and sight read "The Star-Spangled Banner" (or learner's national anthem)
- Improvisation between keys using scales
- Sixteenth note introduction and rhythm exercises
- Listen to Doreen Ketchens perform "When the Saints Go Marching In"

Learning Goals

Improve sight reading skills
Learn to improvise in designated keys
learning goal

Other Details

Supply List
Learners will need lesson books. For beginners, we will use the Piano Safari book series available through www.pianosafari.com. They cost $20 USD and typically provide a full calendar year's worth of lesson material.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
  • Youtube
Joined September, 2020
5.0
38reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Miss Amanda has a degree in Music History from Western University and over 20 years of teaching experience. She has helped children all over the world complete over 100 original compositions. Miss Amanda is a professional opera singer performing with Opera In Concert in Toronto, Ontario. 

Reviews

Live 1-on-1 Lessons
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$55

per session

Meets on demand
45 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 7-16

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