Piano is often referred to as a the fundamental musical instrument for many reasons. Learning the piano from a young age has many benefits to children including enhancing cognitive abilities, sharpening memory, building fine motor skills and boosting analytical thinking. In this small group class, children will learn literary, pedagogical and performance-based skills using a curriculum designed to prepare students for reading notes on the staff by the end of unit 2!

🍎 Topics Covered:
-Posture + Hand Position Techniques 
-Piano Finger Numbers 
-White Key Names
-Musical Pitch: High and Low Sounds
-Basic Note Values: Whole Notes, Dotted Half Notes, Half Notes and Quarter Notes
-Identifying Bar Lines, Double Bar Lines and Repeat Signs
-The Music Alphabet
-Introduction to Legato Playing Technique
-Reading Time Signatures
-Identifying Treble and Bass Clefs
-Reading Music Notation on Treble and Bass Staffs
-Reading Music Notation on the Grand Staff
-Piano and Forte Dynamics
-Understanding Intervals

🎶 Class Structure:
Each class session is 30 minutes in length with an assigned song to practice after each session. A typical class will start with a review of the prior week's homework assignment, a mini-lesson on the weekly syllabus topic. After the mini lesson, children are typically given a few minutes of "personal practice time". This is an opportunity to develop and refine practicing techniques during classes. After the personal practice time, we will either play together or take turns playing for each other for constructive feedback. During the final five minutes, I will introduce the homework assignment and suggest strategies for practicing throughout the week.

🍏 How I Will Teach:
Each class will have a mini lesson based on the topic within the syllabus. Learners will frequently be offered opportunities to perform during class for feedback. I encourage learners to take advantage of the opportunity to play in class as it will help them refine and improve their practicing strategies at home.

👩🏼‍🏫 Teaching Style:
My dedication to my private students is unwavering and I enjoy building lasting bonds with them! As a teacher, I have often been described as "passionate", "caring" and "tech-savvy" by parents, students and administrators. While I enjoy creating structured lesson plans, I tend to embrace organic learning moments as they arise.

🙋🏽 Learner Interaction:
During class, learners are asked to raise their hand (or use the hand raising button) before speaking and should avoid interrupting a song being played unless there is an emergency. After a song is finished, learners are encouraged to discuss and provide constructive and respectful feedback to themselves and others so that the learning process remains an open dialogue where everyone learns together!

🧠 Required Experience or Knowledge:
No prior musical or playing experience is required. This class is designed for beginners who are new to the piano or keyboard.