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Cost of Piano Lessons?
In article ,
Cindy wrote: My daughter is interested in taking piano lessons and I have no idea what they run privately. I realize prices differ region to region but I'm trying to get a ballpark number. No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled." Kerry Cue |
#2
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
Chookie wrote:
In article , Cindy wrote: My daughter is interested in taking piano lessons and I have no idea what they run privately. I realize prices differ region to region but I'm trying to get a ballpark number. No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. Eh, I'm not a fan of group lessons on piano. You don't get near enough attention, and the early years are really important for hand position. It's *really* *really* hard to break bad habits in hand position. If you get the chance, before signing up for lessons, see if you can attend a studio recital. A good teacher will have kids who are very musical and have good hand position and "touch" even among the youngest students. It makes a big difference in the long run. Not only that, but proper positioning protects against pain and nerve damage too. Best wishes, Ericka |
#3
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Eh, I'm not a fan of group lessons on piano. You don't get near enough attention, and the early years are really important for hand position. It's *really* *really* hard to break bad habits in hand position. This is why I'm not really a fan of violin Suzuki instruction, or of taking only the school orchestra classes and not also lessons from a private instructor. I would estimate, *especially* with beginning students, that I say something or other about hand position about every five minutes while I'm teaching private violin lessons. The same frequency holds in my lessons with my private teacher, and I've been playing the violin for a quarter of a century. At least some of that is ongoing correction of residual habits from when I was 11, although violinists do talk about hand position absolutely all the time as well. :-) -- C, mama to three year old nursling |
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
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#5
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
In article ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote: No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. Eh, I'm not a fan of group lessons on piano. You don't get near enough attention, and the early years are really important for hand position. It's *really* *really* hard to break bad habits in hand position. We are doing group lessons through this mob: http://www.fortemusic.com.au/frameset00_index.htm It isn't all piano (for 5yos); they are learning about beats, they sing, dance and clap, and there was a music activity with two parts yesterday, which is not uncommon. You can't do that in a class of one. The teacher does inspect the way they play, and does help with positioning, but it seems to be treated as a gradual thing. The kids don't move their hands yet; they are only learning to play notes between C and G atm. My guess is that the keyboard activities are kept short in an effort to prevent bad positions becoming habits. But I will bear it in mind! -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled." Kerry Cue |
#6
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
Chookie wrote:
In article , Ericka Kammerer wrote: No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. Eh, I'm not a fan of group lessons on piano. You don't get near enough attention, and the early years are really important for hand position. It's *really* *really* hard to break bad habits in hand position. We are doing group lessons through this mob: http://www.fortemusic.com.au/frameset00_index.htm It isn't all piano (for 5yos); they are learning about beats, they sing, dance and clap, and there was a music activity with two parts yesterday, which is not uncommon. You can't do that in a class of one. The teacher does inspect the way they play, and does help with positioning, but it seems to be treated as a gradual thing. The kids don't move their hands yet; they are only learning to play notes between C and G atm. My guess is that the keyboard activities are kept short in an effort to prevent bad positions becoming habits. But I will bear it in mind! Ah, if it's sort of a music/movement/fun with piano class, that's one thing. I was thinking more in terms of traditional piano lessons. I would think those would be boring in a group setting for a young child. What you describe sounds reasonably appropriate. I always have some mixed emotions about that sort of thing, though. I think the overall music exposure stuff is good, but I think it is good for you to keep an eye on the technique just to make sure he doesn't learn any bad habits. At piano festival last month, I heard a lot of young kids play who just had *horrible* hand position. Their wrists were hanging below the keys, their fingers were all splayed out and not playing on their tips, their fingers were all floppy, etc. I sure wouldn't want to clean up that mess! They also didn't seem to have much musical sense. They were just banging out the notes with no sense of phrasing or musicality (or much rhythm, for that matter). On the other hand, I suppose it took a lot more for them to get to that state than a little bit of early piano ;-) Best wishes, Ericka |
#7
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
Chookie wrote:
In article , Cindy wrote: My daughter is interested in taking piano lessons and I have no idea what they run privately. I realize prices differ region to region but I'm trying to get a ballpark number. No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. How do group piano lessons work? Is there just one piano, and the children take turns, or do they have several pianos? FWIW, in the UK the national average for a half hour lesson is £12. -- Penny Gaines UK mum to three |
#8
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
My mother considered that it was important to have the BEST
instruction, and as early as reasonably possible. Her mother's siblings all either sang or played an instrument or both. But her mom couldn't afford the "best" instruction until she was older, so she didn't start to take lessons until she was older (probably 9 or 10) and she took violin. I never heard my mom play nor do I think she felt that she could sing. She could read music - my dad had a nice singing voice, but he couldn't read music. His parents did have a piano, but I doubt he took any lessons.. Consequently, when my dad was a relatively poor professor, my sister and I took group lessons where we played paper keyboards in a group. The group lesson teacher later came to our house to give us individual lessons. Later we took lessons all the way up through high school from the daughter of the head of Peabody in Baltimore. Sometimes he would be teaching upstairs while we were having lessons downstairs and we could hear him stomping on the floor to keep the pupil on time. I went to Oberlin College, but I took lessons right through the 4 years from teachers in the Oberlin Conservatory. My sister supported her husband in grad school by giving piano lessons, and she taught in a system which was geared to younger children. She sent me the materials and I started my older two children when they were about 5 and 7. My oldest child still takes lessons along with her youngest son. When we moved to Baltimore, my two older children (who were in 1st and 3rd grade at the time) started to take lessons with my old teacher. She had to be hospitalized for an operation and her dad took over her students including my two girls. He was a crusty old German, and not exactly used to teaching little girls. I remember once when he was trying to explain to dd#2 why she should hold a whole note for the entire measure.. He started out asking whether she liked pie. She said yes. Then he said, would you rather have a whole pie or half a pie. She said "If I ate a whole pie, it would make me sick." [I think that dd#2 knew what point he was trying to make BTW.] grandma Rosalie |
#9
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
Penny Gaines wrote:
Chookie wrote: In article , Cindy wrote: My daughter is interested in taking piano lessons and I have no idea what they run privately. I realize prices differ region to region but I'm trying to get a ballpark number. No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might also be more interesting. How do group piano lessons work? Is there just one piano, and the children take turns, or do they have several pianos? Turns out Chookie was talking about a different sort of thing, but a typical traditional group piano class would have a piano for each child. These days, the pianos are often electronic keyboards so everyone can wear headphones and hear themselves play, or else they just all play in unison. Best wishes, Ericka |
#10
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Cost of Piano Lessons?
In article ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote: Ah, if it's sort of a music/movement/fun with piano class, that's one thing. I was thinking more in terms of traditional piano lessons. I would think those would be boring in a group setting for a young child. What you describe sounds reasonably appropriate. I always have some mixed emotions about that sort of thing, though. I think the overall music exposure stuff is good, but I think it is good for you to keep an eye on the technique just to make sure he doesn't learn any bad habits. At piano festival last month, I heard a lot of young kids play who just had *horrible* hand position. Their wrists were hanging below the keys, their fingers were all splayed out and not playing on their tips, their fingers were all floppy, etc. I sure wouldn't want to clean up that mess! They also didn't seem to have much musical sense. They were just banging out the notes with no sense of phrasing or musicality (or much rhythm, for that matter). On the other hand, I suppose it took a lot more for them to get to that state than a little bit of early piano ;-) LOL, I would think so! The only thing that worries me about Forte is their annual concert, where the kids play "ensemble" pieces in unison. The pieces they play at the lower levels are very simple (it's all just to get them used to performing). Last year, DS1 played from C to G in sequence, for example, to imitate a rocket countdown. That's fine. But there is something terribly wrong when a bunch of 10yos are playing the start of Fur Elise in unison! -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled." Kerry Cue |
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