Mikes Music Room – Music Articles

There are many factors you should consider as you design a musical education for your children or yourself.

The major question to answer is the location of the lesson. Will your kids be taught at home by a traveling instructor or will you travel to the piano teacher’s studio?

LESSONS AT HOME

If you want to find a traveling instructor in your local area, try the local paper or local print media ads. Many piano teachers advertise in newspapers as well as online. Most piano teachers do not travel because of the major added expenditure on transport.

It is more convenient for the piano teacher to teach at their studio, but it is more convenient for the piano student to be taught at home. In the end, the decision may be left up to which types of teachers are available in your area. If you are in a very remote area, your only choice may be to purchase a piano method via mail and the internet.

There are many benefits to hiring a traveling instructor and having your lessons at home. First of, having lessons at home is far more convenient, as well as being conducive to learning because the child is in a comfortable, familiar environment.

Next, you will be able to see the lesson and observe how the teacher teaches and how your child will react. You can bet that the teacher is eager to do a good job because you are present, if not in the same room, at least in the house and able to monitor your child’s experience from afar.

Kids feel more comfortable at the home piano, and can glide from their own activities to the lesson and back again, all in the comfort of home.

Piano teachers who come to your home are more expensive, necessarily, but in my opinion, assuming you have a good teacher, you get what you pay for. That is, home lessons are a better buy because the learning environment is better and more secure. You may also want to make the point that many families want to have their children playing music in the home as a cultural value they support.

Having the lessons at home set that example for the children, but perhaps even more valuable is the fact that you may show praise for their efforts, however humble, more easily in your home.

LESSONS AT THE TEACHER’S STUDIO

Perhaps the prime virtue is that they are cheaper, and since most piano instructors teach only out of their home, there is a greater selection.

Some teach in their own home, or a studio attached to it. Others teach at music schools, exalted and famous, or in a storefront type of operation. In any case, you’ll need to travel to the piano lesson and then either sit in on the lesson, or spend a half hour or so doing something else. And if you have other children to attend to, this can become difficult to organize and pull off happily.

One virtue of the studio teacher is that they usually have a larger library of music than a traveling piano teacher would ordinarily carry with them. This probably would not make a difference to the average child starting out, as they would usually have a single text assigned to them at first. But for an adult or more accomplished child, it could be a benefit.

As a general rule, I would try not to sit in on the lesson at a teacher’s studio too often, as long as you feel comfortable with the teacher and child. The reason for this is simply concentration: your child will concentrate better if they are not trying to please you at the same time as following the piano instructor’s directions.

At home it is different. There you can hear the progress of the piano lesson all through your home, at your leisure.

But your choice of piano instruction may come down to what is available in your area.

In other cases, such as a rural location, you may not be able to find a teacher at all, or a teacher may prove too expensive.

In this case, I would suggest trying to find what I would call a “starter method,” that is, a method that is organized simply enough that you can do it yourself at home. There are many available, from large manufacturers to individuals who market their products online.

I would suggest that you compare all the piano products, and ask for samples if necessary. Some piano methods allow you to try them out online, using a virtual piano that uses your computer’s mouse so you can get the idea of how that piano method works.

Regardless of which piano method you use, exploration of the piano whether in lessons or on your own can be a rewarding experience. Go very slowly and this is most important, learn at your own pace.

The piano is truly the grandest of all musical instruments and the benefits are life-long.

by John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press. Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the PIANO BY NUMBER method.

John Aschenbrenner is a leading children’s music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Aschenbrenner

A key signature will appear at the beginning of a piece of sheet music. This will tell you if sharps and flats will be played in the sheet music or if no sharps and flats will be played. If you don

All right, folks, here you go: My 12 reasons why you should start learning
how to play the piano. Immediately. As in today. This very minute.

Okay, fine, finish this article first, THEN get started. And yes, I know that
there are more than just 12 reasons to play the piano. But I happen to like the
number 12.

1. Everyone should play at least one instrument. I truly believe that.
   Every person on Earth should be able to sit at SOME instrument and be
   capable of making beautiful music.
2. Playing the piano makes you feel (and look) sophisticated. Truly. No
   matter who you are or how many warts you have, you’ll just exude class the
   second you begin tickling those ivories.
3. Piano playing keeps your brain active. It’s very hard for your brain
   to rot when you consistently throw it the musical language to interpret.
4. You won’t run out of things to do when you’re bored. There’s always a
   new way to play, always a new approach to playing, and always, always,
   ALWAYS a new song to learn. (See number 8.)
5. Family members can live vicariously through you. I’m semi-serious
   about that. The reason I began taking piano lessons (back when I was 10) was
   because of grandparents who didn’t play, and over the years I’ve had
   numerous relatives enjoy playing through me. (I live to serve.)
6. People will automatically assume you’re a genius. Honestly, I’ve
   heard this a lot. People uttering “He/she plays the piano” in the same tone
   reserved for “He/she has an IQ of 174.” You just can’t help but admire
   someone playing an instrument.
7. Piano playing is good for your hands. Indeed it is. I probably have
   stronger hands/fingers than most people I know. And have you ever noticed
   the hands of a pianist? Beautiful, long, tapered fingers. Chances are that
   if you’ve ever admired someone’s hands, they play the piano.
8. Pianists never quit learning. There’s absolutely no way to memorize
   every musical piece on earth. You could learn 10 new songs a day for the
   rest of your life without scratching the surface of songs out there.
9. Piano playing is FUN. Really. It’s one of the funnest things I do.
   Think about it, why would so many of us do it if it weren’t a blast?
10. Deep down, everyone wishes they played the piano. Have you ever read
    other people’s New Year’s Resolutions lists? If you haven’t, then you’re
    just not nosy like me. No, seriously, if you haven’t, I’ll tell you which
    wish consistently pops up: “Learn to play the piano.”
11. Piano playing is SATISFYING. It’s truly one of the most satisfying
    things you can do. (Right after touching your nose with your tongue. Or so I
    hear.) There’s no feeling like playing a difficult song and playing it
    flawlessly. Quite an ego-boost.
12. Everyone loves a musician. ‘Nuff said.

Visit:

http://www.thepianopages.com

About The Author

Emily Sigers

Please visit my website,
http://www.thepianopages.com, for more articles, free piano lessons, piano
sheet music, tips, products, and lots more. Also, feel free to send me comments,
questions, or hate mail at:
emily@thepianopages.com“>emily@thepianopages.com.

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In applying any two mechanisms to one another, that which has the less power of adapting itself to the other will necessarily be first examined with regard to its inherent conditions of motion. In the present instance, the hand must accommodate itself to the keyboard of the piano. In order to do so, fully and constantly, it must take note of the limit of the capabilities of the instrument.

These capabilities must be taken full ad

The peculiarities of the mechanism of any instrument constitute in all cases a law for the application of the energy to be expended upon that mechanism. In so far as energy is correctly applied, will the machine, if in good order, give back an equivalent of work done; but in so far as the power applied is either insufficient or superfluous, will the amount of work fall, both in quality and quantity, below the standard otherwise obtainable.

As every musical instrument has that part of it which is to be played upon. Constructed with reference to the shape and motions of the hand. The various positions which the hand can assume during a performance would have to be enumerated before its extraordinary capabilities of motion and attitude could be exhausted. Compare the keyboard of the piano with the different finger-boards of violin, cello, double-bass, or with the key-area of the several kinds of wind instruments.

Of all musical instruments the piano is probably the one which calls for, in the performer, least departure from a position already natural to him. The attitude of sitting is allied with one of the hands and arms more natural and easy than that used in playing on any other instrument.

The violin demands a more constrained position of arm and wrist than is ever needed for the piano. The organ, in consequence of its requiring a great amount of work from the feet as well as from the hands, allows the performer a much less steady position and balance than does the piano.

The harp, from its peculiar form, necessitates a position of some constrain both of arms and body. And all wind instruments, from their necessarily interfering with any free movements of the head and arms, are also less adapted to afford perfect ease of posture.

The piano, on the contrary, is unusually well suited to the natural movements of the body. Its keyboard is so placed that it allows the arms and hands the most complete freedom of motion in every direction; and the attitude of the hand most suited for acting mechanically correctly on the keys considered as levers, is the same attitude into which it falls when the arm is allowed to hang naturally by the side. The angle of the elbow, when the hands are on the keys, is also that best suited to facilitate the natural movements of the muscles of the hands and arms.

Extracts taken