Piano Lessons
Should you be learning more than just how to play?
At Yamaha Music School, we believe that every new beginner has the potential to go on to great things. Who knows, we could be looking at the next Elton John or Taylor Swift.
Therefore, at the heart of our ‘keys’ curriculum, is a desire not only to create
confident and
proficient pianists, but to also encourage creativity and a broader skill-set to help pupils on their way to fulfilling their dreams.
So what skills should be learned in addition?
Performing with others - Music isn’t just one layer of sound, it can be many layers and instruments working together. It is essential then, that pupils learn and understand how these layers ‘fit’ together and what the role of each is.
This can be difficult with private lessons, but class lessons are great for this purpose. Pupils can take a part each and learn to play together just like they would if they were in an orchestra or band. They also end up with a much better sense of rhythm and time-keeping!
Composition - If all musicians spent their time and energy only learning how to play what has been written before, it would leave us with nothing new.
Learning how to take an image in the mind, convert it to sound and then onto an instrument is a skill we teach at an early age in our junior, class lessons. After all, children have wonderful imaginations that feed off one another. This should be nurtured properly.
Theory & Stylistic awareness - All music has been heavily influenced by what came before. A good knowledge of music theory and experience in all different styles and genres is necessary to build upon.
Arranging & Improvising - Being able to take a piece of music and make it work in a variety of different ways and scenarios is a great skill. It means you can adapt to any circumstance.
Imagine you are a professional musician and your fellow performer couldn’t make a gig, you would simply arrange the piece of music to be played in a different way, or… improvise a whole new section to make it work.
Take a composer like Hans Zimmer - famous for film scores such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Gladiator and the Dark Knight Trilogy, to name but a few. He has made a career like so many composers these days, by using keyboards and computers to create music in addition to being a capable pianist and performer.
These are some of the essential skills needed, if you are to be a practical musician in the world today.
Harmonisation & accompanying - Anyone with the skills to accompany a singer (or another instrument who plays melodies), is an unsung hero of the music business. Understanding harmony, chords, styles and rhythms to create an entire backing, is essentially doing the job of several musicians at once - what a profitable role!
Ear training - This is also covered extensively at an early age with our junior music programmes and is vital for any musician. Imagine being able to instantly understand and recall any notes you hear. Being able to ‘hear’ music in your head, is a tool that musicians use to do all of the skills mentioned above.
Recording - As with Hans Zimmer, Electronic Keyboards and computers are the way forward. Within minutes, you can create a piece of music, record it and have all the music printed out.
The keyboards we use in our class lessons are actually called ‘Arranger Workstations’. They have a 16-track recording facility built in and thousands of ‘voices’ from orchestral instruments to synths and drum kits - there is truly no end to how creative you can be!
Take a look at some of our Alumni and what they did after graduating from Yamaha Music School.
