Piano lessons

What?

C'mon.

Nobody here knows anything about piano lessons?

my mother sent me along to a piano teacher when I was about 6yrs old
we had our own piano at home, which I had to practise on for an hour every night, just look in the phone book for a good piano teacher and ask if you can go and sit in and observe one of his/her teaching sessions.

I would say a keyboard would be fine in the beginning, for finger and hand placement, but I would recommend a piano.

Thanks KiwiChic - I've heard six from several people but I've also heard that six was WAY too late to get started.

How many years did you take lessons?

Do you still play?

What is the difference, really, between keyboard and piano?

Re: Piano lessons
What is a good age for kids to start piano lessons?
I started when I was 5
How do you go about finding a good teacher?
Call local music stores and schools that have music depts.
What should a person expect to pay?
Don't know, my mommy paid
I've heard it's best to have a real piano...
I've heard that too, something about the feel and the pedals
Did you take piano lessons?
Yes, I did it to make my parents happy, I wanted to play flute.
Fill me in on all the essential I need to know about piano lessons!
I told you all I know.

Hi Green Witch and thanks!

Calling music stores is a great idea!

I had thought that I might call local schools with music departments to look for a tutor type person but I started thinking just because someone can play doesn't mean they can teach.

The feel and the pedals -- that makes sense.

well it was a while ago.....about 2 years, you go through different grades,
the difference between the piano and keyboard is key pressure sensitivity the piano keys are harder to press down than a keyboard key.
So basically if you start on the keyboard then move to the piano you will find you wont have the strength built up in your fingers to play.

Ah-ha!

The strenght thing seems important so I can understand that.

Thanks again, KiwiChic!

you are very welcome.....you could always maybe check out the local papers for a cheap piano to begin with.

I think that the younger the better because they will learn quicker this way -- I wish that my mom made me do it -- I did it for two years and then quit because I was so bored -- now i regret it

Excellent idea to start on the piano, btw. You learn concepts that you just don't get if you start on a horn.

M started in first grade, took lessons for two years and decided it wasn't her bag.

The cost depends on if you want someone to come to your home or if you're willing to take him to the teacher. I think we paid $30.00/halfhour lesson at their location.

The music stores are a good place to find instructors.

Hey JB -- is happytaffy your daughter!?

You both bring up a point that makes me fret.

Almost every person I know who took lessons tried to quit. Some of them did and some of them weren't allowed to.

The ones that were made to continue were happy that they did -- but that happy was a long way down the road.

I would love to know what the trick is to get a kid to continue with it once it reaches the "eat your vegetables" point in their life.

Any ideas?

I know little about music and less about piano lessons, but from my experience with children, I'd rent a piano.

Is Mo ready for lessons? Can he sit still and concentrate on a single activity for a half an hour?

Does he accept instruction or is he adamant about Doing It His Way?

Could you arrange through a music store for a trial lesson? Everyone wants to make beautiful music, but few people want to play scales perfectly.

M has played a number of instruments over the years. She started on piano, switched to viola, and now is playing accousitc guitar.

K, on the other hand, started playing cello at the age of 7 because she begged me for a year to start taking lessons. She'd heard a string quartet at school and 'knew' she wanted to play cello.

She's still playing. She's in two orchestras at school, chamber and symphony, and is excited about a spring trip to Europe in March to play in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. Her interest in playing was starting to lag the last few years and we cut way back on how much we expected her to play. For one year, I just kept her in lessons, the next year we dropped lessons and she played in the freshman orchestra at school. She was ready to walk away from it altogether until she heard about this year's orchestra trip and decided to audition for the chamber orchestra as well as signing up for the symphony. My approach was to let her back off but not quit completely until she found a personal reason to motivate herself. The trip turned out to be the incentive she needed.

In the meantime she has also started playing bass guitar, which is much more cool than the cello.

The best bassists were celloists first.

A piano teacher will urge you to buy a real piano. But not so fast...

$100 buys a reasonable keyboard for the first year...just to see if your child likes it.If they want to continue...I just bought a keyboard for $500 that features weighted keys and lots of learning tools. Plus it's easy to store away and very portable.

Renting a piano is also viable or pick one up in the want ads for less tha $500

The point is to gauge wether the child is interested. If not , don't push or try another instrument.

I went through many many instruments before I got back to the piano, at age 46.

You're never too young or too old to start piano unless you're basing your retirement income on your child's concert earnings. Then I'd say 5 is about right.

Craven had a thread where he started taking piano lessons. Wonder how he's doin?

A good teacher will charge $30 a half hour lesson, or hour if you're lucky.

I took piano lessons when I was a child. It's never too late to learn, but in order to become a brilliant pianist, the younger the start the better.
If I could give one piece of advice though... find a teacher who believes in ear training. I liken it to learning a language, it's awfully hard to learn to speak if you've never heard it before. Music is about listening too.
Find a teacher the child will like, not some music snob. You can always change an instructor, in fact I recommend it. Different teacher, different approach and it will help expand their knowledge. As well as piano, it's always a good idea to get some voice training, it makes is easier to learn and expand on the keyboard and keep up the whole intrest level.
I can't quote prices, canadian dollars and all....
Another alternate to a piano is a keyboard with weighted keys. It will help the player learn proper technique but give them some option with sound effects when it gets too boring hearing the same plink, plink,plink. (been there) ;-}

Hi. They have new ways of teaching now with new equipment.

I took lessons for 2.5 years when I was a teenager, and I love to play. All the songs I play are oldies, so I actually play at a nursing home when I want an audience.

I recently went into a music store and they have a new gismo that gets students started fast!

It's a, well, maybe I can provide a link.

And about the keyboards, they now have affordable keyboards--full 88 keys--with weighted hammer action that simulate a baby grand perfectly. I paid $600 for mine and it came with a stand, headphones (how you will appreciate that!), a sheet music stand, and believe it or not, a sustain pedal.

They had them a few years ago for $2000, I just could never pay that.

And you never have to get it tuned or pay to move it, and I hear they can last 15 years or more.

Oh, and the price for the lessons, because I did sign up. My teacher is a UT student getting her PhD in Music Pedagogy. Four months for $100 each each month. You get half an hour with the teacher and half an hour practice time on the floor.

Cool about the keyboards. What's the get started fast, gizmo?