Traditional Piano Lessons VS Let's Play Music

Perhaps you're one of the many parents who decided long ago that piano lessons would be an important part of Junior's eduction. You may have assumed that he would take piano lessons, just like you did (30+ years ago).  

But NOW, lucky you, you've been introduced to Let's Play Music! This program   helps children get ready for, and transition into, piano lessons as they build musicianship skills.  Let's Play Music has been on the scene since 1998, so it's the relatively new kid on the musical pedagogy scene. 

So...should you sign up for 3-years of Let's Play Music foundational classes, or find a traditional piano teacher right now?  Let's compare!

Note-Reading and Keyboard Technique

When you think of piano lessons, you likely think of learning to read music by looking at notation, and learning to play the music correctly on the piano. These are definitely big parts of taking lessons, and I confirm that private piano teachers have tons of experience, skill, and ideas for helping youngsters master these skills.  No doubt that in private lessons, you will get lots of help with this!

So, how does Let's Play Music teach note reading?  In a very natural and nurturing way:  We begin with exposure to musical notation, then introduce how notes work in relationship to tones (steps, skips). We teach common melodic patterns and relate reading to singing. Students learn white keys and anchor notes when they need them. 
Read our 7 Steps for Music Reading Success here. 

And what about keyboard technique? Read our post to see that we help little fingers develop strength and form in a progressive way.  We will help your kiddo start to develop good piano skills, but be aware that Let's Play Music is not specifically a piano program. If finger dexterity and strength and technique drills are what you're most interested in right now, you'll actually be better served with an instrument-specific teacher! 

BUT  WAIT! If your child is 4-5 years old, I really really think you have years and years of future lessons to work on technique. Let's Play Music will not teach bad habits or "mess up" your child's technique, but there's something more important you need to worry about for this age group, so read on...

Musicianship

In my earlier post, Are Music Lessons Holding Me Back? I addressed the worrisome problem that some adults experience: they took lessons as a kid, learned to read and play a bit, but still came out after years of work believing that they don't really know anything about music.

One danger that sometimes arises in private lessons is an abundance of focus on notation and executive skills (reading music, accurately playing the music like we just mentioned) and not much balance with skills that are harder to measure: rhythmic, tonal, and creative skills.  

How can you become a musician who understands how to jam? A musician who can write songs and re-harmonize songs and transpose songs? A musician who can play but is also "talented" at improvising music? 

Dr. Chad West gives some advice for choosing your child's first musical experience. "In classes where a focus is on movement, singing, chanting, listening, and creating, students are developing 'readiness' for music that pays off in the long run. Audiating, matching pitch, and keeping steady time are skills that don't have flashy, quantifiable outcomes to measure right away, but parents and teachers who value these skills see that in the long run, students with these skills bring more meaning to the notation. These students understand and create music, not just read and play music."

Does a traditional piano lesson give a foundation for musicianship through movement, singing, chanting, listening and creating?  Let's Play Music sure does! Read a post about what we cover in class.

Playfulness

PLAY is one of the Core Values at Let's Play Music. Fred Rogers summed it up when he stated, "Play is often talked about as if it were relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the 'work' of childhood."

Read the post: We Value Play for four four big reasons play is critical for learning, and how we use play in our curriculum.

Does your traditional piano teacher offer the playful, silly, fun experience that children this age require? Just a heads up: I haven't met a 4-year-old who preferred sitting on a piano bench for 30 minutes over playing silly games for 45 minutes.

One reason private lessons struggle to achieve the environment we're looking for is because they're one-on-one. Research shows that group classes are a big part of creating a playful atmosphere where learning through trials can happen. Read our post to understand why, at this age, children learn best in groups. Let's Play Music has it!

Relationships

Another core value at Let's Play Music is: We Value Relationships. Read the full article to see how classes are built to encourage bonding between parents and children through an enriching, wholesome, and fun experience.  

In your first year, you'll attend class with your student every other week. In year two and three, you'll attend about once per month. 

You probably already know that with a very young musician, parent involvement is the key factor in making practice happen and helping students succeed. The same would be true with a private teacher, but the difference here will be that you, parent, will have an intimate hands-on participation as your child is learning. You will never wonder what new things she worked on this week, what her favorite songs to play are, or what her challenges are- you will know.

Years from now, your grown child won't focus on exactly which songs she could play at which young age. But the attitudes and feelings developed around her first musical experiences will set the stage for years of hard work to come. We believe that having parents and kids develop happy memories together around music is the way to achieve a true love of music. Let us help you do it.

For most parents, another fantastic bonus in Let's Play Music is learning music theory in a fun way, at an amazing level, and using it with ease right alongside their child. Ever wanted to transpose easily or compose and harmonize your own tunes? You'll get lessons for you as a freebie by attending with your student.

Long-Term Growth

My goal in this article is to convince you that partaking in 3 years of foundational Let's Play Music (you will love these 3 years) is your best way to ensure long-term musical progress. Read our spotlight on Truman Walker, an amazing young musician who started with Let's Play Music.

I don't want you to avoid private piano teachers forever; I actually love them and think you are going to find a fantastic private teacher to help your child soar after LPM graduation. We even have a transition plan, Connections, in place to help you succeed with your private teacher.

Piano teachers will love your child when she comes as a LPM graduate. She'll really be ready to take off with piano-specific teaching, and she'll have tons of musical know-how internalized by then.

For readers with a child who is 3-5, wondering "why should we even bother with  music lessons now...isn't he too young?" Please read my post on the many benefits of getting an early start (in an age-appropriate program).  

For readers with a child who has aged out of Let's Play Music (children must be 4-5 to enroll), this is a bummer! This specific pathway to musical excellence is currently unavailable, but the great news is that a new program for older  beginners (age 6-7) will be rolling out soon, so I will have fewer of you to console.


Whichever route you follow, Let's Play Music classes or private piano lessons now, I honestly believe you've made a great decision to give your child music education in her life. Thanks for being a positive force for something so important!

If you're ready to jump in, find a teacher near you now!



-Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher

How Much Do Music Lessons Cost?

If you're a new parent, you're starting to find out that raising kids is expensive! Now that your darling is of the age for music classes, you might be asking yourself, "How much is this going to cost? Is it worth it?"

Happy Money

Before I tell you too much about music class cost, be aware that HOW you spend your money really CAN affect how happy you are!  In the book, Happy Money, Elizabeth Dunn explains that your spending can bring you great joy and satisfaction, especially if you:

* Focus on Experiences

* Make it a treat

* Buy Time

* Pay now, consume later

* Invest in others

When it comes to Let's Play Music and Sound Beginnings, these principles can really apply.

* Focus on the experience of being in class with your child and of practicing with your child. Take photos and videos of this special time in your lives. You're not buying a result. You're buying an experience. 

* Knowing that music class won't last forever might make you enjoy it more...lots of parents are sad when their family graduates. Sorry! This is a special treat that only lasts a little while. 

* You're buying quality musical playtime with your child, so really focus on playing/engaging with him during music class. Turn off your phone. This is special time together for you to bond.

* Pre-pay for the whole year up front. It takes away the sting of the payment, and helps you focus on your own well-being and enjoying the class.

* Invest in your child by giving them the gift of music lessons.

Bargain Hindsight is 20/20

I have had a few parents who hear our rates (a year of Let's Play Music in the USA is about $400-$450 per year) and break into a happy dance. If you do the math, that's like $15 per lesson. Our lessons are 45, 50, or 55 minutes long and are PACKED with carefully timed activities (so we work all the musicianship skills in every class.)

I found out these parents are so happy because they have older children who have already explored exciting activities and incurred the exciting costs.  In comparison to just about everything else you can get involved in, LPM is a BARGAIN.  Now that I have older kids, too, I look back and realize, yes! A BARGAIN!

Don't get scared, but you might expect to spend a lot on these activities:

* Private music lessons: $20-$50 per 30-minute lesson ($1,000+/ year) 
* Swim lessons: $10-$20 per 30-minute lesson  
* Swim team: $100-$200/month 
* Karate: $100-$150/month 
* Dance classes: $60- $200/month
* Soccer: $50/month
* Club Soccer: $100-$200/month
* Gymnastics: $15-$20/ class 
* Gymnastics, advanced: $150-$200/month

An Abundance Mindset

Oh dear. I hope I didn't scare you too much.  I like to focus on an abundance mindset.  Yes, I want my kids to learn to swim AND learn music AND learn a team sport AND get passing grades. How can we have enough time and money to make all of that happen for them? (My post on teaching abundance mindset)

The truth is, we usually can't have it all, all at once. But we CAN give our kids a lot of experiences over time.  

Which activities do YOU value most? 

Which need to be done NOW?

Important and Urgent: I decided to have my kids learn to swim up to a competent level as soon as possible, since I value it as a life and safety skill. Once they're competent, that frees up more time/money for other things.  (Bonus: I now have a teenager working as a lifeguard and earning $$ with those mad skills.)

Valuable, Less Urgent: I also decided that my four kids would not play club sports year-round, so that they could have time and money to try out different sports each season. (Year-round club sports are not only super expensive, but often lead to burn-out) With some sports and activities, I came to grips with the fact that no harm will come if my kids don't get to experience all activities, like downhill skiing, in their youth. It doesn't fit into our budget now, but I plan to have a great ski-learning trip with them when they are college age. (Update: when one of my sons was 13 and wanted to play club soccer, I let him make that choice and put other things on hold during that time.)

Valuable and Urgent: Finally, because I understand the importance of whole musicianship, the sensitivity of the young ear, and the importance of starting early (post), I decided that starting music now is urgent.  My children would all complete the 3-year Let's Play Music program at ages 4-7, followed by piano or a different instrument if they chose.  

I am not afraid that I missed my chance to offer some other experiences to my kids. Instead, I'm confident that they eventually will accrue enough options to taste what the world has to offer, and they had enough consistency to get pretty-good at a few of the things.

Yes, we had a few dry spells when a child or two was not studying music (gasp!), but it didn't worry me because I took a big-picture abundance view. I adore when they join a high-caliber high school music program or sports program...and all of sudden the tax dollars start working in a visible way. 

I'm loving the fact that my LPM-graduate kids enjoy making music, and have the skills at least to know what to do when they want to learn a new song or piece. I love that they can understand what they hear in music, giving them a deeper appreciation and joy from it.  I love that their focus and study toward music helped them develop their minds and habits.

Were music classes worth the price? I say, Yes! 

This scenario is all about ME, but you can make a plan that works for YOU and your family. If music is important to you, you CAN make it work into your budget and you CAN still fit in the other things (eventually) that you value. 


Well, new parent, take some time to think about what experiences you want to invest in and when they need to happen. I sure hope that, if music is important to you, you will join us in Sound Beginnings or Let's Play Music classes.

If you're ready to jump in, find a teacher near you now!



- Gina Weibel, M.S.

Orange Roots and Bamboo Shoots

If your child is in the third year of Let's Play Music, your family is beginning the final semester: Orange Roots.  At a recent symposium, Let's Play Music creator Shelle Soelberg shared with me her process for choosing the semester icon, Orange Roots.  

It's Always Been About Making Musicians

By this final semester, Soelberg hoped parents would now have the years of experience to understand what creating a musician encompasses, to comprehend exactly what it takes, and then have a glorious moment to bask in the satisfaction of the achievement.  How could that all be conveyed in a semester name?

By now, Mom and Dad, your child has attended at least seventy-five classes: 3,675 minutes of classroom instruction.  You've found babysitters for siblings so you could be in class on parent week.  You've arranged schedules and meal-times and errands so your child could get to all seventy-five classes on time.  You set up a daily practice plan and played with your child and assisted in hundreds of hours of practice.  You helped with homework.  You may have even laminated ten complete sets of puppets!

And now something wonderful and exciting is finally happening: your child is learning some serious music theory, performing some fantastic songs, and even composing and transcribing her own music. Finally, your bamboo has sprouted!

The "Bamboo Lesson"

Shelle shared the popular motivational allegory , the "Bamboo Lesson" with me, and it makes perfect sense that this final semester should be a celebration of roots.  Before I share my version of the allegory with you... I invite you to watch this fantastic stop-film of a bamboo as it grows one meter per day!

There once was a music parent who felt discouraged.

Her child had been attending Red Balloon music lessons, 

but it didn't look like her daughter was becoming a great musician.

She began to lose hope, so she went to speak to the LPM teacher.

The teacher said, 

"Come, watch this fantastic stop-frame film of a bamboo tree growing."
Together they watched one day of growth.
The sprout rose from the ground and grew three feet.
Over the next several days it continued to explode upward.
At the end of six weeks, the bamboo was ninety feet tall.

Then he teacher asked, 
"So, how long did it take for the bamboo to grow to that impressive height?"
"Six Weeks!" the parent excitedly replied.

"Ah.  This interpretation will definitely set a person up for disappointment," 
said the teacher. 

 You see, this bamboo was grown from a seed:
Shortly after  planting, a tiny and fragile seedling appeared.
For a year, the grower watered and tended the seedling in a heated greenhouse, 
but the seedling did not appear to change. 

For a second year, the sensitive seedling was kept warm.
The farmer carefully watered and fertilized it.
Still it appeared unchanged.

For a third year, the seedling was kept in the greenhouse and carefully tended.
Finally, it was robust and stable enough to transplant outdoors.

For the fourth, fifth, and sixth years, the seedling was tended.
Each spring, a few new shoots appeared.  
Each spring, the shoots grew a bit taller, and a bit stronger.

In the seventh year, during the wet spring, new shoots sprang up.
They grew three impressive feet in the first day!
After six weeks, they reached 90 feet tall.  
It took seven years for the bamboo to develop, unseen, 
the strength to produce the 90 foot shoots.

What was happening during all those years when there was no visible growth?

Underneath the ground, out of sight,

a  network of roots was developing to support the bamboo's sudden growth.
If at any time the grower had stopped fertilizing and tending the bamboo
there would be no amazing performance in the seventh year.

Growth takes patience and perseverance.

Every practice session counts.

You might not see the change right away, but growth is happening!
During the entire Let's Play Music program, 
your child is developing an enormous network of roots.
Your child is growing a musical foundation that will support future years of practice.
Your child's roots will support amazing performance!

How Deep Are the Roots?

In Let's Play Music, we train students with a wide range of skills for musicianship; creating a foundation like musical roots that will support the fantastic growth that comes in this final year and for many years to come. In every aspect of music learning in the program, we grew the foundational skills first. This is the way to cultivate more than a students who can play piano...but students who are musicians.

For all these years, Mom and Dad, you watered and nurtured your bamboo and didn't give up!  When the teacher was asking your child to audiate, and you had no idea what she was really hearing in her mind; it was like trusting that roots were growing unseen below the ground.   All the time spent on listening to the chords, perfecting the hand shapes for playing, and singing cadences may have left you thinking, "Why doesn't my child just play something amazing already, and stop with these games!?"  Well, that bamboo would have missed out developing a critical foundation without those games.

But NOW you WILL really start to see the evidence of that watering and pruning and care: students who understand how music is put together and are ready to write their own songs.  Students who can talk about notes and rhythms using the correct terminology, and play correctly with correct counting.  Students who can harmonize a song (add chords to a melody) or hear chord progressions in music, and transpose it to other kids.  Students who ARE real musicians!

The "Chord Root" Lesson

The story of the bamboo forests and the importance of building a solid foundation (roots) is not the only reason we have Orange Roots as a semester name.

Students are now ready to learn how to build chords upon a root note.  You'll be learning this at Orange Lesson 5, but in case you get home and it's become a blur, let me run it by you one more time.

I. Choose Any Note.  We'll start the lesson by building a chord with three notes: a triad. (P.S. There's a song on your CD to teach you every triad.) You can choose ANY line or space note on the staff to begin; let's choose F for our example.

II. Add a Third and a Fifth.  You'll remember from our interval lessons that a third is also known as a skip.  So, a skip up from F is A.  A fifth up from F is C.  The top note is the "fifth", the middle note is the "third".  What special name do we have for the bottom note?  The ROOT! It's on the bottom, just like plant roots, and beautiful sounds grow out of it, just like beautiful flowers grow from roots.   

III. What shape do you see? Our chord is definitely looking like a snowman-shape.  It looks like a snowman because there are no gaps between the notes; they are all stacked up nice and neat.  We call this snowman-shape the ROOT POSITION.  Root position is super handy because it is super easy to identify the root: it's simply the guy on the bottom.  Since it's the root that gives a chord it's name, this is an F chord.

IV. Inversions. The reason this is an F chord is because it has F, A and C.  Even if those notes were in a different order, it would still be an F chord!  Let's try it...what if the F (root) were played on the TOP instead of the bottom? Gosh...now this chord has a very yellowy, bottom-heavy shape. We call this shape the FIRST INVERSION.  Well, drat, now when we look at something with this shape, how will we ever quickly identify the root?  The note above the gap's the root, it just has rearranged.  So...the root is STILL F. This is still an F CHORD.

V. Take it all the way.  That was fun, moving the F to the top.  Let's move the A to the top, too.  Well, now this thing has a very top-heavy, blue shape and we'll call it the SECOND INVERSION.  Even though it's a new shape, the note above the gap is STILL F, and this is still an F chord.  

Challenge Question: You just saw the F chord, and even though it was always the F chord (the root never changed), it was drawn with the shapes of what are commonly used for Red, Blue and Yellow chords.  So which one is it?  Now that you're in Orange Roots, it's time to learn that the SHAPE does not define the chord as red, blue or yellow.  It is the NOTES that define the chord.  In the key of C, an F chord is the BLUE chord (aka the IV chord because F is the 4th step up from C.)

Why Did We Do That?!

Now that you're a master of looking at these chords and finding the roots, you'll go through old songbooks and notice that our Red, Blue, and Yellow chords in the key of C are C chord, F chord, and G chord.  On page 1, you'll be playing the Primary Roots Song so you can see just how much jumping around your hand will have to do in order to play these 3 chords in root position all the time.  Jump your hand to C position, then F position, then G position! Whew!  (Mom and Dad, take the time to learn to play this song...it is not too tricky and teaches a great lesson.)  

With the blessed use of inversions, we can play the Primary Chord Song with the Red chord in root position, the Blue in second inversion, and the Yellow chord in first inversion.  You have mastered the hand shapes required to do these chord structures and you'll be able to play all 3 chords without having to move your hand away from C position.  Well, that is super helpful!


So, congratulations and welcome to ORANGE ROOTS! Our amazing musicians are really starting to shine now.

-Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher

** Yes, folks, I changed the original bamboo lesson a bit because it didn't line up very well with the science of bamboo growth. In the original story, no shoot comes above ground for several years, and the very first shoot to ever come up achieves maximum growth rate and height.  In reality, it likely takes 15 years for a rhizome to mature enough to send up a culm of maximum height, and growing from seed is not a great idea (in part because bamboo flowers as rarely as every 50 years).  Bamboo is fascinating (read more), so I didn't want to propagate (pun intended) false data about it, but I do love a good parable when I hear one.  

Identifying Minor Sounds is A Majorly Important Skill

Your first-year student has been carefully listening to songs and determining if the tunes sound major or minor.  Hearing and identifying major and minor sounds prepares her to play both types of music on the keyboard next year, transpose between major and minor keys, and write her own composition that may include a minor key!  Her musicianship skills are blossoming!

I've Been to Harlem

This fun folk song gives students a chance to hear the same tune sung major, then again minor for comparison.  Did you know your tone bells give you a chance to explore major and minor at home further?

As you'll remember from our posts on solfeg, DO could be on any note.  With your bells, you can only make a complete major scale if DO is on C, but don't let that stop you from experimenting with assigning other bells to be Do.

Since your student is learning how to skip, have her pull out the C bell, and take a skip, and another to create the Red chord in C Major: CEG or Do-Mi-Sol.  Play this chord and hear that it sounds Major.   Try again starting with the F bell, to create the Red chord in the key of F Major: FAC.  It also sounds Major, and is another Do-Mi-Sol; this time Do was F.

What if you start with D (DFA) or E (EGB)?  This creates a Red chord in the key of D minor and E minor.  Play it with your child and see if she can hear the difference.  The minor triad is Do-Me-Sol, pronounced Doh-MAY-Soh.

With each of those groupings of 3 notes, it was the MIDDLE note that determined that the chord was major or minor. Without the middle bell you can't assign major or minor.

Here's a video of a 4-year-old student creating a few triads, and playing the song "I've Been to Harlem" in C Major and E minor.  (You'll learn a lot more about triads in year 3).  I don't recommend using your feet to hold mallets, nor drinking pickle juice for real.

How did that sound?

Major scales sound brighter and cheerier than the sad (or sleepy or spooky or somber) minor scales.  Nothing beats experience and exposure for helping you learn to recognize the difference between major and minor.  If you want some more practice, here is a short little ear-training quiz with some major and minor chords.  Who got more answers correct, you or your child!?

Teacher Justine Turcott, in Rexburg, ID, shares a conversation between a first-year student and another 4 year-old as they made hot cocoa:

Jaymie: Did you put in enough powder?
Bailey: Yeah.
Jaymie: Well, are you sure? Does it taste Major or Minor?
Bailey: What?
Jaymie: Major is happy and Minor is sad. Does it taste Major?

Here at Let's Play Music, we love to give a multi-sensory approach to learning, and these students found a way to bring the sense of taste into the lesson, too!

  
The Cup Game

The song, "I've Been to Harlem" is also commonly used to play tricky cup rhythm games like this or this.  Part of the fun is having a complex rhythm different from the rhythm of the song lyrics.  I wanted to share the fun of a cup rhythm game with my young family, so we came up with a much simpler routine.

Before singing the song, help your child chant "Beetle, Butterfly, Clap- Pick, Pass" with a cup until she can remember the routine shown in the video below.  The rhythm is beetle-butterfly-beetle-bug.  Ask your child to keep thinking of that rhythm while you sing the song.  Eventually she'll be able to sing along and keep the rhythm going, too.

Here's one Blue Bugs class with Let's Play Music teacher, Robin Flores in Windsor, Colorado playing the cup passing game. You can try it at home, too!




All ages find this game irresistible and will be singing "I've Been to Harlem" and requesting more chances to play the cup game!  They laugh when they make a mistake and feel exhilarated when it works out.

I hope you find some time to extend your fun with "Harlem" and get more exposure to major and minor sounds this month.

- Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher