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
Your Orange Roots student is almost done with Let's Play Music classes forever. First, grab a tissue and dry your eye. After experiencing the joy and fullness of our classes and developing a tight bond with your teacher, it's a little sad to move on to a private piano teacher, but we know exactly what will help!
Connections: A Transition Songbook
Every graduate will get the Connections songbook to use with his or her new piano teacher. You may be wondering: what is this book!? Why would teachers want it? Will my child like it? How will I get my new teacher to use it? Good questions! The connections book is the best way to build a bridge from LPM to whatever comes next for your family. Here's how:
- Use the book alone for 4-8 weeks only.
- EVERY student and EVERY teacher benefit. No exceptions.
- This book does NOT replace your teacher's choice of method book.
- Let your child honestly showcase and reinforce what he has learned.
- DO NOT require further polishing of songs passed off in LPM.
- DO use the activities to initiate a parent-teacher conversation about plans for your child's lessons/ education.
What Students Want: A Showcase
Your child has just mastered some awesome skills. He has fantastic ear-training under his belt, can understand advanced theory, and even wrote his own song. When he goes to a new teacher, the first thing he wants to do is showcase his strengths. He wants her to be impressed.
That may seem obvious, but it can get tricky! Let's Play Music is not a piano course, really. It's a musicianship course. When your child shows his new teacher what he knows, she probably won't be expecting a showcase of advanced skills like completing the musical phrase, filling in the chords for a song, and listening to and identifying melodic patterns. The connections books has examples of these skills so that he can show off exactly how great he is at these non-traditional but oh-so-important skills.
And if you're wondering what the best way is to showcase your ability to really master and play some songs, the answer is: play some songs you already know well! The connections book has duplicates of songs your child learned in this year, specifically so he can perfectly showcase them.
The Connections book is THE BEST way for your child to honestly showcase his skills.
What Parents Want: More LPM
As a parent, you've loved that LPM presented your child with SO MANY ASPECTS of musical education in every single lesson. You had ear-training, composing, music history, music theory, classical music, sight-reading, and more on top of actually working a little bit on the mechanics of actually playing piano.
Be aware that that's a long list of skills to cram into a lesson! You saw your child develop beginning composing skills and even write an entire song, so you'd be let down if he never worked on composition skills again! The connections songbook shows you new teacher examples of composing exercises and ear-training exercises that can be done with your child to help him keep progressing. The songbook gives you an easy way to initiate this conversation with your teacher: "These are skills that we care about. Can you design a way to include these skills in his education? "
In Let's Play Music we use our blue bugs and our colored chords and some other lingo that mainstream teachers don't know. During third year, your child started counting the traditional way and talking about I, IV, and V chords the mainstream way, but you'll want a teacher who is willing to talk to your child in "an LPM way" at the beginning. The connections book teacher guide walks the teacher through each lesson, prompting her in exactly what to say, giving her examples of how your child is accustomed to talking about music.
Finding a teacher who is willing to go through the official connecting process is extremely valuable! The connections process is THE BEST way to communicate to your new teacher what you've come to expect in music lessons.
What Teachers Want: Integration
Your teacher is excited to have a new students, but probably apprehensive, too. What has the previous teacher been teaching? How skilled is this student? What weaknesses need to be addressed? How will I fit this student into the method books that I love? One teacher I talked to (we'll call her Ms. Lemon) was SO nervous about taking transfer students that she made a studio policy to refuse all transfer students! Oh no! She is missing out on the best students!
It's true that integrating a LPM student could be tricky the first time, but the connections book makes the task so much easier. Because your LPM child has skills in musicianship beyond mechanically playing the music, Connections helps the new teacher touch upon each concept so she can accurately evaluate them and plan ways to incorporate them into the student's lessons.
Each of the eight lessons touches upon different skills taught in LPM. If only Ms. Lemon had known these are probably the easiest eight first lessons she'd ever teach with a new student! All the planning has been done: the connections book has theory, repertoire, ear-training, composing, and the teacher's guide. Ms. Lemon could even watch the tutorial videos that show her how to use the teacher's guide. Follow it step-by-step for a few lessons and you're sure of success.
Successful integration often means using a beginner level method for technique but a higher level or a different method for theory, ear-training, repertoire, and composition exercises. Integration also means finding creative ways to add "LPM-style" musicianship to otherwise simple method books! A successful choice of repertoire and technique means the student will be excited and motivated while still making steady progress.
Teachers who have taken the effort to tailor teaching to the unique talents (but beginner fingers) of LPM students find that they really ARE THE BEST students! Imagine having students that can hear when they play an error, that have developed a love of creating music, that know how to practice daily, and have an understanding of how music is structured. It's worth a teacher's time and effort to tailor lessons for these students; if nurtured, they will make rapid and amazing progress, like a Chinese Bamboo. Their fingers will catch up to their brains in no time.
The Connections process is THE BEST way to evaluate and integrate a LPM graduate into a new studio.
What to Expect in Real Life
Here are some scenarios (or warnings) of what could happen when you finish LPM and go on to a private teacher. Learn from the experiences of others and be an advocate to help your child and new teacher forge a beautiful relationship!
Scenario 1: Unfair Evaluation
Philomena's mom took her to the first lesson with the new teacher, Ms. Apple. Ms. Apple knew that she'd been taking music lessons for a few years but didn't know anything about LPM. She pulled out her favorite method book and had Philomena sight read a piece. It seemed tricky, so she chose an easier level. By the end of the lesson, Ms. Apple had decided to start Philomena back in the primer level, and was confused about what could possibly have been going on in LPM class. Philomena continued with these traditional piano lessons for eight weeks. By then, Philomena had never had an opportunity to play songs that interested her, used any chords or intervals, composed, transposed, improvised, or used her other musicianship skills. She thought piano was boring and wanted to quit. Well, it was boring.
What happened?
Because Ms. Apple didn't know anything about the LPM course, she had no way of guessing the skills Philomena had developed. She didn't know to use "LPM terminology" to help her succeed in answering theory questions. Philomena's mom realized her mistake and asked Ms. Apple to go through the connecting process. They got a connections book and spent about eight weeks working through that. When they were done, Ms. Apple had a much better idea of which books Philomena needed for technique and which she would enjoy for repertoire.
Scenario 2: Polishing Old Songs
Gertrude's new teacher, Ms. Banana was willing to work through the connections book before transitioning to the new method. When she heard Gertrude play Cockles and Mussels, she saw lots of room for improvement and spent eight weeks focusing to improve dynamics, wrist position, arm position, and technique to create much more musical playing. Although that one song became very polished, Gertrude hated practicing and was losing interest.
What happened?
Parents must be aware, and be prepared to remind new teachers that LPM is not a piano program, per se. It is a musicianship program. Students are armed with a host of skills that will help them become truly talented and well-rounded musicians in life, but they don't have three years' experience of intense piano drills. Ms. Banana and other teachers will teach the students specifics of technique and piano-specific skills on new songs they will learn. Songs like Cockles and Mussels are already passed off! Done! Finished! Gertrude's purpose in playing it for Ms. Banana was to showcase what she can do, not spend lots of time improving it. Remember, passing off a song in LPM is not nearly the same as polishing a song with a private teacher, but the child has been told she's finished with Cockles and Mussels. Ms. Banana should let Gertrude play it, notice where she needs improvement, and use that knowledge on future songs. Ms. Banana is right to add a little extra focus to weak skills, because some students need more chord practice while others need more sight-reading practice...but be sure she has a teacher's guide to keep her mostly on track.
Scenario 3: Double-Fun Teacher
Benedict's new private teacher, Ms. Orange, was also his LPM Teacher! Ms. Orange is smart and savvy. Even though she already knows all the "LPM Lingo" that the connections book translates for private teachers, she decided to use the songbook for a few weeks with Benedict anyway. Having these lessons one-on-one with Benedict gave Ms. Orange an all-new new opportunity to carefully evaluate him and help him strengthen certain areas. Ms. Orange says that even LPM teachers benefit from going through the book with students as they transition to private lessons!
Not By The Book
Clementine's new teacher, Mr. Grape, enthusiastically participated in the connections program and helped her through the Connections book. He realized that Clementine needed a tailored program to help her keep improving musicianship skills.
To help her feel excited about awesome-sounding music, he gives her some challenging repertoire, including a Bach minuet, to work on. He chose a theory book with some assignments that correspond with the repertoire.
To help her learn piano-specific technique, he assigns her several easy primer pieces from his favorite method book. He stresses hand and wrist position and dynamics and requires perfection to pass off these easy songs. He assigns exercises and scales from his favorite technique book, but also assigns her to transpose them to other keys because he knows she can do it.
To continue her improvisation and chording skills, he assigns some easy pieces for her to master, then add or change the accompaniment, or to add embellishments and flourishes. He also takes two minutes during class to allow some improvisational melody, Echo-Edison style call and repeat, or time to work on a composition.
By now you've noticed that piano teachers have different styles, different method books, and different lesson formats. Mr. Grape's teaching is not as simple as picking a pack of method books in one level and systematically working through them. He doesn't mind finding out what a child can do and helping her make progress from where she is. He uses his training and experience as a teacher to tailor the assignments he gives to Clementine, and she has a successful, well-rounded experience because of it.
Find A Teacher
When you are looking for a new piano teacher, ask the question: "Are you willing to do the connections book to get to know my child? Are you willing to mix and match methods and levels if needed, to suit the needs of my child?"
If a teacher is unwilling to use the connections book to get to know your child's skill, or to tweak her teaching program to suit your child's skills, be wary that this might not be a good match. Remind your teacher of all the benefits of going through the book for just a few weeks, and that it is not a replacement for her favorite method book.
Like my acquaintance, Ms. Lemon, some teachers may stick to the routine they know and hate to vary the program. On the other hand, now that Mr. Grape has found some activities that work well with Clementine, he's excited to have more LPM students and will probably use a similar path with them.
One place to look for a new teacher is at our Connections page. These teachers have taken the time to learn the LPM lingo, understand our teach philosophy, and review the skills and types of activities we've done in class. This doesn't mean that they've specifically committed to practice ear-training, transposing, or composing with your child. It's up to you to be an advocate, stay involved in your child's lessons, and talk to the teacher about her plan for your child's education. If your child is bored or feels like her teacher underestimates her skill, have a conversation. Find out if your teacher has really connected with LPM.
Nice Trombone!
This post is here to help students transition to new piano teachers, but many graduates to on to other instruments, too. When you meet your new instrument teacher, they will still be interested to know what you know. The connections book gives these teachers a chance to see what you know musically, although not on your new instrument yet. Your teacher will be empowered to know that you would like some ear exercises and composing exercises, and YES, you CAN do those on your new instrument. Note reading skills and rhythm reading skills are valuable for any musician, so show your teacher what you've got!
- Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music educator
