Castlecrag Piano Lessons – Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to travel anywhere for my piano class?

At Piano Lessons In Your Home, our trainers teach you in your own home, ensuring you don’t waste time stuck in Castlecrag traffic to get to your piano classes.

Do your piano teachers come to Castlecrag? And on which days of the week?

Please touch base for more information as well as for information on Saturday and Sunday piano classes.

Do I need to own a piano or keyboard?

We know pianos can be out of people’s budgets, that is why a cheaper keyboard is ok for beginners.

Introductory keyboards are an easy and affordable option for homes without a piano.

When do you offer Castlecrag piano lessons?

We typically offer after school lessons, on weekday afternoons to evenings, our Castlecrag piano teachers are very flexible and will always try to accommodate the time that suits you best.

Weekend lessons are also readily available, please enquire for more information.

How old should my child be to begin piano lessons?

Children as young as five can begin learning the piano and basic music theory.

Our Castlecrag piano tutors are experienced in tutoring young children who are complete beginners, and have all the patience and personality needed to encourage your child and give them best start in their piano journey.

What styles of piano music do you teach?

Our Castlecrag piano tutors are qualified to teach all styles of music, whether you’re interested in popular, contemporary, classical, jazz, musical theatre or even Nintendocore (yes, this is an actual genre). However, we encourage our students to explore all genres to show them just how interesting the piano can be.

Why enrol my child in 1 on 1? Why not Castlecrag group  piano lessons?

Group piano tutoring are a great way for your child to socialise, but that’s about where the perks end. One on One piano tutoring ensure that your child won’t get left behind, and can learn at their own pace.

In personal experience, piano students learning in 1 on 1 lessons progress a lot faster than students learning in group classes.

Am I too old to start learning to play piano?

NO! There is no set age to begin learning a musical instrument, and the best time to start is right this moment – ie Now!

Learn to play your favourite songs, learn how to read music, learn theory, or just about anything you’d like to know about the piano.

Playing the piano is a fun and great way to exercise your creative abilities so don’t just dream about it, start learning.

What are your Castlecrag piano tutors qualifications?

Only the best Castlecrag piano teachers work with our students.

Our piano teachers:

• highly experienced in teaching all ages and skill levels
• are experienced in playing the piano themselves
• have undergone a NSW Government certified “Working with children” police check
• are very friendly and patient to make students comfortable with learning at their own pace.

Normally students take piano courses once a week.

But if you just give me a minute of your time, I’ll tell you why that’s often not the best way to go.

I personally consider the best approach to answer this question is to look at the best of the best and see how often THEY took courses.

Some of the best pianists in the olden times likely had lessons on a day-to-day basis. We will frequently find that key writers and pianists came from a musical family and their primary tutors were often one of their parents. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven just to name a few had parents who were musicians and possibly gave them everyday lessons.

Piano Training is NOT Sufficient

This is how weekly piano lessons should work. The coach listens to what the student practiced in the previous week. The tutor would then give ideas on how to get better or impart new concepts to develop the young pianist both technically and musically. From there, they may add some practice tips and recommendations on what and how to train in the following week. The student would then train for a week according to the teachers recommendations and this would continue from week to week.

Unfortunately this is very rarely the way trainings happen. This all concludes one very crucial thing. That the student in fact trained. Sadly more often than not the teacher will come to a lesson only to discover that the student did not train. Oh no! What does the tutor do now? Train with the student of course!

That’s what turns out if the student just did not rehearse, but unfortunately even if the student DID practice this could still be the result. Why? Because practicing is difficult.

Why Practicing is Difficult

Let’s think about what we’re asking young children, perhaps as young as 5, to do. The best way to practice is to remove all distractions sit down at the piano and work on segments of music that the student cannot until now play.

Playing from the start of a presentation is more often than not an inefficient use of time. Playing a minor segment gradually and correctly is often a condition of good train. Then repeating it over and over and over. Then they would need to trace one more minor segment they are not contented with and do it once again.

I’m over making things easier here, but the fact is to aid us realise how tough that is. How long should train be? I would be pleased with fifteen minutes from a young child and 30 minutes from an older child. How many 5 year olds do you know that could concentrate effectively for 15 minutes without getting unfocused. Or even better, how many adults do you know that could do the same?

And yet tutors anticipate that kind of rehearse every week from their students. Realistically it is rarely if ever going to happen that way. But an interesting thing occurs when the tutor is sitting there. You have the teacher leading the student telling them what they need to train and how many times to repeat it. The trainers can correct bad habits and improper stance. These are things a young child, or even an grown-up would have a challenging time doing in a focused way.

How Frequent Should Lessons Be?

For maximum effectiveness lessons should be held as often as feasible. If a student can afford lessons daily, they’ll develop many multiples sooner than a student taking lessons once a week. It’s as straightforward as that. Most of the lessons will be the teacher just rehearsing with the student. But that practice is undeniably precious.

Realistically

No not many of us can have enough money to take a lesson daily with their coach. Not only that, but not every person needs to become the next Mozart. So determining how often to take lessons really varies on your objectives. Contemplate about just what you’re looking for in lessons. Let’s describe some collective objectives.

Goals for Piano Lessons

• Play one specific piece
• Play for my wedding
• Be able to play as a diversion
• Study serious as a lasting pursuit
• Make it a business

If your goal for piano lessons is just to play one piece, obviously lessons daily really aren’t wanted. You may really be able to even learn on your own!

A piano trainer will always be ready to lend a hand and make the music sound the finest it can. If budget is a issue though, see if you can find a lesson of the piece on YouTube. If you never want to study anything else, then it matters a lot less whether you are playing absolutely correctly or not.

Although this all changes if you desire to, or you desire your kid to take this really honestly. It doesn’t occur often, however I have a few students that would take an hour lesson three days a week, and then extra hour of music principle for a total of 4 hours a week of lessons. These students are at all times the top.

You get what you put in. If you don’t take lessons very honestly, you won’t get as much pleasure out of lessons as if you put your full heart into it. As a pianist I can tell you that the joy that comes from playing captivating music is boundless. Don’t miss out!