Dover Heights 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 Dover Heights traffic to get to your piano lessons.

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

Please enquire for more information as well as for information on Saturday and Sunday piano lessons.

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 perfectly fine for beginners.

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

When do you offer Dover Heights piano classes?

We typically offer after school lessons, on weekday afternoons to evenings, our Dover Heights 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 5 can begin learning the piano and basic music theory.

Our Dover Heights piano teachers are experienced in teaching 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 musical journey.

What styles of piano music do you teach?

Our Dover Heights 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 Dover Heights 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 classes 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 quicker than students learning in group lessons.

Am I too old to start learning to play piano?

NO! There is no set age to start 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 Dover Heights piano tutors qualifications?

Only the best Dover Heights 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.

Usually students take piano classes once a week.

On the other hand 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 myself 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 daily basis. We will frequently find that major composers and pianists came from a musical background and their primary teachers were frequently one of their parents. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven just to name a few had parents who were musicians and likely gave them everyday lessons.

Piano Practice is NOT Sufficient

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

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

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

Why Practicing is Challenging

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

Playing from the start of a piece is more often than not an unproductive use of time. Playing a minor segment slowly and correctly is often a requirement of good train. Then repeating it over and over and over. Then they would need to pin point one more small section they are not comfortable with and do it again.

I’m done making things easier here, but the point is to help us understand how tough that is. How long should rehearse be? I would be glad with 15 minutes from a young child and 30 minutes from an older child. How many five year olds do you know that could be attentive effectively for fifteen minutes without getting diverted. Or even better, how many grown-ups do you know that could do the same?

And yet coaches expect that style of train every week from their students. Realistically it is seldom if ever going to happen that way. But an interesting thing happens when the teacher is sitting there. You have the teacher leading the student telling them what they need to rehearse and how many times to repeat it. The trainers can put right bad habits and improper pose. These are things a young child, or even an grown-up would have a tough time doing in a fixated way.

How Often Should Lessons Be?

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

Realistically

No not many of us can afford to take a lesson daily with their coach. Not only that, but not everyone needs to become the next Mozart. So determining how often to take lessons indeed varies on your objectives. Think about exactly what you’re looking for in lessons. Let’s outline some shared goals.

Objectives for Piano Lessons

• Play one specific piece
• Play for my wedding
• Be able to play as a pastime
• Study serious as a all-time pursuit
• Make it a profession

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 study on your own!

A piano coach will at all times be ready to lend a hand and craft the music sound the best it can. If fund is an issue though, see if you can trace a tutorial of the piece on YouTube. If you never want to learn 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 want your child to take this indeed honestly. It doesn’t take place often, however I have a few students that would take an hour lesson 3 days a week, and then additional hour of music principle for a total of 4 hours a week of lessons. These students are at all times the best.

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