Typical Lessons
Examples about our wide variety of instruction
Students at Piano Orlando learn how to discipline themselves by focusing their practice on specific pieces when preparing for Recitals and Examinations and Festivals. Learning self-discipline is a valuable lesson for any individual to develop. They learn how to manage their time better so that they can still get homework done, get to soccer games, practice at the piano, and get adequate sleep. These are skills that a music student can take with them throughout their life, and are incorporated into typical lessons at Piano Orlando.
Besides learning pieces, there is a variety of scales and exercises for the fingers, coordination and focus, are incorporated into typical lessons at Piano Orlando. These help students to learn good finger control, and they also strengthen the fingers and hands. Pieces will be played better when scales have been practiced.
Music Theory is included in a typical piano lesson at Piano Orlando as another method of teaching music. Though the actual piano is not used when learning music theory, it's a different and helpful, if not essential, method in learned about music in general, including understanding rhythms, time signatures, key signatures, composing, chords, harmonies, melodies, musical terms, names of notes and more. It can progress from very basic to very advanced.
Playing by ear is a different method to help students be comfortable with the keyboard. This is important in typical piano lessons at Piano Orlando. Students can close all written music and wander around the keys to find simple but well known songs. Playing by ear helps to develop the students’ ability to feel comfortable exploring the keys.
Playing music the Suzuki way is also a different method used in a typical piano lesson at Piano Orlando. Again, students close all written music, and then watch a simple piece of music being played, and listen to it, and then copy it. This is good for developing listening skills, paying attention to details, finding patterns, and remembering.
Learning to play duets helps the student to concentrate on their playing part even though there is someone else at the piano playing something at the same that sounds different. They need to focus on their own part until both parts coordinate well together. This takes extra practice and different skills. Listening to what the other person is playing is also important, but the focus is on the student’s own part. There is a unity of the two different parts in good duet playing. Piano Orlando incorporates duets during a typical piano lesson and at performance level.
A variety of music method books are used during a typical lesson at Piano Orlando. They are thoughtfully selected to benefit each unique student’s needs and strengths. These particular method books do not progress quickly like so many others – students can lose interest if the material they are learning becomes difficult fast, and students can struggle and don’t want to (or can’t) practice at home. A steadier progression helps the student to build confidence at the piano, and with this comes enjoyment and an eagerness to practice. When students like to practice regularly they will progress quicker.
