The first piano lesson is the initial step to experiencing and creating beautiful piano music. To learn more, and to get the most from beginning piano lessons, a professional and experienced piano teacher is indispensable. Once a skilled teacher is found, the student and parents must make a serious commitment to practicing at home.
A practice schedule should be discussed before lessons begin. The best practice schedule is one that has practicing scheduled each day around the same time to build a consistent routine for the student. It needs to be a time where other activities are not typically scheduled, and it needs to be free of distractions. The amount of time a student should spend practicing largely depends on his or her age. Students eight years of age and older should start with half an hour of daily practice. Younger children may have trouble focusing on practice that long. Starting with twenty minutes a day is advisable, and once the child is comfortable with that, the amount of practice time can be increased. Eager adults who have the time, can easily manage a half hour to an hour of practice each day.
For children, a very important aspect of practicing at home is the involvement of parents. Parents of younger students need to attend at the very least the first piano lesson with their child so they can learn what is taught and help the child at home. Parents can assist young students with learning and also with staying on task during practice time. No matter what age the student is, parents must be positive, supportive, and show interest in what the student is practicing. Listening frequently and praising while a beginning student starts to learn piano provides essential encouragement.
One more matter of importance for the beginning piano student is having a real piano or digital piano with weighed keys at home. A keyboard is only appropriate for keyboard lessons. Electric pianos do not need to be tuned twice a year. They can be very simple with only a few basic functions, or they can be very complex with many functions from layering instruments and voices and internal recording. Acoustic pianos tend to look more like a nice piece of furniture, where the cabinets of electric pianos look more synthetic. Either kind is great for a beginning student. Another advantage of a digital piano, is that the volume can be controlled and used with headphones.
Elite Music Academy always offers its students huge discounts on Yamaha digital pianos and has the most diverse bunch of piano teachers in Toronto. In you are interested in taking piano lessons, contact Elite Music Academy at 416 406 5355 or book a trial music lesson.
