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What does The Piano Garden ™ offer? An effective piano instruction method for children that consists of fourteen chapters designed to bring your child to the level of intermediate pianist. After becoming an intermediate pianist, your child will understand all that is required to play the piano for life. Additional instruction would only be necessary if the student decided to pursue the level of professional pianist. Why is The Piano Garden ™ method effective? Course Material - The course material incorporates a balance between simplicity and challenge, which keeps the student motivated. Every step of Chapters 1-14 is designed to be simple but not boring and challenging but not frustrating. Small Steps - The student learns one step at time, which builds a firm musical foundation. Basic Concepts - In Chapters 1-3, the student will learn basic concepts such as the keyboard layout, note names, finger numbers and musical symbols prior to learning how to read standard music notation (Chapter 5). Many other methods begin with standard music notation, which overloads, confuses and frustrates the student. Rhythm - Rhythm (counting) is taught very early in the program (Chapter 2). Many instructors teach rhythm much later in their course, which makes playing difficult, frustrating and most important, takes the fun out of playing which inclines the student to dropout. Hand Position Changes - Hand position changes are taught early in the program (Chapter 5). This is the very part of the curriculum that will accelerate the learning process and allow the student to acquire a true "feel" of how to play music. Many other methods introduce hand position changes much later in their course, which makes it very difficult for the student to move out of their conditioned comfort zone. Practice Requirements - To maximize comprehension, the student will be required to practice five times a week. Chapters 1- 6 require a minimum of 10 minutes of practice, Chapters 7 - 10 require 20 minutes and Chapters 11 - 14 require 30 minutes. A practice timer is used to provide the student with a frequent sense of accomplishment. Presentation Format - Each week the student will demonstrate their understanding of the previous week's material. Following, the student will be introduced to new concepts and will be presented with weekly practice material that will reinforce new and previously learned concepts. What makes The Piano Garden ™ method unique? Personalized Student Binder - Each member of The Piano Garden ™ will receive a personalized student binder. The binder is comprised of a student progression chart, course descriptions, table of contents, a song library section for storing learned songs and a practice section for storing weekly practice material. Practice Material - All practice material will be provided to the student. Many other methods require purchasing an additional study manual with each level of progression. Practice Timer - A practice timer (included) is utilized to award the student with a daily sense of accomplishment and to teach the cycle of progression. Metronome - In Chapter 7, the student will begin using a metronome, which is an essential tool for developing a musician's rhythm skill. Student Self-sufficiency - At the end of Chapter 14, the student will have developed all the necessary skills to purchase and play any standard, easy style sheet music of their choice. In time, advanced sheet music can be purchased and played without further instruction. Convenience - The instructor provides the lessons in the student's home. This eliminates student transportation and provides a comfortable and familiar environment for the student, which promotes learning.
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