My child wants to play a different instrument, NOT the piano. Why should I take Let’s Play Music classes?
Let’s Play Music is not just piano lessons, it’s a TOTAL MUSICIANSHIP curriculum. LPM uses the piano keyboard to teach musical concepts. Because the piano keyboard relates so directly with the staff, it is a great place to form strong connections between what a child hears and what they see when they look at a staff. Most instruments don’t have this incredible feature.
During the 1st Year only the teacher will use the piano to demonstrate some musical concepts. The students will get to mainly play the tone bells and autoharp. Then in 2nd and 3rd Years, the students will all have their very own keyboards to use in class! The first thing the students learn is to play the chords they learned from the autoharp. By singing the melody and accompanying themselves, they get to learn so many musical skills all at once!
Here is a list (in no particular order) of just some of the SKILLS learned in a Let’s Play Music class that can be applied to ANY instrument. (That includes singing, whether solo or in a choir, because your voice is your FIRST instrument!)
- Read music on a staff
- Sight read a melody
- Sight sing a melody
- Ability to transpose
- Ability to keep a steady beat
- Knowledge of rhythm
- Ability to play in tune
- Practice habits
- Playing as an ensemble
- Harmonize
- Improvise
- Classical music exposure
- Solfege
- Love of music
- Ear training
- Audiating
- Knowing what something sounds like before you play it
- Musical form
- How the staff works (high/low, steps/skips/leaps, intervals, chords)
- Sight reading music
- Singing (in tune)
- Perfect relative pitch
- Ability to accompany self or group
- Composition
- Teamwork
- Body movement
- Self-mastery
- Coordination (that can be useful for sports/dance!)
