General Information

Lessons are held on weekday mornings during school hours. Classroom teachers will excuse students to the piano room for the lesson. You will be assigned a lesson day at the start of the school year. Please be sure to pack your students’ books on the day of their lesson.

Weekly piano lessons are 45-minute partner sessions (occasionally groups of 3 for 60-minutes). Priority is given to older students who demonstrate a strong desire for music instruction. Students, age 3 and younger, have the weekly general early childhood music class at REACH, which acts as great readiness for the informal guidance lessons when they are age 4-5. You may add younger children to the piano lesson waitlist for when they are age 4.

Practice

At this age, listening is the highest priority and can be done easily at home with the parent. Daily listening is ideal, but anything is better than nothing. Do not force young children to practice. They usually come around to doing it on their own if you let the process happen naturally. When students participate in the end of-the-year recital, that’s a great time for them to learn and experience why we practice and I will share tips with you during that preparation season. Until then, listen to lots of music and keep piano activities playful.

Remember! This is the absorption stage of life and we want to get as much music in their brains as possible to better prepare them for their musical life in the future. I will send you a link each week with audio files to listen to, ideas for at-home activities, and general parent education.

Your Piano

Students are not required to practice, but if they take the initiative and want to practice, they are welcome to practice their Keyboard Games book and rote songs at home, preferably on a well-maintained piano or weighted 88-key keyboard.

I will mark the assigned book pages each week to practice. While taking lessons at REACH, a piano is not required, but should the student continue lessons in my private studio beyond the REACH years, a piano or suitable digital keyboard will be required. Students with pianos will be given priority when enrolling.

Acoustic pianos should be tuned once or twice a year. I recommend Whitmire Piano Services. Digital pianos and keyboards should have 88 standard size (preferably weighted) piano keys.

Books and Materials

All books and materials for the student are obtained by the teacher. A separate invoice is sent for books when students begin lessons. All beginning students are required to purchase the following when they begin piano lessons:

Music Moves for Piano, Keyboard Games A ($16).

Upon completion, students will begin Keyboard Games Book B ($16). If students continue in piano after REACH, they will move through the Music Moves for Piano series at the pace that is appropriate for them. For a complete progression of the Music Moves for Piano series, please visit MusicMovesForPiano.com.

Keyboard Games A Coloring Book ($12)

This book acts as an activity book to occupy students while listening to their songs, chants, echo patterns, and Keyboard Games pieces. They can color the pages traditionally, trace the pictures, draw their own versions, etc.

Recitals

Students, as they are ready, are invited to play at my studio recitals in December and May! I try to foster a culture of performance as a vehicle to connect and inspire. people through shared music, so performances are encouraged, but never required of students.

Summer Months

Summer lessons are available at my home independent piano studio, but not required of REACH Institute students. Summer lessons are offered in June and July. You will be expected to take 4 summer lessons if you continue with Mayo Piano beyond the REACH years. They can be over 4 weeks or condensed into consecutive days (“camp” style) if you have limited summer availability.

Makeup Lessons

Due to the teacher’s limited availability, makeup lessons cannot be guaranteed, but I will do my best to make them up. You may also schedule a makeup lessons during the summer at my home studio.

Communication

I always welcome emails or text messages from parents during the week.