The weekly program for beginners consists of:
- An Individual Lesson
- A Group Playing Class
- A Musicianship Class
- The Parents' Class
The Individual Lesson is attended by both the student and the parent. At first, most of the time will be devoted to instrumental instruction for the parent. Gradually, as the child matures, gains in physical strength and coordination, and develops greater concentration and a longer attention span, he or she will absorb more and more of the lesson time. Ultimately, the parent relinquishes all but a few minutes at the end of the lesson. This time is saved for consultation with the teacher on practice suggestions and goals for the at-home work.
The Group Playing Class prepares the children, at first on pre-instruments, both physically and musically for playing the instrument. Only when all the children in the group have, on the advice of their private teachers, moved on to real instruments, do they begin playing together. The class reinforces the work done in the private lesson and provides incentive and stimulus important for very young children.
The Musicianship Class provides general music instruction and an introduction to the rudiments of note reading.
The Parents Class (as described on the Parent's Participation page)
First-year piano students have a three-part program in which the group-playing class and the musicianship class are combined.
For the first six weeks of the school year the children do not attend their regularly scheduled lessons and classes. The parents take all of their children's lessons and classes as well as Parents' Classes in order to gain as much expertise as possible on the instrument and to become more comfortable with the idea of being a surrogate teacher at home practice sessions. The children, meanwhile, come to the School for assigned observation of other children's lessons and classes, to prepare them for their own soon-to-begin study. After the six week period the children start their own instrumental instruction and the parents continue in the Parents' Class for the remainder of the school year.
It is important that the parent who is working with the child at home is the one who attends the lessons and the Parents' Classes.
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