What you can expect at your private piano lesson:

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Assessment: Each student is assessed (in an ongoing process) to gauge their current skills or musical ability. Susan will discuss preferred music genres, interests and goals to develop a program, which reflects the individual style of the pupil.

 

Progressive Programme: Susan develops a progressive programme of music and musical activities for her students to inspire them to not only learn to play the piano but to become true musicians as well. Teaching the piano is not just about students playing the right notes – her teaching technique draws inspiration from a range of creative visual and audio-visual sources, involving students in various techniques such as rhythmic exercises with percussion, poetry and visual arts.

 

Playing the Piano: At the beginning of their studies, pupils usually play pieces with tunes that are familiar to them. Singing along to a tune will make playing much easier!

As students progress, they are encouraged to experiment with music from the classical masters and to listen to more traditional pieces, to broaden their repertoire as their musical ability increases.

 

Theory: Theoretical thinking and musicianship skills are taught

alongside repertoire and technique. Theory is taught in context with

musicianship and not as “a means to an end.”

 

Performance Workshops:

From time to time Susan Head Music holds workshops where students are coached in performance skills and can practise them in front of each other. These give students the opportunity to build confidence with an unfamiliar situation and experiment with complementary activities such as drumming and body percussion.

 

The Finale:

Once a year parents, families and friends have the opportunity to be the audience for a special concert . The students all choose the pieces they feel confident to perform for everybody. It is a joyous occasion for sharing the love of music. Audience members are encouraged to participate by writing compliment slips for the performers.