Kids on the Keys

A group class that progressively teaches musical skills using a unique program that emphasizes fun, fundamentals and family participation. Students start playing in the very first lesson. Basic concepts such as numbers, letters, colors and shapes are also taught during the classes. These concepts and the use of stories and puppet characters are used to aid a child in remembering the names of the notes and their placement on the musical staff and on the piano. Rhythmic ideas are reinforced through group ensemble. Reading notes on the staff and rhythmic notation begins in the first month of lessons with your child playing on the piano in the very first lesson.

By using stories that the children make, they learn how to create their own music. Songs are then written on the staff for all the children to play. Ear training is also taught through the use of high/low, up/down, stepping/skipping and major intervals (jumps and leaps). By adding new concepts at each level and reviewing past skills your child progresses quickly and securely in their new found knowlege.

At the end of each level students share their music with family and friends at informal recitals.

Our landmark program "Kids on the Keys" teaches children age 3 through 5 how to start playing the piano or keyboard from the first lesson. Children are taught to read notes, clap out rhythms and compose their own songs in the first month. Five progressive levels.

Aural skills: Pitches high/low, rhythmic clapping, melodic stepping/skipping
Rhythm styles, orchestration and musical styles
Keyboard Awareness: Identifing keys and patterns on piano, flats and sharps
technique, form and C Major scale
Musical Knowledge: Treble and Bass clef note reading on staff, rhythmic notation, terminology
Academic Knowledge: Right/Left hand, fInger numbers, letters A-G, basic colors and shapes
Simple math, sound/vibration, pattern recognition
Performance/Composition: Play songs on the piano using the grand staff
Compose and play songs on the grand staff
Memorization and performance skills

Aural skills: Harmonization, dynamics, playing with rhythmic styles
Keyboard Awareness: Balance and independence of hands, pedal usage
Technique: articulation, phrasing, scales, early classical
Musical Knowledge: Sight reading on grand staff, terminology, period styling, early classical
Academic Knowledge: Italian terminology, early fractions, problem solving, goal setting
Performance/Composition: Early Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, technique of Gurlitt and Turk
Ensemble playing and performing
Composition with lyrics and harmonization