Private Lessons Vs. Crescendo Kids - Mozart’s Monthly Memo - Volume 16
January 5, 2022
Online piano lesson view from camera
Our next piano party is THIS Saturday, January 8, at 11:00 am.
This Memo includes
Feature Article: Private Lessons Vs. Crescendo Kids
Student Achievements - recognizing the hard work and accomplishments from our students in the last month.
Upcoming MOM events includes next Crescendo Kids start date of January 18,
Parents Ask Pam - Do you offer discounts for siblings?
Feature Article - Private Lessons Vs. Crescendo Kids
Piano is the easiest instrument to learn and the hardest instrument to master! Traditionally, if you wanted your child to learn to play the piano, you signed them up for private piano lessons. This usually meant your child would meet with a piano teacher for 30 minutes or longer every week. Your child would be expected to practice 2-3 hours during the week between lessons on an acoustic piano. Recommended age was 9 years old, or 4th-5th grade for starting. (This is why most elementary schools offer instrumental lessons for this age group and not for younger students.) However, due to parents’ demands, many piano teachers will take students at an earlier age, even though their curriculum and teaching style is more appropriate for older students.
Crescendo Kids was designed to meet the parents’ desires of an early piano education that also met the child’s learning style and abilities at their very young ages. It has three main objectives.
Quality lessons designed for as young as 3 years old.
Convenient lessons for parents’ busy schedules.
Affordable lessons so they are available to everyone.
In creating these classes, we have to recognize that children have different needs at different ages, and parents have different goals and reasons for signing their child up for piano lessons.
Exposure - Many parents want their child to “try-out” as many different activities as possible. They want their child to get the experience and to find out what their child’s interest and aptitude is in all these different activities. Commitment level is low, depending on child’s interest and the parents’ ability to keep it in their schedule and finances. Crescendo Kids is perfect for these students!
Stepping Stone - Parents see music education as vital to their child’s development, however, due to their child’s age, their child is not quite ready for formal lessons. Crescendo Kids is designed for children as young as 3 years old.
Beginning Instrument - Parents want their child to learn a musical instrument and/or have a musical education. Their child is either too little or young for their instrument of choice and the parents see piano as a great starting instrument to prepare for their instrument of choice as they get older. Since Crescendo Kids is designed for children as young as 3 years old, it is also a great program for this type of student.
Child wants to play PIANO. Sometimes, kids just know they want to learn to play piano. Crescendo Kids is a beginning program designed for kids up to age 12. It is an excellent program to start with the understanding that your child will transition into private lessons once they are ready.
In each of these situations, Crescendo Kids is an ideal class for these students. It starts at age 3 and continues until age 12 or until the student graduates out of our curriculum or shows a readiness for private lessons. Below is a chart that shows what can be expected from private lessons versus Crescendo Kids. Depending on where your child is in their musical education, this chart should help you decide what is best for you.
Keyboard vs. acoustic or digital piano. For beginning lessons, most any keyboard or piano will suffice. However, as your child progresses and their ear develops, a higher quality instrument will be needed. A well-tuned acoustic will always be preferred over a digital because of the technique required to play advanced pieces.
Curriculum and lessons for young children. Preschool aged children and young elementary aged children learn differently than older students. For younger kids, large body movements and game-play help motivate and encourage them to understand a new concept. Incorporating these types of activities into the lesson is vital for young children.
Young children learn best with social interaction. Our physical classes encourage group interaction. Our online classes have opportunities for social interaction as well through our practice app and our piano parties.
Most teachers are available for parents to ask quick questions between lessons via email. However, our practice app allows the students to send and receive recordings, videos, pictures as well as text messages, giving them direct access to teachers every day.
Overall, Crescendo Kids is a beginning piano program designed specifically for kids. Our ultimate desire is to have your child transition into private lessons and have playing the piano an important part of their life.
Student Showcase
Each week we try to showcase a different student from our classes. Thanks to Abhay, Akshay, Lisielle and James for sharing their music with us! Like us on Facebook to see the new student each week.
Abhay, a student of Ms Sachie, performing Old MacDonald Had A Band.
Akshay, a student of Ms Sachie, performing Dakota Melody.
Lisielle, a student of Mr. Josh, performing Basketball Bounce.
James, a student of Mr. Kevin, performing Old MacDonald Had A Band.
Student Achievements
Our students are making great progress! These students have accomplished new goals this last month.
100 Days - play the piano for at least 5 minutes, 100 days in a row - Lisielle S.
5X5 - play the piano for 5 minutes, 5 days in a week, for 5 weeks in a row - Clive L, Hannah S, Iris H, Jacob S, Joses C, Lillian R, Lisielle S, Nathan H,
Completed their current lesson book - Noah S
Advanced to the next music level - Abhay A, Akshay A, Catherine B, Ceceil C, David S, Gus K, Lisielle S, Rayon M, Rosalie O, and Yuvl G.
Upcoming MOM Events
Want to see all upcoming events? Check out our calendar. It includes when the next Crescendo Kids class begins, school closure dates, piano parties, and recital dates.
FREE Online Piano Party! Students share their own music as well as participate in musical games, creating music and learning some music history. Each party is a little different with a theme and a special guest instrument. Come, meet our piano teachers, play some music, and have fun! All ages and musical levels are welcome. Parties are available to non-students, former students as well as current students. Click the link to sign up. Piano Party Sign Up
Saturday, January 8, at 11:00 am. RSVP required.
Parent Information Meetings - Have questions about our online piano class program? Want a tour of our practicing app? Click the link to schedule your meeting with Miss Pam. Parent Info Meeting
Crescendo Kids CLASSES - Scheduled to start at North Kirkland Community Center in March 2022.
30 - Minute Private Online Piano Lessons - Did you know that many of our teachers also teach privately? Now you can continue your child’s musical education, or your own, with Move Over Mozart. Click here for more information. Private Lessons
New Crescendo Kids Online begins Tuesday, January 18. Start the new year with music! Our piano classes are fun and easy to do! Now is a great time to join. Students are put into one of 4 classes depending on their age and musical ability.
Crescendo Kids Online Sign Up
Pre-Reading - Ages 3 - 5 years, or students not yet reading,
We use a color-coded method for the students to match their five fingers to five keys on the piano. New songs using only those 5 notes are given each week.
Primary - Ages 5 -7 years or older and brand new to music,
This group is for the very basics of piano playing. Students learn to play simple rhythms, correct hand position, and the names of the white keys on the piano.
Beginning Elementary - Ages 7-12 years or younger and reading notes,
This is for students just starting to read notes on the staff. Students are taught how the staff relates to the piano and how to translate the notes to making music. Also, having the students memorize a few key notes on the staff will help greatly with their ability to read music.
Advanced Elementary - Ages 7 - 12 years with previous piano lessons
This group already reads notes on the staff and can immediately identify many of the notes by name. They will learn more advanced technique and music theory beyond the initial basics of learning to play.
Parents Ask Pam
Have a question for Miss Pam? You can email, text message, or message on Facebook your questions. She will respond immediately to you, and your question might be featured in future newsletters.
Q: Do you offer discounts for siblings?
A: No. Instead we offer discounted classes for everyone. Crescendo Kids is about 1/2 to 1/4 the price of traditional private lessons. By keeping the cost low for everyone, we are able to teach to more students that typically wouldn’t have the opportunity.
Your Comments And Questions
We want to hear from you! What are some ways that you have included music education in your children’s lives these last couple of years? Please leave your questions and comments below.