PIANO
The piano is a very popular instrument for those starting out with music. It is a great starting point for learning notes and other theory as well as being one of the most versatile instruments out there! Whether you want play classical or jazz, or pop and film themes, the piano is suitable for all!
By learning the piano, you can move to church organs, or keyboards to play at weddings or in pit orchestras at theatre shows. It also allows you to learn the treble and bass clef, the two most common clefs used by other instruments, allowing you to immediately understand music if you choose to switch to a different instrument!
what do i learn?
For younger pupils, I start them off with the Me & My Piano books. These are the books I personally learned with and have taught with for the last 10 years! They slowly introduce playing with the right hand, then the left hand before putting them together. They also have a wide selection of recognisable nursery rhymes and other songs.
There are 2 books, each taking around 6 months to complete. Once Part 2 is finished, we can move on to starting Grade exams!
trinity GRADE EXAMS
Trinity College, as well as ABRSM, have been staples for musical grade examinations for decades. I have been using the Trinity syllabus since I started teaching and I feel it is the best way to improve as a classical pianist.
There are 9 Trinity grades in total, each consisting of 3 pieces, 3 exercises, scales and technical work. Each grade should take between 6-12 months to complete with exams taking place each Summer and Winter.
RSL GRADE EXAMS
I have recently started including the RSL Contemporary grade exams for piano. While Trinity focusses on a more classical syllabus, RSL includes pop music as well as pieces from theatre and film.
There are also 9 grades in the RSL Syllabus, consisting of 3 pieces and technical work. The difference with RSL is the pieces must be played along to a backing track and scales played along to a metronome. The backing tracks can make the pieces more fun to play but also push the student to play in time!
