Beginners age 6+

Using the Piano Safari Curriculum, piano lessons for beginners age 6 and upwards are all about being fun, interactive, learning through play and using lots of creative resources to scaffold learning and to accompany the ‘method book’. From the word go they improvise, play duets, develop gross and fine motor skills and take ownership of their learning. Learning through listening is at the core of this curriculum alongside teaching students to read with a modern approach.

Teen Newbies and Adults

Teens and adults are becoming one of my favourite age groups to teach! My goal is to inspire and provide a space for the student to see themselves as a musician and to tailor the sessions to their goals whether that is to explore a chord based approach in order to learn pop and rock favourites, or whether that is to learn to read music and take exams in classical music. Some of my adult students are learning songs including Dreams (Fleetwood Mac), Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn), Lean on Me, Moon River, Running up that Hill, Hallelujah, Let It Be. For teens, we enjoy exploring a pop song each month. Recent songs include Flowers (Miley Cyrus), Hall of Fame (The Script), Shot Gun (George Ezra).

Older Beginners age 10+

For this age group, there are a choice of methods, but again, the one we primarily use as a great starting point and foundation for creative and technical learning is Piano Safari for the older student. Students enjoy improvising and learn to read through a focused unit of work to slowly develop their confidence whilst developing a thorough technical and theoretical grounding. Once again, the emphasis on maintaining a holistic, well rounded approach.

Intermediate Players

It’s at this point as you transition from the late beginner/early elementary level that you can begin thinking about your personal direction in music. A good idea is to decide on either a classical or popular route (though a mixture of both is possible). However, to have a core focus in lessons means that repertoire and creative explorations at the piano can be tailored towards either the ABRSM/Trinity exams, or Rock School. My favourite books are the Lang Lang Mastering Piano Series for classical lovers, and WunderKeys for pop based students.

The very youngest beginners age 4+

Piano Safari have just realised an amazing curriculum for children age 4 upwards…Piano Safari Friends! They will enjoy a rich and vibrant learning experience in a supportive and safe environment allowing them to explore the instrument and their musical selves. We also have the fabulous series, WunderKeys for pre-schoolers. I tend to use this with the tiniest students, ages 4+! Together we journey through a colourful adventure to understand everything needed to know before learning to read notated music. Students will learn symbol-to-sound recognition, practice finger independence and coordination, improve aural awareness, play long sounds and short sounds on black keys, play high sounds and low sounds on black keys, play sounds moving higher and lower, and learn math skills to assist musical understanding.

Online Lessons

Online lessons aren’t just for Covid-19 times! Students at Happy Keys live all over the UK and they experience a high quality and personal lesson whilst building independence. The content is similar to the other types of lessons detailed on this page, but of course, with a more digital element! Lessons are held on Zoom, whilst resources are posted on Google Classroom. This type of lesson is more suitable for students age 8+ (and it’s a good idea for a parent to sit in with the younger age bracket here.)