Hillsdale Piano Lessons – Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to travel anywhere for my piano class?

At Piano Lessons In Your Home, our teachers teach you in your own home, ensuring you don’t waste time stuck in Hillsdale traffic to get to your piano class.

Do your piano teachers come to Hillsdale? And on which days of the week?

Please enquire for more information as well as for information on Saturday and Sunday piano classes.

Do I need to own a piano or keyboard?

We know pianos can be out of people’s budgets, that is why a cheaper keyboard is perfectly fine for beginners.

Introductory keyboards are an easy and affordable option for homes without a piano.

When do you offer Hillsdale piano classes?

We typically offer after school lessons, on weekday afternoons to evenings, our Hillsdale piano teachers are very flexible and will always try to accommodate the time that suits you best.

Weekend lessons are also readily available, please enquire for more information.

How old should my child be to begin piano lessons?

Children as young as 5 can begin learning the piano and basic music theory.

Our Hillsdale piano tutors are experienced in tutoring young children who are complete beginners, and have all the patience and personality needed to encourage your child and give them best start in their musical journey.

What styles of piano music do you teach?

Our Hillsdale piano tutors are qualified to teach all styles of music, whether you’re interested in popular, contemporary, classical, jazz, musical theatre or even Nintendocore (yes, this is an actual genre). However, we encourage our students to explore all genres to show them just how interesting the piano can be.

Why enrol my child in 1 on 1? Why not Hillsdale group  piano classes?

Group piano classes are a great way for your child to socialise, but that’s about where the perks end. 1 on 1 piano tutoring ensure that your child won’t get left behind, and can learn at their own pace.

In personal experience, piano students learning in individual lessons progress a lot quicker than students learning in group lessons.

Am I too old to start learning to play piano?

NO! There is no set age to begin learning a musical instrument, and the best time to start is right this moment – ie Now!

Learn to play your favourite songs, learn how to read music, learn theory, or just about anything you’d like to know about the piano.

Playing the piano is a fun and great way to exercise your creative abilities so don’t just dream about it, start learning.

What are your Hillsdale piano tutors qualifications?

Only the best Hillsdale piano teachers work with our students.

Our piano teachers:

• highly experienced in teaching all ages and skill levels
• are experienced in playing the piano themselves
• have undergone a NSW Government certified “Working with children” police check
• are very friendly and patient to make students comfortable with learning at their own pace.

Normally students take piano lessons once a week.

On the other hand if you just give me a minute of your time, I’ll tell you why that’s often not the best way to go.

I personally believe the best way to response to this question is to look at the best of the best and see how often THEY took lessons.

Some of the best pianists in history likely had lessons on a day-to-day basis. We will frequently find that key authors and pianists came from a musical upbringing and their first trainers were frequently one of their parents. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven just to name a few had parents who were musicians and likely gave them everyday lessons.

Piano Practice is NOT Adequate

This is how weekly piano lessons ought to work. The coach listens to what the student rehearsed in the previous week. The teacher would then provide ideas on how to get better or teach new concepts to improve the new pianist both technically and musically. From there, they may add some training tips and suggestions on what and how to rehearse in the following week. The student would then rehearse for a week according to the teachers recommendations and this would continue from week to week.

Sadly this is very hardly the way classes happen. This all assumes one very crucial thing. That the student actually rehearsed. Unfortunately more often than not the teacher will come to a lesson only to find that the student did not train. Oh no! What does the trainer do now? Practice with the student of course!

That’s what takes place if the student just did not train, but sadly even if the student DID practice this may still be the result. Why? Because practicing is challenging.

Why Practicing is Challenging

Let’s think about what we’re requesting young children, perhaps as young as 5, to do. The best way to rehearse is to take out all distractions sit down at the piano and work on segments of music that the student cannot until now play.

Playing from the beginning of a presentation is more often than not an unproductive use of time. Playing a small section gradually and accurately is often a requisite of good train. Then repeating it over and over and over. Then they would want to pin point one more minor segment they are not happy with and do it again.

I’m finished simplifying here, but the point is to help us know how tough that is. How long should practice be? I would be happy with fifteen minutes from a young child and 30 minutes from an older child. How many 5 year olds do you know that could concentrate effectively for fifteen minutes without getting diverted. Or even better, how many adults do you know that could do the same?

And yet coaches expect that type of train every week from their students. Realistically it is rarely if ever going to happen that way. But an interesting thing occurs when the coach is sitting there. You have the trainer leading the student telling them what they need to rehearse and how many times to repeat it. The tutors can rectify bad habits and improper posture. These are things a young child, or even an adult would have a difficult time doing in a fixated way.

How Often Should Lessons Be?

For maximum effectiveness lessons should be held as frequent as possible. If a student can allow lessons everyday, they’ll develop many multiples quicker than a student having lessons once a week. It’s as straightforward as that. Most of the lessons will be the tutor just rehearsing with the student. But that practice is undeniably priceless.

Realistically

No not many of us can afford to take a lesson everyday with their coach. Not only that, but not everyone needs to become the next Mozart. So determining how often to take lessons indeed depends on your ambitions. Contemplate about exactly what you’re looking for in lessons. Let’s describe some shared objectives.

Objectives for Piano Lessons

• Play one exact piece
• Play for my wedding
• Be able to play as a diversion
• Study serious as a lifelong pursuit
• Make it a career

If your objective for piano lessons is just to play one piece, obviously lessons daily indeed aren’t desirable. You may really be able to even study on your own!

A piano tutor will always be supportive and make the music sound the best it can. If fund is a problem though, see if you can discover a lesson of the piece on YouTube. If you never desire to learn anything new, then it matters a lot less whether you are playing absolutely correctly or not.

But this all changes if you want to, or you desire your kid to take this really seriously. It doesn’t occur frequently, but I have a few students that would take an hour lesson 3 days a week, and then additional hour of music concept for a total of four hours a week of lessons. These students are always the top.

You get what you put in. If you don’t take lessons very honestly, you won’t get as much enjoyment out of lessons as if you put your complete spirit into it. As a pianist I can tell you that the joy that arises from playing beautiful music is boundless. Don’t miss out!