About Lessons 2011

A guide for parents: Piano lessons at the SE22 Piano School

www.se22piano.co.uk 2010 - 2011

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ontents:

. Terms & Conditions, Conditi ons, 2010 - 2011 . What to e e from the first lesson What can I do at home to help my child? 3. What to bring to the first lesson The Star Chart . How to practice The Practice Chart . A few rules 6. Piano Exams . Music Scholarships & Music Festivals . Learning a second instrument . bo bout ut Lorraine Liyanage & Gabrielle Messeder . Teach eaching ing cer certificate tificate & pupils’ certificates.









Terms and conditions for piano lessons at the SE22 Piano School Teachers: Lorraine Liyanage and Gabrielle Messeder January 2011 Overview Lessons are offered during school term. Lessons work to the state-school timetable. Optional lessons are available during holidays on Monday or Friday mornings. No absences are allowed from a term’s schedule, full attendance is expected. Fees 15 minutes - £12.00 30 minutes - £22.00 60 minutes - £40.00 Payments Invoices are issued at the end of each half-term, with payment required on the first firs t week of the new half-term. Payments not settled on the first lesson of each term are subject to a £5 weekly late-payment charge. If the pupil is absent from a lesson without permission or prior notice, a charge will still be made. Absence Policy We do not have an absence policy, policy, therefore any lessons missed for any reason are at the students’ expense. Pupils’ responsibilities Attend all instrumental lessons as scheduled. Practice regularly as advised by the teacher using the practice book provided. Parents’ responsibilities Support home practice and sign the practice book. Ensure their child’s attendance at instrumental lessons unless for good reason. Photography Consent We photograph photograph and film our school events such as festivals and competitions. competit ions. If you would prefer your child’s photograph not to be used on our web site or marketing materials, please advise us in writing. Publishing Exam Results We publish all exam results on our web site and in our newsletters and concert programmes. If you do not want your child’s mark to appear, appear, please advise us in writing. Substitute Teachers In the unlikely event that your teacher is not available on the day of your lesson, we will use a fully-qualified and CRB checked substitute teacher. teacher. If there is no teacher available, then we will discount the cost of the lesson from next term’s invoice. Terminating lessons We reserve reserve the right to terminate t erminate lessons if a student st udent is not benefitting benefittin g from lessons as we would hope. We We operate a 3-stage procedure before terminating lessons which consi sts of a written report, a progress update and a meeting to discuss progress before terminating lessons. Attending lessons confirms acceptance of the terms and conditions.









What to expect from the first lesson: The first lesson will be an introduction to the piano. We will play all the black and white keys. We will explore making animal sounds on the piano. For example, we can make loud, cras cr as sound sou ndss lik like e ele eleph phan ants ts on th the e low low key keyss (th (the e one oness to to the the le left) ft) an and d the then n at at the the op nd of th the e pi pian ano o, we ca can n ma make ke no nois ises es li like ke a bi birrd on th the e ver eryy hi high gh no nottes es.. will explore the concept of high and low sounds with your child. This is our first musical opposite. We We’ll ’ll then look at loud and quie sounds as our second opposite. I encourage upils to try and distinguish the difference between quiet and loud sounds from very early on as this is a vital part of playing the piano with expression. We will also try using the pedals, as many pupils use a keyboard at home which will not ave pedals. For the curious (and possibly the older students), I can explain how the sound is produced when we s i e a key on the pi .









Wh t can I d at home to help y child? An unders understandin tanding g of the alphabe alphabett is vital to playi playing ng the piano piano.. W ly need to know the letters A B C D E F G in the music alphabet. egular repetition of the a phabet, both forwards and backwards, will help your child with their t heir lessons. The beginne begi nners rs hand hand posit position ion for for the the right right hand hand uses uses the the notes notes C D E F G; T left hand hand uses the notes C B A G F. F. ractice saying these out loud, backwards and forwards, with your child when you are out o ut and about, and particularly when you are en rout to lessons. Also practi Also practice ce writi writing ng these these lett letters ers as as we do lots of notenote-nami naming ng in t the theory ory boo , which will require a grasp of writing. Please advise whether your child uses phonics or not. Depending on the Depending the age of your your child, child, they may may not not know their left hand hand fro right, so this is another thing to practice.

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We count count up up to 4 on the the pian piano. o. Aft After er a cou couple ple of of months months,, we will will begi begin n to e lo e fract fr actio ions ns Fir irst st of al alll we we lear learn n the the va valu lue e of ha half lf,, bu butt qui quickl cklyy we we wil willl pro pro r to quarter qua rter.. Do not wor worry ry if you yourr chi child ld has not lea learned rned thi thiss at sch school ool,, I wil willl c r i i the lessons. I usually draw apples and chop them into pieces to explain on , but fe feel el fr free ee to le lett me kno know w if yo your ur ch chil ild d ha hass le lear arne ned d in a di diff ffer eren entt wa wayy at sc r home.









What to bring to the first lesson: Forr beg Fo beginn inner ers, s, he here re ar are e the the re reco comme mmen n

d books books..

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oom.c oom .com/ om/se se/ID /ID_N _No/0 o/094 9486/ 86/de detai tails ls.h .htm tml? l?kbi kbid= d=372 3726 6

These books are a so available at South London Music on Grove Vale Vale,, SE22. This is the arade ara de of shops shops le din ding g up to East East Dulwic Dulwich h station. station. The shop is not open on Thursdays or Sundays. ttp://www.s usi .co.uk/ lease also bring A5 notebook so I can write down your homework. Each week I will s y u a fe few w pie piece cess t pr prac ac e and and a lit littl tle e bit bit of wr writ itte ten n the theory ory (m (mus usic ical al ga game mes) s) t do do.. Se See e the the e t page for det ils o ow to pra practic ctice, e, and als also o a pra practic ctice e cha chart. rt. t would be a ehind!

write your child’s name in all the books as t

Free Fr ee sh she e t mu muss c

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pils c t eir piano practice and theory homework each week, they rece a star for ei c art. Once they have attain attained ed ten stars they can choose a prize from the











How to practice: deally, the piano should be practised every day deally, day,, but I realise that this is not always a lways ossible. Your child should aim for at least 1 hou f practice over the week including written theory homework. f you could encourage encourage your your child, child, pa icular icularly ly the younger younger children, children, to practice practice for 10 inutes a day, that would be great. ternati ternatively, vely, older o lder children may find 3 x 20 minute sessions a week more rewarding. When pr When pract actic icin ing g a pi piec ece, e, it is od to try an and d pla playy i a fe few w ti times mes,, in d of ju just st pl play ayin ing g it once and then going on to the next piece piece.. In the b ginner books, ieces are very short, erhaps only one or two lines of music. Aim to play the piece p iece slowly and fluently, without ny sto stoppin pping g at the ba - es, hes hesita itatin ting g or fum fumbli bling ng for for note note . If it’ it’ss a song song,, suc such h as Old cDonald, cD onald, someone should be able to sing along with the piece piece whilst is being played, thout havin having g to stop and wait for the pianis pianistt to catc catch h up. This will tak it of practi practice ce at first, and sometimes pupils find one line of music mu sic too much to attempt in one go. If this appens, break break the piece down into one or two-bar sections. sectio ns. Try these at a slow pace, then once you have mastered playing playing the piece slowly, slowly, try it again, a little faste ach time. f it is a hands t ther piece, always practice hands separately. This will ensure you have a full grasp of playing one hand before attempting attempting to put pu t both hands together. Many of y pupils who have have been lea learni rning ng for a lon long g tim time e sti still ll lea learn rn thei theirr pie andss sep and separa arate te ef ore ore trying it together ere is a complex level of coordination required to play hands together, toget her, so it’s always est to break a piece down to learn it properly.

Remember: Don’t just play a piece once. Keep Keep playing until it sounds perfect! per fect!









he Practice Chart: For pupils: rint out ots of co s of the pra rint practic ctice e cha chart rt on next page and bri bring ng to you yourr les lesson son each week. If you have a music book bag, keep he charts in here. I will fill these in each week so that you know k now what to practice at home. hom e. Ask an adult to jot their initials on it when you have ne your practice. It’s useful overview of the week to see how much ractic rac tice e you ar anaging anag ing to fit in. Don t or orry ry if you can’t practice every day - just do your best!

For parents: lease feel free to contact me during the week if your child is stuck stuck at ho home me an oe oess no nott now how to play something, or needs some ad ice. Email is often the best way to get in touch with me as I do not answer a nswer the phone whilst teaching. My email address is at the ottom of this page. f you you can ot pri print nt the cha chart rt easi easily ly,, plea single age document.

maill me mai me and and I will will sen send d you you a copy copy of it as a

nnotations: To T o

e space, you may see the following marks in your notebook. Here is an explanation:

. Sep - Hands separately . Tog - Hands together H - Right and H - Left Hand









s e c e i P

s e s i c r e x E / s e l a c S









A few rules: Attending on time: lease be prompt for lessons. If you are early, I will sometimes not answer the doorbell as it would be disruptive to the reviou pil’ss lesson, so please be prepared to wait if you are pil’ ore than five minutes . My p s a riv rive e one after after the othe otherr withou withoutt a delay delay in in etween lessons, lessons, so dropping dropping of nd picking up on time makes everything everything run smoothly!

Sitting in on the lessons: t is fine if you wish to wait in the piano room for the duration of o f the lesson. If you could also answer the doorbell when it rings, that would be very helpful as it means your child can finish their lesson without disruption. I am also happy for siblings or friends to sit in and listen as long as a s they are quiet. There are plenty of books on the bookshelf to read.

Discussing your child’s progress: am happy to discuss your child’s child’s progress, but please arrive early if you would like to discuss anything with me. Very often parents will arrive at the end of the lesson to have a chat, but my next pupil will have arrived, arrived, so I am unable to talk to them. If you o not stay with your child during the lessons, please come at least once a month to have a chat about progress. I will also issue a report at the end of each term. This v guidance on work to e practice during the school break, as well as aims for the ne .

Clea Cl ean n ha ha ds & sna snack cks: s: Many hildren turn up with half-eaten snacks and dirty hands. No food is allowed allowed in the ian so please ensure they are given their snacks in time to finish them befor before e arriving, s I don’t don’t like to seem like the baddie when I have to to confiscate sugary snacks









Treat the piano gently! ask that under-10s take off their shoes essons. This is because the piano often gets epeat epe ated edly ly kic kicked ked by li litt ttle le le legs gs.. mak make e all all pup pupil ilss aw aw re th that at th the e pia pia i an ex expe pens nsiv ive, e, an and d delica del icate te ins instru trumen ment, t, the theref refore ore kicki kicking ng it is unac unaccep ceptt le le,, as is pla playin yin with wit h any anythi thing ng other than hands - no elbows or repeated bashing of the keys is allowed. allowed. Pedals should l o onl onlyy be used und under er supervis supe rvision ion..

ncelling lessons: charge for a full term’s term’s attendance, therefore therefore cannot accommodate requests to cancel essons or carry them over to the next term. In the rare event that I cancel a lesson, I will inform inf orm you you in adva advanc nce e and pro provid vide e anothe anotherr lesson lesson to to make-up make-up for for the the miss miss one one..

Late payments

l incur a fine:

lease be prompt with payment. Late payments carries a £5 £ 5 a week pen lty which will be added to the next invoice











ms: Many of my pupils take exams regularly - and receive fantastic marks! You You can see the ates at estt re resul sults ts on my we web b si site te.. I en ente terr pu pupil pilss f a di diff ffer eren entt typ types es of ex exams ams - Cl Clas assi sica call Grades, Rockschool Exams, Jazz G ades and ory xams. I will explain the differe different nt types of examinations below. b elow. Some parents prefer that their child does t take any exams. If this is the case, case, please let e know and I am happy to accommodate this request. I realise that exams are not suitable for every child. A fee is required to enter for all exams.

The Assoc Associate iated d Boar Board d of th

oyall Scho oya Schools ols of Music (ABR (ABRSM): SM):

This is the main examining board in the UK. UK. They conduct the rep Test Test exams, the classical grades, the jazz grades and the theory exams. They They are very structured examinations that are a good measure of th r r ss you are making on the piano. However However,, they folow quite a rigid forma matt and so p ls do not find they offer much flexibility in terms of the repertoire. Whilst the jazz de offer emporary pieces, please be aware that they are more difficult than the classical grades will only be attempted after you have been laying for about 3 years. t is worth worth noting that Grades 6, 7 and 8 now attrac anyy of my pup an pupil ilss fin find d of re real al ben benefi efitt wh when en app appll information on the points tariff: ttp://www.abrsm.org/?page=exams/ucas.htm

ints under the UCAS Tariff ariff which which unive uni vers rsity ity.. See th this is li link nk fo forr mor more e









Classical grades (ABRSM): There are 8 grades in this this system. t takes about 2 - 3 years of lessons to be ready to to take the first graded exam. After this, we usually work at one grade per academic year, but this will require a committed committed effort f om your child to achieve. achieve. The exams become progressively ore dem demand anding ing on tec techni hnical cal abi ability lity and perf perfor or anc ance e skil skills. ls. I wil willl not ent ente e upill fo upi forr a exam if I do not think they will pass. Obviously, Obviously, nerves on the da dayy ca can n ta take ke ov r, ut I ar arra rang nge e several performance opportunities to help your child gain confidence with performing in ublic - and under pressure!

Jazz grades (ABRSM): There are currently 5 grades in this system. s ystem. The main difference with the jazz grades is that they require a pupil to impro e. This is a skill I encour encourage age all pupil t learn, but it equires a certain amount of later lateral al thinkin thinking g as w en we impro improvise vise,, we do se any music music.. These grades are definitely suited to older pupils, aged 8+. Please be aware that these grades are arder than the classical exams, so are not really comparable . . the Jazz Grade 1 is oughly equivalent to Classical Grade 2, and Jazz grade 2 is equivalent to at least Classical Grade 3 and so on.

Theory Exams (ABRSM): Theory is the scien Theory science ce behind behind the the performance performance of of music. music. Grad Grade e 1 is fairly fairly e y and I encourencourage all pupils to do this exam. It is held at an examination centre in a formal setting with an invigilator.. The nearest exam centre is just beyond Tulse invigilator Tulse Hill. Please note that in order to rogress to Grade 6, 7, and 8 of the ABRSM exams, you MUST have Grad Grad 5 theory. As a guideline, GCSE GCSE music works at a level of theory theor y knowledge around Grades 3 or 4;









Music Scholarships to local schools: Many of my pupils audition for music scholarships, mostly at entry to secondary school. ere’s a list of the scholarships available at some, but not all, local schools. I am currently expanding this list as I prepare more pupils for auditions. lease note that music or other academic scholarships rarely offer a 100% reduction in fees. Most independent schools offer 1/3 to 1/2 reduction in fees for music scholars. The The maj majori ority ty of sch schola olarsh rships ips are at age 11+. If y available avai lable,, it may may not be continue continued d at age 11+. 11+. For t urely on merit and are not means tested.

c ive a sch schola olarsh rship ip at age 7 or 8+ if most part, part, schol scholarship arshipss are awar awarded ded

As a eline, entry to local independent schools requires a standard of playing eq nt to to Gr Grad ade e 5 le lev vel at ag age e 11. 11. This This is a dem deman andi din ng req requi uirrem emen entt, bu butt mor more e tha than n atattain tai n l or pupi pupils ls who sho show w dedi dedicat cation ion and apt aptitud itude. e. If you you wou would ld like you yourr chil child d to to try try for a scholarship, scholarship, please mention this to me early on. I usually prepare a specific practice scheme for childre children n who are preparing f r scholarship scholarship auditions. auditions. Some schools require require auditions on a second instrument. More in ormation about this follows in the next section,

Alleyn’ss School (Co-ed, independent school): Alleyn’ 2 types of music scholarships are available: available: 1)Th 1) The e Mu Musi sicc Sc Scho hola lars rs offfer of erss a 1/ 1/3r 3rd d re tion ti on in fe fees es or 1/ 1/6 6 red reduc ucti tion on pl plus us fr free ee tu tuit itio ion n









Music Scholarships continued... St. Dunstans - Co-ed Independent school in Catford: M sic scho scholar larshi ships ps are are up to 50% 50% of fees fees.. Can Cand d ate atess must must have have achie achieved ved at least least Grad Grade e 4 in their main instrument. instrument. Scholarship include the cost of tuition for one instrument.

James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS), Dulwich: Major scholarships are worth £1,000 Minor scholarships are for £500 pa, in cases of need, the value of these schola scholarr ips may e incr increased eased by meansmeans-testin testing g on the same basis as our as assi sist sted ed pl plac aces es.. Un Unde derr age ca cand ndid idat ates es ca can n b cc ccep epte ted d fo forr e inat in atio ion n wi with th th the e re reco commendation of their current headteacher headteacher.. A limited number of th Form scholarships of £1,000 pa pa are also av lable lable,, based on achiev achievement ement at GCSE. GCSE.

Kingsdale Co-Ed State school, Dulwich: ingsdale School offers Music Scholarships for new entrants to the school who have outstanding outstan ding musical potent potential. ial. These schol scholarship arshipss provide provide for profe professio ssio l tuition tuition in in one or more instruments. The value of each full scholarship scholarship is equivalen to £1,000 per annum.

Sydenham High Schools (Girls’ Independent school): 1 GDS GDST T mus music ic sc scho hola lars rshi hip p is is awa award rded ed per en entry try ye year ar,, upo upon n perf perform orm nc nce e in in a pr prac ac a t st and interview interview in the chosen subject as well well as performanc performance e in the the Entranc Entrance e Examinat Examinat n.









Learning a second instrument: instrument: ollowing on from the music scholarship section, a second instrument is required at audition for some school . f course many pupils will n tural turally ly like like to learn a new instr instrument ument once they have been exposed to their friends playing other instruments. The piano forms a good basis for learning all other inst uments, particularly as a pupil will be fluent in reading otes ot es fro from m both both cle cle th the e treb treble le and and bas basss cle clef, thus will be able to read music written for all inst in stru rumen ments ts.. A few few rar rare e ins instr trume ument ntss use use s e unus unusual ual cl cle efs, but these are covered in theory exams from grade 4 onwards.

I also teach the cello and am happy to let pupils try out my cello. I lesson les son to inc includ lude e 10 or 15 m ute utess of ce cello llo if yo you u wa want nt to try it ou Here’s a list of good places to learn to play other instruments: Borough Music School (Saturday mornings) ttp://www..bor ttp://www

musicschool.org

Camberwell CYM ttp://www.cym.org.uk/contact/venue/southwk2.html

JAGS Saturday music school for boys and girls ttp://www.jags.org.uk/jasspa/

also split a iano a tri trial al ba











Lorraine Liyanage: Since movin moving g to East Dulwic Dulwich h three year yearss a o, ave started to uild up a thriving and diverse practice of over 40 pi pian ano o pu pupi pils ls,, wi with th an ag age e ra f 3 to 55 55.. studied with Denise Patton, a professor at the oyal College of Music, who then employed me from the age of 16 to teach her youngest pupils. This was invaluable experience whilst studying for my A Level in Music and towards my Piano Perfor orma manc nce e Dip Diplo loma ma.. I wo worr forr ma fo man ny ye year arss fo forr enise,before and after quali ying as a piano teacher. teacher. gained my teaching qualification from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, the mai main n exami exami ing boar board d in the UK. liv

door to St. Anthony’

school and teach many of it s pupils. I also play the









My teaching certificate:









A selection of exam results:









© Lorraine Liyanage, 2010-2011 www.se22piano.co.uk [email protected] | 0208 299 6037

About Lessons 2011

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