Group Piano

Group Piano at Music Connections Foundation is designed for the recent Kindermusik for the Young Child graduate!

Ages: 7+
Class structure: 1 class lesson per week
Class size: Up to 6 children
Class length: 45 minutes per class

What a Child Experiences in Class

The Group Piano Lesson program has been designed especially for the Kindermusik Young Child graduate. Building on the Kindermusik for the Young Child foundation, Group Piano Lessons begins with Blast Off Piano Camp to introduce students to the piano. Students learn where notes are located on the keyboard, how to play songs using the Musical Alphabet, and how to use their hands and fingers to produce a great sound on the piano. In Group Piano Lessons Year One, students learn songs using letter names, finger activities to develop classical piano technique, and staff note reading at the keyboard. Familiar Kindermusik songs are adapted and applied to the keyboard to develop students’ ability to play ‘by ear.’ Musical Alphabet games, grand staff cards and note chips, as well as writing and listening activities continue the process-oriented learning that is a Kindermusik distinctive. Performance-oriented activities ensure that students will have the skills and confidence to play for each other as well as other enthusiastic audiences.

Teacher and Program Designer – Carole Martin

Carole Martin says she has the absolute best job in the world! There is nothing more exciting than witnessing the joy of a group of children learning to play a musical instrument. The focused attention that brings fingers under control, the physical movement that manifests in the rhythms, the expressive breathing that translates into a melodic phrase, and the sparkle in their eyes when it all comes together and suddenly they can play… TOGETHER! Group Piano Lessons are so much fun that it’s astonishing how much they are learning. Functional skills like sight-reading, harmonization, and music theory. Performance skills like styling, phrasing, and dynamics. Technical skills like hand/finger independence, flexible wrists, and chord shapes.

“I am thrilled and delighted to be working with Music Connections Foundation to offer Group Piano Lessons to Kindermusik Young Child graduates. Music is profoundly important to the development of a ‘whole’ person and disciplined study of a musical instrument yields numerous cognitive, emotional, and social benefits. Piano is a great first instrument because of its wide tonal range, visual and tactile components, numerous uses for performing — solo, to accompany, and in ensemble, and as a compositional and improvisational tool. But from the student’s point of view, the piano is accessible, fun, and ‘sounds cool.’ They instinctively know the piano will take them on a musical journey into a marvelous land!”
— Carole Martin