Piano Lessons Cambridge
Why should I choose Keyboard or Piano?
Whether you want to play intricate self-contained classics, confidently knock out chords to your favourite pop song, or comp’ and improvise over Jazz standards, Keyboard or Piano Lessons in Cambridge are a great choice for a host of reasons:
Notes can be produced immediately without months of training, unlike violin or saxophone for example (keyboard is arguably the best instrument for young children).
Linear presentation of notes develops a logical and visually strong perception of music.
Great for learning to read music, Piano has one key per note, unlike other instruments where the same note can be produced in several different places leading to confusion and frustration in the early stages.
Modern Keyboards and digital Piano’s are extremely versatile producing many sounds, relatively portable, affordable, can sound amazing.
Can be used for silent practice with a pair of headphones (great for parental sanity or playing late at night).
Recommended by Universities and Music Colleges for students of any instrument as a tool to develop harmonic understanding and breath life into music theory.
Great as a stand-alone solo instrument for the solitary player (no need for other musicians).
Equally fitting in a solo or a group environment.
Suitable for all styles of music including Classical, Rock, Pop, Hip Hop and Jazz.
Large choice of educational material of all levels is readily available.
Great fun to have four hands on one piano, i.e. Siblings or Parent and Child (many modern digital pianos and keyboards can have the register split in the middle to make it effectively into two identical keyboards)
Piano Keyboard is still the most reliable and versatile way of inputting your music into computer-based recording software (DAW’s) such as Garage Band, Ableton Live, Sonar and Logic or more traditional compositional software such as Sibelius (often used in A level music).
WhAT WILL I LEARN during my Piano lessons in Cambridge?
Our piano teachers use a variety of teaching materials including graded Classical pieces and software-based arrangements, but we find that RSL RockSchool syllabi develop skill sets in keeping with the other instruments we teach. They are great for preparing the ground so that students may progress to enrolling in the Rock Band and small ensemble coaching programs we also offer. There are two RockSchool Syllabi, Keyboard and Piano. Each has a slightly different emphasis (see below) but you can change at anytime or even do both. You may also wish to learn how chords are built, how they relate to each other, how to use them in songs and how they relate to scales and modes. These are essential skills for the modern player.
A fantastic syllabus we love here at gigabull is the ABRSM Jazz Piano Syllabus. Melodies use standard notation but improvisation is integral part of every piece. This encourages an ‘interpretation’ of the score rather than a direct translation encouraging more musical freedom. It also means that scales have a direct application to the pieces the student is playing hence scales become tools not chores.
Compiled in part by the Director’s Jazz teacher at University “Charlie Beale” this syllabus is always high in our recommended list.
RockSchool Keyboard Syllabus has an emphasis on chords and harmony in a band context including improvisation and patch changes for multiple sound manipulation.
RockSchool Piano Syllabus. The main difference with this Syllabus is that that the pieces presented are focused around repertoire typically played on (or using the sound of) an acoustic piano rather than synthesised sounds, samples or patch changes that may be found on a Keyboard. Many of the skills set concerning playing will overlap with the Keyboard Syllabus.
Both Keyboard and Piano Syllabi come with downloadable play-along tracks and are great for developing ensemble awareness and recordable playing skills.
For general enquiries click here instead