At Piano Plus we offer personalized instruction in both piano and guitar. Our teachers work closely with students to make sure each lesson is custom tailored to individual interests and needs. Not only do our students make progress with our patient, encouraging teachers, they also have fun in our creative learning environment. To meet our teachers and take a free tour of our studio, please call us to set up an appointment at 212.744.8680.
Our lessons are clearly structured and include the use of method books, multi-sensory materials, musical games, improvisation and favorite songs of the students. Practice is made easier with a notebook that organizes the lesson material, guides the student in regular practicing, and provides reinforcement for his or her playing and progress. Students are encouraged to participate in our year-end recital, which gives them the opportunity to share their favorite music with family and friends.
Here at Piano Plus we use up-to-date technology to reinforce and enhance the musical experience. We can easily adapt our music software to the student’s stage of learning, which facilitates their practice of rhythm, note-reading and ensemble playing.
Our staff is university trained and expert in matching teaching strategies to the learning style of each student, including those with special needs. At every level of play, our teachers patiently motivate and guide students to meet challenges, master the music, and enjoy the great rewards of playing an instrument. As they make continuous musical progress, our students get in touch with their creativity, discover hidden talents, build self-confidence, and take pride in sharing their music with others.
Guitar Instruction
David Herman is a professional musician who has over 15 years experience teaching the guitar to beginning and intermediate students. He specializes in tailoring the lessons to the student’s individual learning style and musical interests. David is particularly skillful and patient with beginners and those with special needs. He teaches most styles of music including pop, rock, alternative, folk, blues, and classical.
David uses popular songs to teach guitar: by learning simplified chords at first, beginning students can be playing and singing songs within the first session.
Once a student has practiced and assimilated the simplified chords, he or she is ready for the complete chords. When these are mastered, other ways of playing are explored such as fingerpicking, alternative ways of strumming and lead guitar playing. Lessons in reading music are available, but are not essential for playing the guitar.
Soon after learning the basics, Mr. Herman encourages students to bring in specific music that they want to learn. The aim of the lessons is to provide students the tools necessary to experience the joy of music as well as to help each student reach his or her individual musical goals.
Piano
Piano instruction at Piano Plus uses a unique, multi-sensory approach that is geared to the learning style of each individual. In addition to basic piano skills such as note-reading, rhythm and theory, the lessons also include ear-training, harmony (chords) and improvisation. The teachers use a variety of creative activities (such as movement and playing drums) to develop proficiency in rhythm, tempo and dynamics. While fostering the discipline needed to master an instrument, we encourage creative self-expression to enhance the joy of music while learning a wide range of playing and listening skills.
In order to enhance musicality as well as motivation to practice, we encourage ensemble playing. For example, when scheduling permits, we extend the time of your child’s lesson to overlap with that of other students so that they can enjoy the experience of playing together. We also use technology such as midi disks with orchestrated versions of the pieces students are learning, as it is both fun and challenging to play as part of the “orchestra”. Learning and playing music at the piano is further reinforced with software that promotes skill in note-reading, rhythm and improvisation.