Pupils taking lessons will learn to study pieces of music quickly. Each piece of music that we study should be attainable. In the early stages this means that no piece of music should take more than two weeks to learn.

If a piece of music takes longer to learn than two weeks then the pupil may become discouraged thinking that the music is "too hard". Advanced pupils may take up to 4 weeks to learn a piece of music.

If your child has suffered from having poor lessons in the past be prepared for the fact that much of the initial time spent with your new teacher may be spent undoing the damage that has been done and getting the pupil out of bad habits that they have been allowed to form. Even if your last teacher did a relatively good job of educating your child there may still be some areas of musicianship that have not been covered in enough detail and there might still be some holes in your child's musical experience that it will be necessary to fill. This may mean going over some material that has already been covered, in the initial stages to help build a solid foundation on which real progress can be made.

Pupils are encouraged to use the correct technique when playing the Piano/Keyboard. This involves sitting correctly, holding the arms, wrists, backs of hands and fingers in the correct position. Nothing should seem to be forced as they play and they should be in complete control of what they are doing. I like pupils to develop a good sense of timing and rhythm in the early stages of playing and the use of a computer and background music for each song helps to facilitate this.

Background accompaniment tracks can be provided during the lesson in the form of General Midi Sequences specially written to accompany each song the student plays. Pupils gain a much greater understanding of musical concepts when listening to and playing along with other musical instruments as part of an ensemble. The pupil also plays with a greatly enhanced sense of "feel" and becomes much more stylistically aware using this method of learning.

Theory is taught as part of the lesson and the pupil should understand and be able to communicate the meanings of written musical signs and symbols using appropriate language. Ear training and aural skills also play an important part during lessons, as does sight reading and playing by memory.

When a pupil has managed to play a piece to a high enough standard they are awarded a gold star. Pupils seem to love this as it acts as recognition that their hard work has paid off. The use of a music computer is employed to aid "Ear Training" and each pupils work is saved on disk to help sustain and monitor their progress.

Composition and arranging are encouraged for all pupils and are included in lessons as soon as the pupil feels confident enough to try. Again the computer is used to help record, arrange and structure a composition from its early stages to the finished product. Compositions can be printed out and taken home.

It is recommended that pupils practice for approximately 15 minutes per day when they first start to have lessons. You should not consider giving lessons to your child unless this practice time can be found. I know children are busy these days with after school activities, homework, TV and friends but unless practice time is found your child will not benefit from taking lessons. Practice time is defined as time spent at the instrument doing what your teacher has asked you to do, not just messing around and playing chopsticks. It should be stressed to the pupil that messing around and playing chopsticks should be done after the allotted practice time and not during it.