How do Keyboard Lessons Change as you Get More Advanced
Picture the scene: you’ve been playing the keyboard for a while now and have mastered all the basic skills and techniques. You’re confident enough to play in front of your friends. Where do you go from here? How can you and your teacher take your keyboard lessons to the next level? It’s important to make sure that as you progress in your learning, your lessons develop too so you can acquire more complex skills and become a better musician. Let’s have a look at a few of the things you can expect to change:
Your input
It is natural that as you get more skilled as a keyboard player, your teacher will welcome more of your input to your learning. This could be regarding the structure of your lessons, the genre of music you would like to start playing, or even whether you want to attempt to pass any grade examinations. It’s likely that when you started playing the keyboard, your teacher structured your lessons relatively strictly in order to teach you all the necessary basic skills you would need before you start to tackle the complexities of playing. Now you have these skills, you will be much more knowledgeable and self-aware about what you hope to achieve with your playing, and your teacher will be able to respect your decisions regarding the direction you want to head.
Extracurricular activities
Now you’re of a certain standard in your playing, you may have decided to branch out a bit and lend your keyboard skills to a band or even an orchestra. These extracurricular activities are a great idea in terms of honing your technique and putting all your practise and keyboard lessons into perspective. Playing in a band is a great way to find out what genres of music you are interested in playing and also will help you learn how to play with other musicians. If you’re playing in a band with a lead singer, for example, this will challenge you to develop your sense of rhythm and your reaction skills as you work around the singer. You can then take these newfound skills and incorporate them into your lessons.
Grades
For some students, grade examinations are the natural step when they get to a certain standard and want to show their progress with a series of certificates. Grades are a great way to prove that you’ve reached a certain standard in your playing and are pretty much mandatory if you’re considering going to Music College. This is obviously something that you should discuss with your teacher to determine whether or not you’re ready to take this next step and you can then work together to structure your lessons in a way that should achieve the best results for you.
Once you become more advanced in your playing, your lessons will become more on your terms as you shape the way you want to play and how you want to progress. It’s a great time to get involved with extracurricular activities, such as playing in a band or taking grade examinations, and you can ensure that you incorporate any new skills you learn into your keyboard lessons.
Advancing in your lessons is the natural recommendation of piano teachers whenever they feel that a student has learned all he or she has to learn from the basic lessons. Intermediate lessons are available everywhere now and more teachers are also offering one on one tutorials if the student is serious about progressing more in his or her study of this wonderfully sounding instrument. Inquire now for intermediate or advanced lessons from music schools or teachers and get started with your higher learning.