Group Piano Lessons

---

We use the innovative group piano teaching method Keynotes. It includes multiple levels of challenges for every song, meaning that there is always something challenging and fun for every student in the group. Lessons take place on Zoom.

The teacher has two cameras. One shows her face. Another is directly above the piano keyboard, for demonstration.

Set up your laptop or iPad to the side of your piano/keyboard. Show both the student’s face, and their hands at the keys.

Lessons are password protected and recorded. All teachers have a current Working With Children Certificate (WWC).

Our curriculum

is designed to ensure that all aspects of piano playing and general musicianship are fostered in a fun and inspiring way.

Workbooks based around a story or a theme make the pieces cohesive and give structure to learning about musical elements and compositions.

In our Little KeyNotes (for ages 4-5) and Principal KeyNotes Level 1 (beginners aged 6-11), all of our pieces are songs with lyrics that are based around the theme or story. Pitch notation is addressed in Levels 2 and 3.

Learning Aims

Group Piano Lesson Structure

Lessons are structured as follows: 

KeyListening At the start of each lesson we listen to music. Pupils are asked to think about various aspects, such as where might it be played, what is the mood and what character might it represent. This introduces them to a wide range of musical styles and helps them describe their elements and characteristics.

KeyConcepts. Every week students learn new concepts, such as; how to read a particular note, how to find a note on the keyboard, or which notes a particular chord contains.

KeyNotes This is the main part of the lesson, where students can apply the concepts learnt in a practical task where they perform, compose, improvise and develop their keyboard skills. We hear each pupil perform at the end of each lesson.

KeyObjectives An important part of learning is for students to know what they are supposed to have achieved and whether they have achieved it! we recognise achievement.

Curriculum Overview

Little KeyNotes Little KeyNotes workbooks are for students aged 4-6. They will have some prior knowledge of the letters of the alphabet. (i.e. they can sing the alphabet song and recognise some letters, and they know numbers 1-5.

Little KeyNotes children may start out trying to improvise and may not understand that the letters on the page are to be played on the keys that correlate to their names! We find that after only a couple of lessons they should be able to follow the music.

The learning aims of the Little KeyNotes curriculum are to:

• identify the notes of the keyboard
• clap and identify basic rhythms
• clap in time to a piece of music
• describe pictures/stories of listening extracts
• compose short motifs for a theme
• understand and using correct finger numbers

KeyNotes Foundations One

Students move onto Foundations One when they consistently meet the learning objectives for Storytellers. This may be after one Storytellers workbook or after three; each child works at their own pace.

The learning aims of the KeyNotes Foundations One curriculum are to:

• identify and read the notes of the treble clef stave
• identify time signatures
• use chords I and V to harmonise a melody
• compare extracts by identifying similarities and differences using elements such as pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm and instrumentation

Points of learning running through all levels

In addition to each level’s learning aims, there are generic points of learning that run through all levels. They have been categorised as follows: