About Piano lessons With Dave Long

Introduction: What’s The Point of Piano Lessons?

The main way that people learn to play musical instruments, and particularly the piano, well is through taking private piano lessons in Westchester County, NY, piano lessons in White Plains, or elsewhere.

Lessons provide an opportunity to optimize the time that you spend with your instrument.  Without proper guidance, an aspiring musician can waste time or hit road blocks that will stall their progress.

Additionally, lessons provide an opportunity to learn more about music than just how to play an instrument. Other subjects can be integrated into the lessons such as —

Studio Details

Location

I live in Cold Spring in Putnam County, New York. Putnam County is just north of Westchester County and about an hour north of Manhattan. I am currently traveling to give in-home lessons in Putnam County, Westchester (including White Plains), Beacon, Dutchess County, and areas west of the Hudson River in Orange County.

Online Lessons

In addition to in-person lessons, I’m offering virtual piano lessons by video chat. I’m comfortable using zoom, skype, google, and apple facetime.

Fees

My lesson fees are the same for in-person and online lessons:

• 30 minutes: $85

• 45 minutes: $115

• 60 minutes: $140

• 90 minutes: $210

Payment Methods

I am currently accepting payment by PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash or check.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled lesson time, or the student will be billed for the lesson. Exceptions, of course, will be made in the case of emergencies.

Trial Lesson

Each music teacher has a unique background, personality, and teaching style, and it’s important to find a good fit between teacher and student. Additionally, I believe that lessons should be tailored to each student’s specific goals and background.

Before scheduling regular lessons, we can meet for a trial session to discuss your goals and background, sketch out a plan for future lessons, or dive right into playing music. Parents are always free to observe or participate in any lessons. Trial lessons are billed at normal rates.

To schedule a free consultation or for questions, please feel free to call or email.

About My Piano Lessons

About the Piano

The piano is a wonderful and versatile instrument. It can be used in so many different ways. It can be played as a hobby, as a way to refresh the mind from work, or as a way to relax and de-stress. The piano can be used to teach the fundamentals of music, and it can be used to teach keyboard and musicianship skills to non-pianists. You could spend a lifetime studying the great works of classical piano music or studying jazz piano. Further, the piano can be a tool for composition, orchestration, and arrangement.

Playing the piano requires engaging with your emotions, mental abilities, and physical body. It requires imagination, memory, concentration, and discipline. It requires you to be fully engaged with all of the major elements of music: rhythm, melody, and harmony. The piano also has a very large range that spans over seven octaves, and it allows you to play multiple melodies at the same time.

Piano Technique

One of the primary functions of piano lessons is teaching technique. Piano technique involves using your whole body to engage the piano and produce music. You can use your fingers, hands, and arms to interact with the keyboard in many different ways. Further, the act of playing the piano often involves shifting your torso left or right, or leaning forward or backward. A pianist also needs to apply their legs and feet to the pedals in rhythm with the music.

Piano technique is difficult to learn from books. My teaching philosophy is that healthy physical movements should be taught on an ongoing basis as a student learns to play music. Whether the student is interested in learning classical pieces, jazz improvisation, or pop songs, it is important to also learn healthy and useful physical movements to bring this music out.

Musical Styles

My primary training is in classical and jazz. I can also work with students on other musical styles, such as pop, blues, or rock. If a student is new to the piano or to music, lessons can focus on the basics of keyboard skills and music theory before focusing on a particular style.

Other Areas of Study

Introduction

Students can incorporate a number of specialized areas into their lessons. Below are some examples.

Music Theory 

For students without any prior musical training, I would seek to impart a working knowledge of the basics of music theory, such as the structure of scales and chords, simple rhythmic ideas, and music notation. For more advanced students, we can go into greater depth.

Basic Musicianship

Musicianship involves skills and areas of knowledge that make you a better musician. It is separate from the technical aspects of playing a specific instrument. Musicianship can help with many tasks that a musician might engage in, such as performance, composition, and improvisation.

Ear training is one of the most important aspects of musicianship. It involves the ability to identify various musical structures by hearing them, rather than by reading notes or other written symbols. This is a skill that can be cultivated and developed. In the early stages, the student can learn to associate the sound of various musical structures with the names of these structures, such as major and minor chords and scales, musical intervals, and simple melodies. Students can also try to figure out how to play familiar melodies on the piano “by ear” (without reading the notes).

Overall musicianship can also be improved by learning about —

• various types of music and composers from different historical periods

• contemporary performers

• the basics of music notation and interpretation

• how to listen to music and follow along with a written score

Interpreting Classical Scores

In the classical setting, the main elements of interpreting written music are tempo and tempo variation, articulation, and dynamics.

• Tempo and tempo variation — Involves the rate of speed at which the music progresses. Rubato is an example of one type of tempo variation.

• Articulation — Concerns the timing of each individual note, such as whether the note continues to sound until the next note is played or if there is a space in between the notes.

• Dynamics — Relates to whether the volume of the music is soft, loud, or changing.

There are also various stylistic considerations relating to the historical period in which a piece of music was written. Music from the baroque period (approx. 1600-1750), for example, is interpreted differently from music written in the romantic period (approx. 1830-1900).

Interpreting Jazz and Pop Charts

In jazz and pop music, there are different considerations.  In most classical music, for example, the notes are chosen and written out for you by the composer. In jazz and pop music, however, music is often presented in the form of lead sheets, charts, or “fake books,” which contain a lot of room for interpretation. Lead sheets often provide just a simple melody and chord symbols. As such, many of the notes need to be chosen by the performer. The performer is expected to choose how to structure the chords and create a rhythmic feel or texture with them. The performer is often also expected to vary and embellish the basic melody.

Improvisation

Improvisation is the spontaneous process of creating new music “on the spot,” which is common in jazz and pop music solos. While it certainly involves the interpretive elements utilized in classical music — dynamics, tempo considerations, and articulation — it also involves note choice, a key element that classical music usually does not require. An improviser is asked to “make up” the notes, usually within certain guidelines. One example of improvisation is creating melodies based on a set of chord changes.

Improvisation is sometimes viewed as an advanced topic, but some forms of improvisation are not that difficult and can be taught early on. If a student is interested in learning to improvise, we can begin with simple ideas and progress from there. Alternatively, if a student already understands the fundamentals, we can move on to more advanced areas such as jazz chord voicings or incorporating various types of melodic patterns into melodic improvisation.

Advanced Musicianship

As a student progresses, more advanced musicianship topics can be introduced. Advanced musicianship skills can be particularly useful for students who are preparing for college-level music studies or for those interested in composition or improvisation.

Advanced musicianship includes topics such as —

Transposition, for example, is the ability to take a musical structure and move it into a different musical setting, such as shifting a melody into a different key. It is a skill that can be developed with practice. While transposing is often thought of as being very challenging, the difficulty level really depends on the complexity of the particular task. By beginning with simple exercises early on, more complex tasks can become easier with time.

In a broader sense, other aspects of musicianship might include other topics such as —

Cold Spring, NY

[email protected]

(516) 534-2422