Children / Youth

We understand it can be tricky to find the time for your child’s music classes alongside your own work schedule and family commitments. To that end, we like to make things as easy as possible, offering lessons in your home, at our Hudson Heights studio, or at PianoPiano Rehearsal Studios, 37 W. 65th Street. For ease and comfort, parents are able to sit in on lessons at our Heights studio location, or if they have another child with them we offer a space for homework to be completed at a large table in the adjourning room.

HMS recognizes the individuality of each student and tailors each lesson accordingly. Over the years, we have worked with a diverse range of children, from the earliest stages of pre-reading, all the way through to teenagers auditioning for highschool musicals and undertaking music exams.

Lessons are very much a collaboration between teacher and student as we strive together to achieve new musical and vocal heights.

What do we offer?

Pre-reading level

  • Ideal for ages 4-5, lessons focus on rhythmic clapping games, an introduction to solfège and musical terms. Together, we identify musical patterns, rhythmic motifs, and explore the connection between muscle memory and creating new pathways in the brain to facilitate dexterity and range of motion. We are always astounded at what our young learners manage to accomplish and it reinforces our belief that it is never to early to start one’s musical journey!

Beginner

  • Children are often around 6 years of age and may have started to express a desire to learn an instrument. At this stage, prior knowledge is not necessary. We will dive right into the musical alphabet and making those important connections between what is seen on the grand staff and what is played with our fingers on the piano. Together we work on coordinating the right and left hand, incorporating musical terminology and rhythm, alongside key skills such as sight-reading, music theory and introductory scale work.

Intermediate

  • Children are either a little older, or will have undertaken some music classes to date. Students will already have a basic understanding of some musical concepts and rhythmic notation. We will expand upon this knowledge by incorporating elements of pedaling, scale and chord work, sight-reading, aural training, musical phrasing and expression. Repertoire begins to increase in complexity as students deepen their understanding and develop greater coordination, strength and muscle memory.

Advanced

  • We expect that the student has played an instrument for a few years prior. Students will already have an understanding of musical notation, rhythm and will be familiar with the grand staff. At this level, we are able to really zero in on musical expression, phrasing, articulation and finding one’s own unique sound. We undertake detailed scale, arpeggio and chord work, phrasal pedaling, musical analysis of form and structure, as we challenge our students with a range of repertoire spanning a multitude of musical genres.