Going to a music studio versus going to a private studio has some advantages. There are no distractions, and it can instill a sense of discipline. More importantly, music connects us culturally to one another. Exploring these benefits can create an overall feeling of belonging. ​

Taking music lessons can be done in a group setting when you go to a studio. You can get the best of both worlds by continuing to take private lessons but not shying away from the chance to meet other students in between sessions. This gives students the chance to learn from one another and share experiences from the different stages they are at in their musical journey.

By exchanging ideas, tips, and even frustrations, students foster that sense of community they may not get in other areas of their lives. ​

By going to a studio where there are many students, there will also be various instructors to choose from. In some fields, taking advice and perspective from more than one person can be beneficial and that's certainly the case for an artistic endeavor like music. 

This encourages different explorations of music styles and approaches. It can also explores different learning methods, such as the act of playing musical instruments and a more educational approach to music theory through musicianship and music theory classes. 

Playing music is one thing, but it’s another to understand why we create music and learn the thought process and culture behind it. ​

Larger music studio also has the capabilities to put on larger recital events for the students, more performance opportunities, and even organize life-changing tours to perform in prestigious venues while building community and making music memories with other students.

While there are several benefits to being in a professional studio, there are also some positive considerations to think about with a private in-home approach. The great thing about being in-home is you can choose to do in-person visits or even look at taking lessons online. 

When it comes to taking lessons online, it’s important that you do your research so you don’t end up buying a poor program. Reading reviews for online lessons is just as important as getting referrals for studios near you. ​

 While kids are extremely resilient and experience different teachers at school every year - some have a more difficult time with change.

Even though it's not a guarantee your private teacher won't move to a different area, decide to become a full-time parent, go back to school, or change careers - a permanent change is less likely compared to lessons in a music studio. 

So if it's important to you to prevent your child from experiencing change, this is an important distinction to note. 

In 2008, Yamaha released the CLP-S308PE which offered musicians direct access to the Internet. This was a revolutionary development because it cut out the middleman – the computer. In 2009, Roland released the V-Piano, an innovative digital piano that can be tuned and adjusted just like an acoustic piano. Two years later, the company released the V-Piano Grand, its flagship model for the digital piano products. The V-Piano Grand was an improvement over the V-Piano in sound quality and richness, and it gave musicians greater freedom of expression with improved touch keys.

In 2011, the same year Roland rolled out the V-Piano Grand, musicians could finally connect their digital pianos to their iPads with a USB MIDI adapter. This unlocked an entirely new set of opportunities, including a better interface. In 2012, Roland rolled out its newest technological advancement: Roland Wireless Connect, a network that allowed digital pianos to connect with iPhones through Wi-Fi. That same year, Yamaha released the Clavinova CVP-605, which wirelessly connects to musicians’ iPads, eliminating the need for a USB MIDI adapter.

Earlier in 2014, Yamaha announced the release of P255, the first digital piano that has a control app. Devices equipped with iOS can extend the digital piano’s interface by allowing musicians to save their settings, customize their sound, and organize and sort song content. All users need is an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. As digital pianos continue to improve, musicians will reap the benefits of better sound quality, and especially better connectivity. These technological advancements ensure that digital pianos adapt to changing times, and they enable musicians to remain relevant, taking advantage of the latest technology.

Quality digital pianos are available in every budget, so whether you want to splurge or economize, you’re sure to find a piano to fit the bill.

Entry Level:

If you want a digital piano but can’t afford the occasionally hefty price tags, the Yamaha P-35 and the Korg SP-280 are your best choices.

The Yamaha P-35 is an affordable 88-key digital piano that works well for beginners. The Graded Hammer Standard keyboard has 4 levels of touch sensitivity, so musicians can customize their dynamics. The P-35 has a maximum polyphony of 32, but it produces clear, quality sound. One of the benefits of owning the P-35 is duo mode, which splits the keyboard in half. This allows teachers and students to play in the same octave simultaneously. This keyboard only has MIDI connectivity, but musicians can connect it to their laptops or smartphones, increasing the piano’s uses.

Mid Level:

If you have some extra money to spare, consider purchasing the Casio PX-150, or the Korg LP-380, both mid level pianos that offer great quality without breaking the bank.

The Casio PX-150 offers musicians 88 medium weighted keys that use Scaled Hammer Action. With three levels of touch sensitivity and a polyphony of 128, users can easily customize their playing. The piano has USB and MIDI connectivity, so musicians can store files on a flash drive and transfer them to a computer. However, the Casio PX-150 can also be directly connected to computers, iPhones, and iPads. One of the advantages of the PX-150 is its Ebony and Ivory Feel Keys. Some digital pianos have keys that feel like plastic, but the Casio PX-150 has keys that closely imitate natural ivory. Additionally, the PX-150 has excellent sound quality with an impressive polyphony for its price range.

High End:

If you want premier sound quality and superior touch imitations, you’re in the right price range. The Yamaha P-255 and the Casio PX-850 are the best high-end digital pianos available.

The Yamaha P-255 has the first-of-its-kind Controller App for iOS. Musicians can now customize the piano’s settings and sounds and save them for later, all with their iPhones or iPads. The 88 keys are made from Synthetic Ivory, providing users with a similar touch experience that they would get from a grand piano. Furthermore, the Graded Hammer Keyboard and four levels of touch sensitivity enhance this experience. The P-255 has the maximum number of polyphony at 256, providing a virtually limitless arrangement of sounds. One of the money-saving benefits of the P-255 is it doesn’t require external amplification. However, the most advantageous aspect of this piano is musicians don’t have to remember their settings because they can save them to their iPhones or iPads. Furthermore, the P-255 offers an unprecedented two ways to record audio.

As far as sound quality goes, the Casio PX-850 blows other digital pianos out of the water. It has unsurpassable sound quality, thanks to its Acoustic and Intelligent Resonator (AiR) system. The AiR system uses over three times the memory than previous models in Casio’s Privia line. The PX-850 has seamless dynamics and some of the cleanest sounds ever produced by a digital piano. It has 88 Scaled Hammer Action keys and three levels of touch sensitivity. Not surprisingly, it has a maximum polyphony of 256, and the keyboard can be split, enabling two users to play in the same octave simultaneously. The PX-850 has both USB and MIDI connectivity. The benefit to purchasing this digital piano is the exceptional sound quality; other digital pianos are hard pressed to match the quality produced by the PX-850.

I have this running to-do list on my iPhone and at the veeeery bottom of it..

MAKE ASSIGNMENT SHEET.

(It's been there for awhile....)

Now it's done. I got tired of drawing weekly practice boxes now that we award points for practice in our new incentive program for piano students.   

The first assignment sheet I made contained typical items like "Assignments", "Practice time", and "Questions/Notes for Teacher". I don't remember what sparked this but I went through and changed everything to start with "I" because I wanted the students to take ownership of their assignments & accomplishments. 

Plus, I just think it's more fun & personable for students to fill this out than...."Assignments". 

Also notice the word "work" in the assignment sheet ;). It ain't all rainbows and ponies honey. There's a reason for everything on this assignment sheet!

So what are all the different parts of the assignment sheet and the thinking that went behind all of it?

This circle is where I grade the lesson and the student's progress. Instead of a letter grade or a number I put down "+" for improving and "-" for no progress or getting worse. (No progress and getting worse equal the same thing in my book--stagnation of death!)

I forget which educational paper I read gave me this idea for grading on progress rather than product. If I remember correctly there's a school somewhere that eschews letter grades for something similar to what I'm doing. If any other teacher know what I'm talking about please chime in!

This is also a good opportunity for me to ask the kids how they think they did and for them to practice evaluating themselves--an important skill in mastering any skill. 

The placement of the circle helps students flip through their assignment sheets and quickly get an idea of how they're doing (maybe I should make the pluses green and minuses red). I'm also hoping after a few pluses in a row, Jerry Seinfield's "don't break the chain" effect kicks in.

This is where the students talk to me! They write any questions or observations they made over the week here. Again, this goes back to taking ownership of their practice sessions and progress. 

Last week, I had a 6 year old little boy write "I'm frustrated with my left hand" in the box. So we started the lesson talking about how our left hand gets less practice because we don't brush our teeth/eat/write etc. with it. But playing piano requires our two hands to work equally well. 

We then proceeded to pretend brushing our teeth with both hands at the same time. Great start to our lesson ;)

This area is the whole reason I finally finished designing this assignment sheet. For our new point system, students get a point for practicing at least 5 days a week. This is mainly for all the younger kids to develop a habit of practicing consistently. 

Kind of like brushing your teeth! 

Practice is like personal hygiene to music students, if you don't do it you start stinking--and becoming offensive to those around you (mainly me, the teacher). 

Once they develop the habit of consistent practice and having a schedule, then we start working on more goal-oriented practice sessions. 

I wrote about the important role parents play in piano lessons and different ways you can show support in a previous post. This is one small way to get involved. If your kid practiced more than usual that week/practiced without being reminded, this is a good time to praise their work & dedication.

On the other hand if they dropped the ball on practice this week, this is a good time to spank them. I always recommend parents to get the spanking done before arriving at my studio.

Pianists are notorious for never feeling like we're ready, always having something to pick at in our pieces, and getting down on mistakes. 

Fantastic trait in the practice room but horrible with a performance coming up or worse,  during a performance. 

We get plenty of practice picking out mistakes, this is a chance for the kids to practice finding something good they did and build positive self-talk that'll come in handy in performances. 

Like what Dr. Noa Kageyama said, "Because in the practice room...it’s less about whether we are perfect or imperfect. It’s more about making sure we’re growing and learning from day to day."

The last two questions on the assignment sheet help the kids wrap up their progress for the week on a positive note (pun intended). 

It's also fun for me to get feedback and see which pieces different kids like; helps me when I pick out repertoire for them in the future :)

Teachers! Got any assignment sheets you love? Share what you like about it! If you'd like to use this assignment sheet for your students, just ask! :)

Also, if you found this information come join us and like our studio's facebook page!

To go with the points, we bought a bunch of prizes (and lugged them back from Taiwan) to be redeemed with various number of points. 

(I'll spare you the details of how we came up with what each prize costs--if you really wanna know, ask me in the comments)

We bought THIS for all the students. No more dropping books & missing covers! And it looks nice, if I do say so myself. 

And yes, we're giving them to all the kids for free :)

We're about a month into the private piano group lessons now and the kids are loving it! 

Knowing how much I love earning miles and cashback on my credit cards (it's like getting 2% off on everything!), I've been toying with the idea of accepting credit cards for tuition payments. 

And now I am! While it does mean I get less of the tuition, I think it's a small price to pay for the convenience and the benefits for the parents in my studio. 

(And thank you Amazon for undercutting all your competitors on fees!)

This was probably the best and coolest thing we did over the summer. 

Summer lessons were given as a gift and tuition was completely voluntary. At the end, whatever we raised from the donated tuition amount we gave 50% of it to the Academy of Music for the Blind. 

I was extremely thrilled with the Summer Giving results we achieved and I hope to do something similar again next summer!

There is one more thing we just implemented into the studio this past Monday, but I'm saving it for the next blog post because this one's getting long and 5's a good number to end with ;)

Also, I wanted to explain everything that went into creating it!

Got something cool you do with your studio? Hop in the comments and share with us!