Stephanie Brune Music Studio

Of course, I have to say piano! However, I understand the desire of many families to start on keyboards, for their ease of movement, (sometimes) lower cost, and no need to be tuned. If you are going to start piano on a keyboard, make sure it is 1.) Touch -volume sensitive 2.) Has at least one pedal 3.) Has 88 keys.

Do not delude yourself, however. As wonderful as modern keyboards are—and they have come very far in the last few decades!—They are still no substitute for the range of sensitivity and tonal color that one can elicit from even a lower-quality piano.

The answer to this question really depends on the child. I have been successful with students as young as 3.5. If your child can focus for at least 15 minutes at a time, shows interest in learning an instrument, knows their letters and numbers, and can track a series of letters (not words…just letters) across a page, they are generally ready to begin studying music.

Certainly! Adult students have been some of my favorite to teach—they have a much quicker intellectual understanding the concepts of music (or are revisiting them from their youth), and also tend to be much more driven and dedicated.

This question again really depends so much on the student, and the level of music that they are studying. A good general rule of thumb is that a student should practice at least 2/3 of their lesson time, 5 days a week. So, for a 30 minute lesson, 20 minutes is a good goal. For the very beginners who haven’t developed a good amount of review repertoire, I usually tell them to practice everything really well/perfecrtly around 3-5 times. (i.e. if many mistakes were made, that doesn’t count as one of the times.)

Study after study shows that learning classical music improves cognitive ability, helps children perform better in other academic subjects, and reduces stress. In addition to those fabulous benefits, it is a skill that can be enjoyed for one’s entire life—a gymnast, boxer, or football player will eventually have to retire, but a musician just gets better and better with age!

Yes! I encourage just about every one of my students to study music theory. Knowing how the system of music works helps in almost every aspect of playing, from memorizing, to phrasing, to a general understanding of structure. Of course, the theory is simpler when the student is younger, and gets more complex the more the student advances.