IT'S EASY TO GET STARTED! IN STUDIO & ONLINE PIANO INSTRUCTION FROM THE CURIOUS PIANIST!
Welcoming kids and adults of all ages for in studio, online, and hybrid piano lessons in the San Francisco Bay Area serving the local communities and school districts of Saratoga, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Westmont, Campbell, West San Jose, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Cambrian Park, Santa Clara, Mountain View and for remote and online students everywhere! Traditional private instruction will be tailored to your student using with modern techniques and methods! For online or hybrid students, an immersive multi-camera approach provides engaging and fun remote lessons! Homeschoolers welcome!
Contact me for a "get acquainted" meeting/lesson! 🍎 🎹 🎶
Deborah's Piano Lessons
Private Piano Instruction with Deborah Savage
TAKE LESSONS IN PERSON, ONLINE, OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH! FOR THOSE WHO PREFER, LEARN VIRTUALLY FROM THE COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE OF YOUR OWN HOME
For non-local students in the domestic US or beyond, remote instruction is also available to accommodate your time zone!
The roses are blooming! Learn the old tune "Country Gardens" or a modern song with a flower name in the title!
🌷 🎹 HAPPY MAY! 🎹 🌷
🎵Reference🎵
There are many different ways to learn notes on the Grand Staff. Use one or a combination of techniques that works for you. Everyone's learning style is different.
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Reference Landmark Notes and counting up and down
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Intervallic "Skip" Naming
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Vintage Mnemonics
Eventually, you will recognize the notes on sight and to be able to recognize interval shapes and distances on the staff.
Practicing, reading music, and flash card type exercises will greatly speed note reading acquisition
🎵Landmark Notes🎵
These are essential notes to recognize by sight. Knowing these you can count "up" or "down" to figure out nearby notes. The treble and bass clef have special landmark notes tied to the design of the clef.
The Treble Clef is sometimes called the "G Clef" because the Treble Clef sign curls around the G above middle C line.
The Bass Clef is sometimes called the "F Clef" because the Bass Clef sign's two dots surround the F below middle C line.
These also are essential notes to recognize by sight. Knowing these you can count "up" or "down" to figure out nearby notes. The staff and piano are specially oriented around Middle C - note the symmetry on the staff for all C's - Treble C is two spaces down from the top. Bass C is two spaces up from the bottom. High C is two lines above the staff. Low C is two lines below the staff. Higher and Lower C's are indicated with special annotation.
Note that the G above middle C is on the line in the Treble Clef that the Treble Clef symbol's inner curl is surrounding. The Treble Clef is also called the "G Clef" for this reason.
Note the F below middle C is on the line between the two dots in the Bass Clef. iThe Treble Clef is also called the "F Clef" for this reason.
🎵Intervallic "Skip" Naming🎵
Use this mnemonic to reckon all notes on the staff with a single saying.
"FACEjibbidy jibbidyFACE"
F-A-C-E-G-B-D-F-A-C-E-G-B-D
🎵Vintage Mnemonics🎵
Traditional memory devices include mnemonics for naming line and space notes in the clefs. This works for some people and not for others. If you use this type of memory device, use your learning style to associate the sayings with something that works for you - pictorial associations, rhyming schemes, or your own device.
Here are some classic reminders that have been used in the past to help students remember these sayings:
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Treble Clef Space Notes: "F-A-C-E" - "Space Face" rhyme, outer space with a big round (space) helmet around a face (and the notion that one's face is "higher" than the ground and one's feet) -> Treble Clef
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Treble Clef Line Notes: "Every Good Boy Does Fine" (on the line) - rhyming and "Every Good Boy" should have a clean face - association with Treble Clef sayings
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Bass Clef Space Notes: "All Cows Eat Grass" - the grass and cows are on the ground -> lower Bass Clef notes
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Bass Clef Line Notes: "Grandma Buys Dolls for Alice" - imagine Grandma handing a doll to Alice out where the cows are eating grass and the cow attempts to nibble on the doll.