If you do not have your own set of deskbells1 at home, then you may want to download the free app from Prodigies that you can use, to make the sounds of these deskbells.2
These deskbells are eight in total, where C is the red colour, and D is orange, E is yello, and so forth. These deskbells start from the pitch of middle C, and go up in the key of C major, to the next C above.
To download the Prodigies desk bell app on Apple iTunes see this link:-
If you would like to take online lessons for you or your child, then I would be very happy to meet with you virtually on zoom to discuss any questions you have. Book your free consultation with me via Calendly at https://calendly.com/letts/30min.
You can usually purchase the deskbells directly from the Prodigies website, however if they are out of stock, then you can always do a search on the internet. For example, you might be able to find them on Amazon <https://amzn.to/30Z9mDr> accessed 15 May 2024. ↩︎
To learn more about Prodigies and their music programme, visit their website at <https://prodigies.com/> accessed 15 May 2024. ↩︎
After a busy weekend last week at the Belper Arts Trail, I’ve now had the opportunity to get into the meeting room dubbed the therapy / music room. This is a room that is available for hire, just contact Potential Space on their facebook page to register your interest and indicate your preferred days and times.1
“Potential Space is located centrally in Belper, and offers a multi-functional space promoting the arts, sustainability and wellbeing. We have a small and larger meeting /exhibition space and opportunities for co-working. Watch this space as we develop our offering and exciting projects collaborating with other social enterprises!”
There is a larger space that comfortably holds around 20 people. Then there is the smaller meeting room that holds six people comfortably. It is the smaller meeting room that I refer to as the “therapy room / music room”. This intimate venue space is on the lower ground, just below the organics shop called Eartharmony.2
Over the last week or so, I got involved with painting the walls in the rooms of Potential Space. I have also taken the liberty of making first dibs at booking in the therapy room / music room (first come, first served!).
I will be renting out the therapy/music room for one day a week, on Thursday afternoons from 12.30pm onwards, to teach Ultimate Music Theory (UMT) classes and piano lessons.3 If you would like to take piano lessons or music theory class in Belper on other days of the week please do get in touch, as these can be arranged by appointment.
If you would like to book the therapy room / music room for yourself or your organisation, then do get in touch with Potential Space on their facebook page. Or simply stop by the Eartharmony shop when you’re in Belper, to have a word with Andy about it, who will be able to show you around the venue downstairs at Potential Space.
In addition to teaching in Belper, I also teach online, and at another location in Derby. Occasionally, I teach in Alfreton substituting for another teacher when they are on holiday or absence, on a Wednesday and Saturday.
Get in touch with me if you would like to take piano lessons or learn music theory. My teaching schedule is below. Book a zoom call with me via Calendly at https://calendly.com/letts/30min to get your free consultation.
To learn more about Ultimate Music Theory see their website at <https://shop.ultimatemusictheory.com/> accessed 13 May 2024, where you can purchase their large UMT whiteboard for use at home. Alternatively, you can purchase the UMT workbooks from Amazon at <https://bit.ly/4brSGWg> accessed 13 May 2024. ↩︎
For those wanting to take exams for piano 🎹 there are only two exams you need:-
The first is your grade five in music theory; and
The second is your grade eight in piano.
Then after that, it’s up to you to continue on to get your diplomas in piano performance, and/or a music degree.
Sitting an exam will often cause anxiety. So to help with the exam nerves, it can be helpful to sit other exams in between those above.
For example, you may want to pay the exam fee to sit the following piano grades as below 👇
* Grade 2 piano exam
* Grade 3 piano exam
Then grade 5 piano exam
* Grade 7 piano exam
Then grade 8 piano exam
Naturally, you would be working each year towards the standard required for each grade. But you wouldn’t necessarily need to pay to sit the exam every single year.
For example, we have a student who has now fulfilled the requirements to sit and pass the Initial exam. But the parents have opted out of paying to sit the initial exam. Instead the pupil is now moving on with learning the repertoire for the next exam that is grade 1 piano. With the view that once the technical exercises, aural training and sight reading is achieved at a grade 1 level, then they will move onto grade 2 piano – with a view to then sitting their first exam – at grade 2.
This way it is more cost efficient, as parents are not required to pay for exam fees every single year and also pay for the certificate.
Exams are useful for practise auditions and to get used to performing under pressure.
But exams do not need to be sat each year simply out of habit and routine.
Careful thought can be given as to whether it is actually necessary for that particular student at that time.
No doubt many people will disagree with my thoughts on this. It is very much a case of, do what is best for you. Do not feel pressured to simply follow the crowd, or do what everyone else is doing.
What is best for you, in your circumstances?
If you have questions about taking piano lessons, book a call with me now to get your free consultation at https://calendly.com/letts/30min
For my younger students, aged 3 and above, I recommend that parents purchase their own copy of WunderKeys Piano Method Books to use at home with their children. Wunderkeys is a structured programme that will build the foundational skills for the early learners to build from.
Do I need to purchase the books?
There are three books in the WunderKeys series. Each book can be purchased directly from your teacher, if you prefer not to order online. The books include both lesson activities and homework sheets. There are no other material fees involved. See the Wunderkeys website for the links to purchase the books:-
Because parents are reading through the Rhymes with their children at home and doing the activities – then this provides opportunities during class to go straight onto playing duets from WunderKeys Piano Method Books. We can then move onto other aspects of music making during class, including solfege and dogs and birds piano method.
To assist with learning how to identify the notes on the piano, and link them to reading the notes on the ledger lines – I recommend parents purchase from Dogs and Birds the Tiles and Staves bundle (which is currently on sale, as of 5th May 2024) – see the link below:-
The WunderKeys program is specifically designed to be offered as a one-on-one lesson. For many young children this is their first experience in a non-group setting.
This arrangement allows the instructor to personalize the lessons to each individual child’s needs as well as ensuring that your child is an active participant for the entire lesson duration. This individual lesson on a 1 to 1 basis, has proved to be particularly beneficial to children with special educational needs or challenges with focus and attention.
Before we sit at the piano we do warm up exercises to get the blood flowing around the body and down to the fingertips. See the link below to a playlist for the Wunderkeys finger poems. See the link to the Wunderkeys website for the lesson format:-
My little one is really active – I’m not sure they can sit for 30 minutes.
WunderKeys has been designed with the needs of early years in mind. They will not be expected to sit patiently at the piano bench for 30 minutes!
We incorporate five different activities into each lesson to ensure your child is always focused, engaged, and active – each activity is designed to reinforce concepts learned in their books.
Our priority is to ensure that your child is enjoying every single minute of their lessons!
What is the deal with the math?
WunderKeys is primarily a program designed to teach beginning piano skills. However, it is a well-known fact that music and math are closely related. As a bonus to this program, the WunderKeys books highlight this relationship and give your child a head-start on kindergarten math concepts and a positive first exposure to math. WunderKeys students learn sorting, ordering, counting, comparison, classification, and pattern recognition.
Will they play songs?
The developmental abilities of 3-5 year olds are very different than that of 6 year olds and older… for which most other piano programs are created. There are many different concepts that your preschooler will need to grasp before jumping into a “traditional” piano piece. Therefore, our preschool piano lessons are spent exploring the piano in ways in which they are capable.
All lessons are geared towards having them understand everything they will need to know before being able to read notated music. It is the perfect way to lead into a mainstream book series… and a life of musical enjoyment. WunderKeys Duets allow students to play real pieces along with their teacher, ensuring success and enjoyment.
I have no musical background at all. How can I help my child at home?
After each lesson in the book is a Home Activity Sheet that can be completed with your child during practice time at home. The books are designed to allow all parents to help with home practice, regardless of prior musical knowledge.
At this age “practicing” should be approximately 10-15 minutes every day and is spent reinforcing what was learnt in the lesson, and building finger strength and coordination. The intent is for home practice to provide you with some “bonding on the bench” time with your child, sharing in the fun of music.
You can do warm up stretches at home with your child. You can have a go at the finger poems (finger exercises) at home too, see the playlist below for videos you can watch at home.
WunderKeys lessons are 30 minutes and take place once a week, three to four times per month.
Take a look through the 2nd edition of Wunderkeys books in this video I recorded in 2017, now on my YouTube channel <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_upnGvrkMBE> accessed 6 May 2024.
Here is a video I recorded in 2017, where you get to take a sneak peak inside Book 1 for yourself. The activities in the book are designed that you can do them together with your child at home – one lesson per week.
Do I need a piano at home?
Your child will need an instrument to practice on at home. This can be an acoustic piano, a digital piano or even a keyboard. Preferably at home, but it is at your discretion if you choose to make arrangements for your child to practise the piano at some other location, ie, your neighbour’s piano, or your friend or family member’s piano, or the piano at your local church or community centre.
If you do not have a piano right now, you may want to try out the free app for the deskbells that covers the C major scale, from middle C up to the C above.
Online piano lessons are a great option if you live remotely or due to illness cannot travel to piano lessons. Also not every town has a teacher who specialises in teaching early years and taking online piano lessons means that your child does not have to miss out.
In this video that I recorded in 2017, I take you through the first activity in Lesson 1 of Book 1 of wunderkeys – where you will find out who the Wunderbies are!
In the Wunderkeys Piano for Preschoolers, the fingers on your hands are named the “Wunderbies”.
In this video we introduce you to the Wunderbies.
There are five wunderbies to match the five fingers on our hands.
If you had the puppets at home or the stickers, then you would see the following:-
* Thumbelina sits on our first finger, the thumb.
* Pointer panda sits on our second finger, the pointer.
* Middleton mouse sits on our third finger, the middle finger.
* Ringo racoon sits on our fourth finger, the ring finger.
* Pinky pig sits on our fifth finger, the pinky.
There are three steps here:-
(1) Get familiar with which wunderbie animal sits on which finger;
(2) Try to wriggle each finger at a time, while saying the name of the wunderbie animal that aligns with which finger;
(3) Play a particular finger (wunderbie) on the piano while saying the name of the wunderbie animal that aligns with each finger.
In this video that I recorded in 2017, I take you through the welcome activity in Lesson 1 of Book 1 of wunderkeys – where you follow the Wunderbies on a bus trip! In WunderKeys Piano Method Books, the fingers on your hands are named the “Wunderbies”. There are five wunderbies to match the five fingers on our hands.
Lesson 1C – Book 1 Wunderkeys
Watch lesson 1c of Book 1 Wunderkeys on my YouTube channel at <https://youtu.be/_clTrUHpBpY> accessed 6 May 2024.
Lesson 1 (C) Patterning Activity
In this video that I recorded in 2017, I take you through the last activity in Lesson 1 of Book 1 of wunderkeys – where you will search for patterns. To find out more, book a call with me now to get your free consultation: https://calendly.com/letts/30min
To celebrate International Jazz Day on 30th April 2024, I thought it fitting to share video recordings I took from a live concert in Budapest of one of my favourite jazz bands, Pankastic.
Pankastic
I was fortunate to see Pankastic perform live in Budapest for the new years after party a few months ago. Isn’t it so beautiful to see a grand piano and a double bass together!
The band plays traditional manouche-swing with a special hungarian instrument called the dulcimer. Panna Pálmai – vocal, Dániel Kardos – guitar, Vázsonyi János – saxophone, József Csurkulya – dulcimer, Pál Lombos – bass, Serei Dániel – drums.
You can follow Pankastic on their facebook and YouTube channel as below:-
Alice Letts 