Six Big Changes in Piano Education Coming
Predicting the Future is Usually Dicey but I Do See the Trends
I’ve been teaching piano now full-time since October of 1987. I began as most teachers do – traveling to my students’ homes. Later, I found space to teach at a local piano dealership. A few years ago I decided to limit my practice to adult and teen-aged students. This year I’m focusing my attention to the Internet. I give you this history to convince you that I might just be able to see “the handwriting on the wall” regarding piano education.I have some predictions, all of which I feel are part of a keyboard education revival. It will a slow but steady change and a change for the better, both for individuals and society. These changes affect YOU, the piano student, by pointing the way to your future success in learning to make music. Here are my predictions, based on the trends I actually see in the world. Happily, all these pieces of the future form a picture of more and more ordinary folks learning to play and enjoying making music.
The purpose of today’s essay is solely to present the predictions. I will take up each one separately in the coming weeks and present my observations and conclusions. Thus, you will be able to judge both the quality of my prediction and determine what, if anything, it has to do with you personally. As always, I appreciate feedback and comments, whether agreement or DISagreement , to anything I say in my essays. Dialog, even debate, is always useful when learning more about a subject.
1. Electronic instruments are the wave of the future, especially “digital pianos.”
2. Online lessons will become more and more common.
3. Keyboard education will focus on adults rather than children.
4. Pop music will be made the centerpiece of piano training, replacing the classics.
5. Creativity, instead of mindless repetition, will take center stage.
6. Reading CHORDS will become the chief skill of the good pianist.
For more advanced coverage of this topic and many others see the ebook “Dan Starr’s Big Book of Adult Piano” available here.
Tags: Adult, Adults, Center Stage, Centerpiece, Conclusions, Creativity, Digital Pianos, Disagreement, Electronic Instruments, Full Time, Handwriting On The Wall, Keyboard, Pianist, Piano Education, Piano Student, piano training, Pop Music, Predicting The Future, Repetition, Revival, Stage 6, Wave Of The Future
