Katriona’s 6 year old daughter had expressed interest in learning the piano but said she wasn’t interested in grades. Katriona was happy for her to not do grades but

she had noticed that her daughters friends had started music lessons and were taking grades and thought that her daughter might want to have the option of doing them herself at some stage. Katriona’s son had had piano lessons previously but they could only find a tutor who taught grades so she was apprehensive about searching for a new tutor.

They also didn’t have a piano and didn’t know which one to buy.

Katriona approached Key Lessons to get some advice on what kind of piano to buy and to try set up a trial lesson with a teacher who was able to teach for fun and enter for grades. Essentially Katriona wanted a fun and aspirational teacher who would inspire a 6 year old to want to have lessons (and practice in between lessons) but was flexible with their lesson plans.

Key Lessons advised Katriona to get a keyboard from a reputable online seller and as it was Christmas, it was the perfect gift from Santa! She was advised that at this stage a keyboard was the perfect instrument to see how much the child is committed to lessons before committing to an expensive and bulky piano !

Key Lessons have lots of fun and aspirational tutors who teach both for graded examination content and for fun. The Key Lessons tutor taught Katriona’s daughter a host of different fun songs , from Disney to Adele, nursery rhymes and Christmas songs . This was entwined with theory and technique so she was excited about learning but being taught everything she needed to play the piano properly.

Katriona’s daughter was very good at practicing in between lessons and so her progression was very fast .

After 8 months of lessons Katriona’s daughter asked to start entering grades of her own accord and worked to achieve her grade 1 scoring an amazing 129 (one mark off a Distinction) and now, only 1 year on, she is ready to sit her grade 2 exam . She adores her piano lessons and has mentioned that she wants to be a pianist when she grows up. She is determined to pass all her grades by 16 years old so she can study a diploma course and then apply to go to the Royal Academy of Music . She is certainly well on her way to achieving that! Such a wonderful story of achievement and just how much music can inspire !