AP means?

Over all, students at my school in their first year of piano can do the following. If your child is :

Age 3: perform simple tunes like Mary Had a Little Lamb with right hand first and then left hand, Play with both hands in the second month of learning, read music, write their own songs, C scale and G scale and chords.

Age 4: Can play with both hand after 4 lessons, perform piano with harmony and incorporate basic music theory. Many scales and chords and arpeggios and application of them. Symbolic song: Ode to Joy. At least half of the student body can start to learn Fur Elise from the original score. Learn to read more notes. Chromatic Scales. Rhythm.

Age 5: Perform piano with understanding of composition, Play in different register of the piano, Scales, Chords, Arpeggios, Symbolic songs: Fur Elise as written, Bach Minutes, Beginning Sonatinas and Sonatas.

Age 6 and older: All of above. Play with both hands after 2 lessons. Scales in the first month. Students can learn over 10 songs in their first 2 months.

Piano Lessons

All Will Learn To Read, Write, & Play the Piano in the First 3 Lessons.

The progress of AP students can be understood more by shedding light on how most children in Manhattan are doing. Here are the findings of my research:

Most children quit piano after 6 months to 3 years.

I have not yet found any 3 year old who can learn piano, never mind learning it well and with great aspiration.

Only a handful of 6 year old enjoy the repetition of piano learning. Most kids find it boring. It kills their creativity.

Most older kids I have interviewed who had taken piano for over 3 years had extremely slow progress. Example:

Victor, after 6 years of piano, at age 11 has just finished Level 2 of the book Faber's piano adventure. He was just starting level 3. (Note- ALL of my AP students who started at age 3 can start the Level 2 book of Alfred at age 4.)

I have met a few intelligent and musical teenage students who had taken piano for about 10 years. Even though playing at a high level, they still lack an overall spirit for learning music at the piano and did not attend to the intricacy of pianistic skill. All they have learned was play the notes as written.

AP is Accelerated Piano for ALL children of various level and talent.

In plain language, it means a student will still progress greatly with or without any practice. If your child is like most Manhattan children with a busy schedule, they will still improve much at the piano. Their curiosity for learning the instrument will remain intact. Repetition isn't boring to them.

Accelerated Piano also means, with just a little bit of practice, students will demonstrate great ability at the piano. Usually one year of piano will cover 3+ years of work from other teachers.

With regular practice, even a 3 year old can outperform the work of a 7 year old. Of course, my 7 year old in his first year of piano will then perform the work of an 11 year old's level.