Students Composing Their Own Pieces
Another unique feature to this studio is how our students compose original musical compositions on a computer. Students from very early on (even only taking lessons a few months) can benefit from the music technology at the studio. Using Sibelius Music Notation Software, the leading music notation program available, students can enter in music that they themselves have composed (with some guidance from the teacher). Not only can they hear it played back, but they an take home a professional printout of their score or a MIDI or MP3 file to play on their home computer. This is a great way to foster creativity and musicality.
Hear an example: Fraser plays his original composition “Prayer for Rain”.
Professional Score Printouts
Another positive aspect to this is the ability for students to share their songs to be played by their peers. Our students are encouraged each year to submit their original compositions to the Piano Explorer Magazine National Composition contest. A few of our students won a spot in the magazine and had their music published nationally for millions of piano students to see.
Students are able to record their own playing digitally, the same way as in professional studios, and publish their music on digital CD and the Internet.
Songwriting
After taking lessons for a while and getting a good grasp of music theory, chords, and technical ability, students can begin to do songwriting at the studio. We help students with writing music as well as the lyrics, and the music forms that make good songs. We use multiple resources for this, including college level songwriting textbooks, online resources, rhyming dictionaries, and help train students how to record themselves to aid their music writing, whether on their own devices or at the studio, to hone their skills.