Simpedia

Karen T., Illinois

When Neil introduced the company-wide change on how to conduct the initial lesson with any individual or group, he asked for feedback along the way. I want to say that I love it!

I introduce it beforehand, as the most important of all the Simply Music lessons they will ever have, in which we will learn how to use all the materials, how a lesson works, how to move back & forth to the piano, what to do if I’m having lessons when they arrive, and so forth. I outline as many things as I can remember at the time. Then we begin.

If I forget to cover something, even something essential, I have found that it is not a huge big deal because the whole thing has already been set up to define who is in charge, who is not in charge, who knows what’s going on and what to do, and who doesn’t. They are already programmed to listen to me, so I just tell them next time we get together.

The shy ones leave feeling relieved that not much was required of them, and the eager ones leave feeling sufficiently overwhelmed by the materials, the assignments, and the “rules” to slow them down a pace. It’s fun for them, because they come in not really knowing what to expect, and this is just the greatest ice-breaker! They are not used to shared lessons, they are not used to Simply Music, or even in most cases used to piano lessons at all. And if they are used to piano lessons, they are not sure they are going to like this one any better than the other ones.

They come back next week familiar with the materials, recharged about Simply Music by Neil’s introductory session in L1, and usually more than ready with their basic skills. The anticipation of starting real music is greatly increased also, because now they are past the “I’m not sure what to expect today” phase.

In every way I really like this new approach to the first lesson.