We specialize in Individualized music lessons and giving our students the edge of Perfect Absolute Pitch and Whole-brain learning in full color. Each student is unique, and each student can learn music quickly and easily if taught according to how they learn by a teacher who is a good match for them. The match is everything. There is no way one teacher can teach all students because they are simply not all the same. Some will succeed, some will fail, all depending on how closely they match the teacher's personality type.
Preschool Ages: 2 years - 6 years
The younger the child is, the more sensitive they will be to a difference between the teacher's personality type and their own. This is why it is so important to find out who the child is first, and match them with the right teacher. The preschool lesson is the most difficult one to teach, because the child must continue loving the experience, even when he/she doesn't really understand why they are there.
The only reason for a child to be in structured lessons before age 5, is to develop the ability to hear "in color", also known as "Absolute Pitch" or "Perfect Pitch". Music lessons at this age actually change the structure, processes, and organization of the brain. Children who learn at this age won't remember learning to read music, they will just look at the music and hear it. They won't remember learning the sound of which note is which, they will just know the vibration difference between them when they hear them. They will begin to play any song they hear, and figure out any instrument they pick up. They are the natural musicians who just play anything. This is because of changes that happen in the brain as an infant and pre-schooler that increase IQ, and spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning affects language learning as well as math aptitudes.
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Increased brain plasticity (the ability to form new connections in the brain) allows very young children to learn to identify the sound and name of each note much like they learn to name colors. This skill, called "Absolute or Perfect Pitch", is a permanent and powerful addition to the mind of a child that is already musical.
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It is our greatest responsibility to match the student correctly with a teacher. It is also critical that the parent be relaxed, easygoing, and gentle with a child in this age range. Any observed or perceived resistance or pushing from parents or the teacher will result in the child losing motivation, and we will recommend that the lessons will be stopped until the child is older. Our prime focus is to make sure the child loves coming to music every week. Children this age do very well with a nightly "family music time", where everyone in the family plays for the others for 2-3 min. Please see "Bonnie's Tips" on how to get your child to LOVE playing!
Elementary Ages 7 Years - 12 Years
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The elementary ages are when everything comes together for a lesson that is based on a great relationship with a perfectly matched teacher who understands how to connect with the student from day one. We hire teachers that really care about building a supportive relationships in their lives, and who will naturally connect with each student... for us, teacher/student personality type matching is more important than anything else we do.
Our methods including SensAPitch, our multi-sensory perfect pitch method, are written and chosen specifically for their ability to be customized for each child's personality type.
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We can suggest which instruments are best for each personality type, if they haven't decided yet, and start all lessons with SensAPitch first, to engage the associative processor/"right brain". This allows the child to get into experiencing joy and flow before they are tasked with more sequential "left-brain" tasks like sight-reading. We encourage building a fun list of memorized favorite songs that the child can play at any time to reconnect with the joy of learning music. Students this age start moving through music more quickly, and we focus on a balanced curriculum of theory, technique, performance, and artistry. The songs and pieces will be chosen based on the tastes of each student, with lots of choice, improvisation, and creative composition thrown in!
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With each new song and concept learned, students gain confidence and momentum. At this age, music education increases spacial reasoning abilities 34%*, which are used in both math and language processing. It isn't an accident that the smartest and brightest kids in every elementary school class are the students who take music lessons at teVelde. Music is not for students to "try". At this age all students can be successful at learning, if they have the right teacher, the right instrument, and the right support at home.
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*University of Irvine Study: Gordon L. Shaw, Principle Investigator. EEG coherence study of the positive effect of music on spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurol. Res. 1997; 19: 107-116.
Teenage Years 12 Years - 18 Years
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By the time a music student is in their teen years, the brain is learning at a very high level, hand/eye coordination is amazing, and students are able to understand concepts of advanced reasoning. They are learning advanced math and physics, as well as advanced & multiple languages. We sometimes find that students of this age can lose momentum if the lessons don't have a "social credit" component to them. Playing songs that are popular, or music that they identify with, is really important to keep younger teens engaged in the learning process.
At this age, students need to have a "Point of Emerging Competence" that gives them self-esteem and confidence while really utilizing their superior brain processing power. For many of our students, they find that they are really good at music because they started so young, and that they can play really complex pieces that not many others can play. What an amazing thing it is to see a young person figure out that they are REALLY GOOD at something complex, challenging, and FUN!
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Our teachers are experts at engaging teens where they are, and finding music that bring the joy of music to the forefront of the lesson. For students who are advanced, we help them set goals for college and scholarship programs, and prepare them for competitions like the Paderewski Competition. We have adjudication and awards, including certificates, medals, trophies, and plaques for them to earn so that they can be listed on scholarship and college applications. We can prepare a student for Julliard or for Berkeley, or for USC or UCLA film schools.
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We give our teen students the opportunity to tutor first, and to learn to teach when they turn 15. After a year of training, we are honored to give them their first job as an apprentice teacher. When teens realize that all of their lessons over the years have uniquely prepared them to teach, they get a whole new perspective on the knowledge they have learned. As they teach, they solidify their theory and technical skills. Our goal is to keep our students completely engaged through these years, so they can continue to enjoy music as a form of personal expression, and apply for music scholarship money that will help them with college tuition.
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Some students prefer to use the language of music to express themselves through songwriting and recording. We have summer camps that focus on preparing advanced solos, composing music, and singing Pentatonix. For students who want to focus on writing music, we teach them how to use digital technology to create new music, and help them get their music published. Some of our students are discovered at this age, and others go on to college music, theater, and higher education programs.
Adults 18 Years - Mature Ages
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If you are an adult, chances are you have experienced some memory loss as you age. Not only is learning a musical instrument the number one way to increase your IQ, it is supremely satisfying to play music you never thought was possible for you!!!
Even if you didn't take lessons as a child, you can become an accomplished musician much more quickly than you can imagine. We have had many adults who decide, later in life, to take the music lessons they had always wanted to take as a child. You can already type and read books... all skills that translate directly to playing an instrument. If you have a high IQ, and are a successful person, there is no reason why you can't learn to play an instrument like piano very quickly. How quickly? In the last 20 years, we have had at least 50+ adults that have learned to play piano so quickly, they are playing songs like Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata within ONE YEAR! That may seem impossible, but it isn't. We watch people like you stun us with their progress every single week.
We have had several senior adult students (aged 65 and older) who, after playing for two hours per week in lessons for a year, go on stage for the first time to perform for friends and colleagues. They continue to develop into some of our best local songwriters, band members, and musicians in the SLO community. You may not necessarily want to perform, and that's okay too. We will sit down with you and help you figure out what your musical dream is, and how to get there as fast as possible. If you want to learn to read music for your instrument, we can make it happen for you. If you want to play or sing jazz improvisation by ear, we can make that happen for you, too. Some want to play pop music, while others want to learn classical pieces by the great composers of old. Others want to learn to play or sing their favorite church hymns. Still others have a dream of rocking out with a band!
Learning music just for the sake of fulfilling a life-long dream is just as wonderful and satisfying. When you learn with a teacher custom-matched to your personality type and learning style, you will learn much faster than you ever thought possible, and you will be motivated to play continually. When you are encouraged to play the music you love while you are getting to your ultimate goal song(s), it becomes almost addicting. And... there's the added benefit of music being the best thing to keep the brain healthy, preventing dementia, Alzheimer's, memory loss, and other cognitive disorders.
Adults learn differently from children, however, and this can be a problem if the teacher is not familiar with those differences. Where a child learns to read music slowly, an adult learns to read more quickly. Where a child memorizes songs easily, an adult has trouble remembering everything on the page. Our brains learn different information at different phases of our lives, and you need a teacher who doesn't teach everyone the same. Because of these distinct differences, a teacher that teaches children does not necessarily have the training to work effectively with adults. Although adults usually learn to play complex songs much faster than children, the fluidity with which they play can be a real challenge. It is critical for the teacher to understand how the human brain transitions throughout life. Our teachers are trained to work with adults in the most effective and time saving way. We want you to get the skills you need, fast, without playing kid's music to get there
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