Online Lessons
We are happy to offer our highly appreciated method of instruction online to reach right into your home and teach your child in a one on one fashion. You’ll love the convenience and accessibility of our online lessons offered six days a week. We have nine expertly trained teachers to choose from for any skill level.
If you are new to Golden Key Piano School, you can be confident in our instruction as we have been awarded six times as a Best of Berkeley music program and a top music program in the East Bay. We also offer a satisfaction guarantee for any newly enrolled student. If you are not absolutely delighted with your first lesson, then you will not pay and will not be required to continue with your lessons. Furthermore, as an enrolled student, should a virtual lesson ever go awry due to technical difficulties on our side, then that lesson will be made up at a future date.
We have been offering virtual lessons now since March 2020 and are grateful to know that our students are enjoying them very much. We recently conducted a survey of our students and their families and received comments back.
We have adapted nicely to the current environment and are keeping our students safe while helping them to continue developing their piano playing skills. We are incorporating opportunities for online performances on YouTube and keeping the students connected through our private WhatsApp group for informal performances.
Is it time for you to join Golden Key Piano School and experience a professional school and a caring community? Go to our contact form to send us a message or call us at (510) 665-5466 to learn more and register.
We often operate at capacity but are pleased to have a few openings at this time for new students. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.
To learn more about our creative method of instruction, go here.
Online Lessons
Frequently Asked Questions
Online Lessons FAQs
You can start your lessons if you have a piano or full-size keyboard, Internet access, and a device that let’s you use Zoom. A laptop, tablet, or smartphone can be used as the device.
Yes, absolutely. Our teachers know how to introduce the musical alphabet to beginning students during online lessons.
Each student will be provided a Google doc where the teacher will note the student’s weekly assignment. Additionally, you may communicate with the office by phone, email, or a Zoom appointment with the head teacher to get help with any question.
We offer a variety of informal and formal online performances for student participation. We believe that learning how to perform is a skill to be developed in tandem with mastering how to play the piano, and we provide many opportunities for the students to work on that skill.
There are different ways to receive the books you will need. Local students may schedule a curbside pickup at the Golden Key Piano School’s physical address during Covid-19. We can also mail the books that you need to you.
Some books are also available on our website for free download or to purchase online. The head teacher will guide you in selecting your books before your first lesson.
Each child is unique. While we have five-year-olds taking online lessons, some five-year-olds might not be ready for online instruction. That is something we will not know unless we give the child the opportunity to try.
If you are not sure if your child is mature enough to connect with a teacher online, you are welcome to have a trial lesson.
Usually students six years old and older can easily start their lessons online.
In Russian schools, students begin by understanding a piece’s meaning. This way, the music that students work on should have an artistic image—the meaning. That is why we do not start with mechanical exercises. Our repertoire for beginning students is a collection of inspiring folk songs as well as easy but original music of great composers. The technique of the Russian school of piano comes from Chopin’s teaching tradition. Here, the technique and the music are never separated from each other. Students improve their piano skills not based on what comes first in music theory, but based on what comes first in piano skills. They then learn the theory of music accordingly.
The main and most striking difference that one can see between our method and typical piano instruction in America is that we don’t give the student a book to go through page by page. Each student makes his or her own piano book, guided by the teacher’s subtle and indirect help. Students choose their pieces, and create a story and name for each piece. Then, with the teacher’s help, they discover the skills to perform that story. Our school’s curriculum helps us to make sure all students have the essential knowledge of theory, technique, ear training, and sight-reading skills before they move to the next level of instruction.
