'Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is never enough for music.'
– Sergei Rachmaninov
'Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.'
– Tom Lehrer
'My lessons helped to ignite an interest I thought I had lost. Give it a go!'
– T. O'Mahony
'Our son, eight years of age, thoroughly enjoys his lessons and he wants to practice! Thank you!'
– H. Williams
'I started to learn piano again here after a 20-year break, and it has been an incredibly positive experience for me. I have learnt a huge amount in these lessons and enjoy them very much.'
– S. Long
'My son's teacher has a great approach and teaching skills for all levels. Would not change her in a million years. Concerts which are held in the school are fantastic preparation for stage or exams.'
– L. Rusmanis
'I was nervous about taking up the piano as an adult, but I enjoyed it even more than I did when I took lessons as a child. I have a very good teacher who has given me the confidence to continue. It takes time, effort and practice but is well worth it.'
– S. O'Connell
Private & Partner Lessons
The New School’s piano and keyboard curriculum is intended to build not only a solid technical facility but also a broad musical knowledge. Tuition is available for students of all ages and abilities, those learning for pleasure and others preparing for grade examinations from preliminary to teaching diploma level. Lessons are also available in Jazz Piano and Piano Accordion.
Weekly private (one-to-one) lessons are 30, 45 or 60 minutes in length. Taking place in the school’s digital piano lab, group piano lessons are designed for students at the same level of proficiency who enrol together. They are available as 30-, 45- or 60-minute ‘partner’ lessons, as well as 60-minute lessons for 3 or 4 students. Single 1- or 2-hour Intensive Lessons are also available.
Go to Tuition Options for more information on private, partner and group lessons, and Enrolment & Fees for tuition fees and enrolment forms.
Group Courses for Beginners
Beginner adults can join Introducing Piano/Keyboard for Adults, which introduces students to the fundamentals of keyboard technique – as well as basic music theory, sight reading and chordal accompaniment – while progressing through a varied and interesting repertoire ranging from classical to pop. Designed for children aged 6-8, Introducing Piano/Keyboard for Children is a lively and enjoyable first experience with keyboard instruments.
Group Courses for Intermediate-Advanced Students
Taking place in the New School’s piano/keyboard lab, Jazz Piano Basics is a hands-on course designed to give classical piano students of at least intermediate level (Grade V or equivalent) a solid foundation in jazz piano. Aimed at both serious amateur and professional musicians working in any style, Performance Techniques for Musicians provides participants with an essential toolkit of proven techniques that will help you to get the most out of any audition, recital, amateur or professional performance.
Ensembles
Students of jazz piano may be interested in joining one of our Jazz Ensembles.
Theory & Music Technology
Beginning piano and keyboard students should also consider taking Music Fundamentals, designed to supplement private tuition with the basics of music theory, and piano and keyboard students at all levels are encouraged to attend separate theory classes or extend their lessons by 15 minutes to include some theory tuition. Piano/keyboard students may also be interested in our Music Technology courses.
Recommended Instruments & Payment Plans
In association with Waltons music shops, we have selected several recommended instruments for piano/ keyboard students at the New School. Because the cost of instruments shouldn’t deter students from starting lessons, we have also created payment plans for instruments priced €150 or more that allow students to purchase beginners' instruments or upgrade their existing instruments without a large financial outlay. Payment plans consist of an initial deposit and six monthly payments made by post-dated cheques or credit/Laser card payments. Go to Recommended Instruments for more information.
Piano Practice
Piano practice rooms are available for hire at the school (currently enrolled students receive a discount). Tickets worth ten hours of practice time (and valid for one calendar year) may be purchased or rooms hired by the hour. Go to Practice Facilities for more information.
The Kurzweil Piano Prize
In June 2011, a Kurzweil MarkPro ONEi Digital Piano, valued at approximately €1000, will be awarded to the most promising piano student at Waltons New School of Music. Go to Scholarships & Prizes for more information.
Faculty
Majella Boland, David Bremner, Marta Burns, Vita Galla, Christopher Hall, Stephen Hennessy, Liza Hingerty, Beata Kmak, Eva Krejcová, Elizabeth Meuleman, Gloria Mulhall, Orla Nic Reamoinn, Anne Orr (piano accordion), Ronan O'Sullivan, Johnny Taylor, Therese Ward, So-Young Yoon
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Jazz Piano
'If it has more than three chords, it's jazz.'
– Lou Reed
Although many students currently studying jazz piano at the New School already have some classical training, jazz improvisation has often been neglected in the teaching of classical piano. A common misconception is that improvisation is either something you have or you don't. Jazz piano lessons at the New School prove that it can be learned, and teach a number of surprisingly effective and easy-to-apply techniques for the composition and decoration of music.
Entry into jazz piano lessons requires only a basic knowledge of musical notation (treble and bass clefs, key and time signatures) and piano technique (around Grade 2 or equivalent). Improvising at the piano can be split into two main areas: improvising on a given theme (or within a given song) and free improvisation. Lessons generally concentrate on the first, providing students with a wide variety of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic techniques that they can use to make a song their own. Students learn:
- how to approach a melody, distinguish its main notes from its less important ones and improvise on those;
- how to move from one chord to the next by building up their harmonic vocabulary;
- how to vary a song through accent and rhythm.
In addition, many people who have taken lessons in 'classical' piano find that while they can imagine an improvised line, they can't actually play it. One aspect of the lessons is familiarising students with hand shapes and fingering patterns that help students to create their improvisations directly at the piano.
Taught by Johnny Taylor and So-Young Yoon, jazz piano lessons can be taken alone (through 30-, 45- and 60-minute private lessons) or as a supplement to regular piano lessons. Go to Enrolment and Fees.
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