Piano Lessons
The Hit Music Studio
West Davie - Pembroke Pines
Piano lessons done differently
If you are looking for quality and affordable piano lessons in South Broward County, Florida The Hit Music Studio is one of the best choices in the market. With over 12 years of experience in the music education business, The Hit is a unique music school with an emphasis on teaching students current popular songs while improving their self-esteem. We offer both group piano lessons (5 students maximum, 45 minutes per class) or private piano lessons (30 minutes.) We have two locations one located at 11340 West Davie Road in the same plaza as I-Fly and Lowes just minutes away from the Weston Town Center.
Our second location is very close to Costco in Pembroke Pines at 17035 Pines Blvd
In addition to piano, we offer group lessons in guitar and voice and private lessons in ukulele and drums.
We create our own custom weekly piano tutorials!
We are called The Hit because we believe that most students take music lessons to learn their favorite songs! Check out a sample of one of our latest tutorials from our Youtube Channel.
Click here to visit our Youtube Channel
Meet One of Our Piano Students
We love to showcase the talent and hard work of our students so our potential customers can hear directly from them. In this video, Athena, one of our nine-year-old piano and ukulele students from Weston, shares how much she is enjoying her time at The Hit Music Studio.
What age can my child start piano lessons?
Our private piano lessons start at five years old. We have found this to be the minimum age to make our students have a pleasant and productive experience in the process of learning how to play piano. Our group lessons begin at age six. We also offer adult private piano lessons, as students can begin learning at any age. In both group and private, our instructors ensure the experience meets the individual student's age and ability.
Check the video below to meet five year old Valentina and see how we modify our lessons to fit our youngest piano students.
So what is the best age to start piano lessons?
That is a great question and is one that we usually answer at our studios weekly or even daily.
Let's start with a simple answer: first grade or seven years old is a great age to get started on piano lessons!
So how can you decide if your child is ready for piano lessons, especially if they are younger than 7?
Of course, all students have unique abilities, so here are a few guidelines that might give you a better idea of what to look for in your child to decide if they are ready for lessons.
At what age should my child begin piano lessons?
At The Hit, the minimum age for our private piano lessons is normally five years old.
The piano is a very visual instrument with a fairly straight-forward approach to sound production. The beginning of piano playing usually requires our hands to be steady, which allows us to concentrate our attention on the basic motion of pressing one key at a time.
Students younger than first grade age tend to have a harder time keeping their hands in one position, making the learning process for piano significantly slower. This is a vital skill, especially for the beginning stages of learning how to play the piano. Check if your child can keep their hands in one position for multiple minutes at a time by labeling their piano and asking them to match the fingers for each key. We have a video on our YouTube channel that describes this process. Click here to watch the video!
Another important consideration is that younger students, especially in kindergarten, are used to shorter time spans (10 to 15 minutes maximum) for an activity, potentially making most of our lessons feel overwhelming.
Since our private lessons are a minimum of 30 minutes in length, an added benefit to waiting until the child is between the ages of six to seven is that they will already be familiar with a class time length and a structured type of learning similar to our piano lessons. The experiences they have received in kindergarten and first grade will give them the necessary skills to help them learn to play piano productively in this setting.
But wait! My child is four or just turned five and loves music. Can they start then?
Yes! We believe that all children are different, and for us at The Hit, we truly care about making the process of learning an instrument enjoyable regardless of age.
While some students can be successful at taking piano lessons as early as four years old, they tend to be the exception. To help parents make the best decision for their child, we like to offer our clients a free trial lesson, especially for students younger than six. This introductory class allows us to meet the child and do some specific tests to check their ability to keep up with the material covered in our level books.
But I have two kids, and I don't want to leave my youngest child without lessons!
Yes, we hear this a lot and totally understand it but keep this in mind!
Younger students will likely take two to three times longer to cover the same material as their older siblings, which can sometimes make them feel inadequate. While we are always excited to help multiple members in the same family develop their love for music, we do believe expectations need to be managed to make the experience of learning piano pleasant, especially for the younger child. Ultimately, every child will differ and it is important to keep that in mind! At The Hit Music Studio, we strive to reach every student where they are in their learning process and want to make it a great experience for all.
At any age, piano lessons can be a productive experience. Regardless of your child being four, five, or six years old, we believe that with the guidance of our professional instructors, your student will have a productive and healthy beginning to their musical journey!
Give us a call today to get started!
What type of piano do you need for a beginner?
61 keys? 88 weighted action? Touch-sensitive?
Being in the market for a piano for a beginner can extremely confusing and intimidating. We get it! You don't want to overspend on your first purchase, but at the same time, you don't want to get an instrument that will break or need to be replaced in just a couple of months.
In this article, we share our best tips for finding a great piano that suits your needs.
Do you need 88 keys on a piano?
If your child is younger than 12, they do not need a full-size 88-key piano.
Acoustic pianos (those that do not have a power button) and keyboards with 88 keys tend to be too big, especially for students younger than 7. Sometimes acoustic pianos or digital pianos can make young students develop bad technique habits as they need to use their arms to produce a loud enough sound. (more on how to fix this later)
The "standard" size that we recommend is 61 keys. A standard-sized keyboard easily covers most of the music we teach during the first years of piano lessons at our South Florida music schools.
Is it fun to have 76 or 88 keys? Yes, but having 61 keys did not stop J.S Bach from becoming one of the top three most acclaimed composers in history, and neither should it be in the way of your child learning how to play the piano.
Is touch sensitivity a must?
Yes! Touch-sensitivity means that the piano will sound louder or softer, depending on how the keys are pressed. Inexpensive pianos, usually in the less than $100 range, tend not to have this function.
While having a keyboard capable of reacting to touch is a great feature, we recommend that you learn how to turn this feature off for young students during their first three to six months of lessons. (Most keyboards that have touch sensitivity have the option to turn it on and off, check the owner's manual.) Once a young piano player is more experienced, the touch sensitivity function will allow them to be more expressive in their playing without requiring a new instrument.
How about brands?
There are a lot of options when it comes to brands and models. We prefer Yamaha as we believe their products always score high points on the quality of their sound, durability, and price. A little known fact is that several companies, including Yamaha, sell different models to different distributors to not interfere with discounts and promotions. Check the price point and features as sometimes two different models from different stores can be almost identical, helping you decide where to purchase the instrument.
Do I need a lot of sounds?
While most salespeople will brag about the hundreds or thousands of sounds a keyboard might have, it is unlikely you will use more than a handful of them regularly. Here truly, quality is more important than quantity. We have a full workshop on this topic on our Youtube channel (link), but to summarize that class, check for a good piano, electric piano, organ, and strings sound. Those are the essentials.
Can I save money if I get a keyboard that has 49 keys or less?
Keyboards with less than 61 keys tend to be specialty instruments. Some of them are geared towards music production situations in which the musician may need to input information like a drumbeat onto a computer. Others can have that amount of keys because they are more on the "toy" side. (We haven't seen someone producing a grammy nominated record with an Elsa piano yet, but hey, maybe your daughter can the first.)
So how much money do I need to spend?
We recommend purchasing a 61 note keyboard that is priced between $150 to $300. If you prefer a piano with 88 keys, our advice would be to look for one with a price between $450 to $600 in price.
In conclusion, you do not need to break the bank to get started with piano lessons. Regardless of the instrument that you start with, keep in mind you can always upgrade later on as your child becomes more serious about music. If he/she develops an intense passion, having multiple instruments can even be a plus both in portability and features.
We would love to know what brands and models are you considering purchasing. Let us know in the comments.
I am ready for my first lesson! Can I take it now?
Yes! We believe in complementing our weekly lesson with our students by supplying them with additional content to refer to at home. These videos and resources are designed exclusively for our customers, as we have seen remarkable progress from the students that use them regularly to guide their practice.
You can visit our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/thehitmusicstudio to get an idea of the quality of our online resources, including our first piano lesson which you can check out in the video below. Let's get started learning piano!
Visit our Main Website!
Check our main site for more information about the other instruments we teach like: Ukulele, Voice, Guitar and Drums.
www.TheHitMusicStudio.com