FAQ

Where music is a noun concerning the what, musick is a verb first used in 1987 by sociomusicologist Christopher Small; it speaks to the how. To musick encompasses more than what music we play, what music we listen to, what music we are learning; but the additional missing components that are important in the process of experiencing music. Who do we make music with? Where do we listen to music? Why do we even have music in our lives? It turns out while music is a beautiful thing to learn about and study intellectually, there are other factors including those that are environmental and social that are constantly changing which heavily influence our relationship with music. The term “musicking” has floated around in musicological, music therapy, and musical education discussions and academic research. 

I’ve noticed more and more in my teaching years that many students participate in music education, but few actually have meaningful experiences with music itself. As a result, many students have yet to have had experiences that inspire their musical direction, motivation, and curiosities. My vision is to create for students an environment conducive not only for music-learning, but for fostering a broader, well-rounded, positive environment for music-experiencing.

We do not have an Early Years program for babies and pre-school age children. Therefore, your child would benefit best from our music lessons when they are:

• curious and enthusiastic about music, 

• able to understand and follow instructions, as well as 

• able to maintain their attention for more than 10 minutes

This varies in age between students and we adjust our lesson plans to each individual’s needs. Our private lessons have plentiful learning activities to keep different students engaged throughout. 

However, if your child does not satisfy at least two of the above, we may not be well-equipped enough for their needs. You might benefit more with other ways for them to be exposed to and interact with music. 

With the cost and space considerations of acoustic pianos, and the advanced state of digital keyboard technology, it is completely understandable to consider this alternative. 

Having a quality instrument for students to practice and be continually encouraged is vital for beginners. Their main practice instrument should sound and feel good to play on, and ideally be a welcoming source of musical inspiration. Digital keyboards can be wonderful sources for musical exploration including discovering different instrument sounds, having self-recording and playback capabilities, and playing with accompaniment backing tracks. However, few digital instruments can reproduce the touch, tactile feedback, and resulting mechanical resonance of an acoustic piano. 

If a digital keyboard is the most accessible option for you, our school offers all actively enrolled students *free* drop-in practice times throughout the duration of their registered term(s) for self-directed practice on our grand piano. 

We are a small local business and this keeps our operating costs lower by eliminating transaction fees from payment provider services. By doing this we prioritize received fees and tuition to cover and focus on the most important things - our students’ music education experience!

We request parental observation at lessons for students under the age of 10, particularly for beginners. We touch on this in more detail in the next FAQ.

This is a huge question. Practicing will undoubtedly play a large role in the rate of learning and progress in your child’s musical journey. The answer to this question is highly dependent on your goals and purpose behind music lessons. What are you practicing for? Is there an upcoming performance date you wish to be prepared for? Are you wanting to simply learn as much as you can as fast as you can? If so, what’s the rush? And is it worth 60 minutes of conflict and/or practicing with begrudgement if the cost is decreased interest, musical curiosity, and lifelong enjoyment? 

We encourage you to practice as much as it fits your busy schedules, but more importantly we encourage you to focus on the quality rather than the quantity of practice. A twenty-minute focussed, strategic, and intentional musical practice session is far better than a mindless hour of pressing keys. Conversely, taking a break and hearing a friend’s new favourite song might spark a new drive to play more music. We highly recommend giving students the space for independent musical exploration; these moments help students solidify the role music plays in their life, not just yours. Additionally, practicing with poor habits can reinforce habits that are difficult to undo, requiring more time to re-learn. 

Try to aim instead for more frequent, shorter, thoughtful, goal-oriented sessions.
E.g. 10 minutes everyday vs. 60 minutes right before your lesson.

Practicing can be a lonely activity. If your child is not yet grasping regular independent practice, they might need help from you, be it going through lesson notes together, or even if it’s sitting down beside them for moral support. This is why we request parental observation at lessons for students under the age of 10. A habit cannot be developed if it has not yet been established in the first place, and you might be the key to whether or not this habit is formed.

If you feel getting your child to practice is a chore, or if they seem to resent practice time, we encourage you to explore the source of these feelings. Part of learning a new instrument (or any skill!) includes many many repetitions of failure, which can be frustrating and discouraging experiences. Let’s reframe these experiences with their reality: that meaningful failures are crucial stepping stones towards anything that initially seems infeasible. 

At our school, we make use of a Practice Journal and encourage students to engage with this as much as possible. Quality practice can happen even away from the instrument! The more intentional practice you can fit in your schedules, the sooner you will reach your goals. The more meaningful and valuable music becomes to your child, the more they may play. 

But maybe it’s simply the environment. Perhaps it’s too tempting to join siblings riding their bikes on the driveway instead of practicing. Sometimes leaving the comfort of home helps us dedicate time towards more focused practice. Maybe coming by for a (free) Drop-In practice session is your answer!

You may hear the term “RCM” in piano and music education discussions. It is short for the Royal Conservatory of Music, a music institution founded in 1886 in Toronto, Ontario. It is perhaps now most known for its certificate program, having standardized a learning syllabus that works in conjunction with their examinations. Levels in piano start from Prep A, Prep B, to Grade 1 through 10, before a range of diploma certifications. Requirements for these certifications touch on technique, musicianship, ear tests, sight reading, theory, and playing a select range of repertoire. RCM is a popular standard in North America particularly amongst those dedicated to Western Classical music. Their comprehensive piano syllabus is updated every 7 years and freely available online as a pdf for reference. Please keep in mind these grades are not correlated with public education grades. A 12-13 year old enrolled in Grade 7 school is not expected to be learning RCM Grade 7 material. Additionally, the increased difficulty between RCM levels are not equal. E.g. The changes in difficulty from Grade 1 to Grade 2 are smaller than from Grade 9 to Grade 10.

It is common for students to have musical skills develop at different rates, with different amounts of focus, time, and practice. For example, your child may have an incredible ear who would succeed in higher level ear tests than their ability to sight read the same “level” difficulty of sheet music. Standardized testing is a good tool for comparing students’ abilities across groups. It helps parents and educators make quicker quantitative comparisons across classrooms of students by seeing that Student A is able to play RCM Grade 3 repertoire and practices RCM Grade 3 technical exercises; and Student B is playing RCM Grade 4 repertoire and RCM Grade 2 technique. Whilst this is a great short hand, we encourage you to look beyond an institution’s syllabus and see instead the qualitative immeasurables of your child. What of all the things RCM overlooks or simply cannot quantitatively evaluate? Does she run to the piano? Does he push himself to problem-solve a tricky section? Do they write lyrics and songs for the stories they create? Did they form a band with their friends? Are they excellent listeners? Does music add meaning to their life and the lives of those around them? 

When considering your desires to “level up” your child’s piano skills, it’s important to know what personal goals those feelings stem from. Is it for your child to be a music academic? A music historian? A performing musician? Or perhaps “simply” musically enriched. 

I have prepared students for music exams from RCM Prep A to ARCT in roles of both the piano teacher and as the piano tutor/practice coach. This decade-plus of experience lends me the conclusion that they are not for all learners. That being said, music exams remain good tools that aid in goal-setting, require an intense focus, and provide strong exam-structured direction. Should this be in the interest of both the parent and child, I will happily consider and discuss what taking a music exam might look like for us.

Music competitions, while similarly involving performance and assessment, do not have the targeted skill testing seen in music exams. It offers one type of performance opportunity and the setting to meet other learners at the same age and music level category. I highly recommend parents and students to attend and watch a music competition before participating in one. It will help you understand what to expect and whether or not it suits your musical goals. 

Please feel free to read more about this in the Learning Outcomes section of Our Vision and director’s note! 

At our school, we use a Quest Card, something not dissimilar to a school report card, except rather than grading against a standardized curriculum, we use it to track students’ growth and individualized goals set together at the start of each term/year. For those learning without exams and competitions, it can be difficult to see the progress you’ve made, especially when learning abstract elements that simply take time to grasp. To combat this, we’ve gamified this process to make progress-tracking fun and quantifiable! Additionally, there may be skills you never knew existed! We aim to help students become well-rounded capable musicians, and for that learning experience to be engaging and meaningful. Looking back at a Quest Card, you may be surprised how much you’ve learnt and grown by the end of the term! 

This design is a nod to the history of the land on which our school resides. 

137 is the regiment number of the Calgary battalion in the First World War. This number along with 113 (Lethbridge), 51 (Edmonton), and 151 (Central Alberta) can be seen on the side of Signal Hill overlooking the Tsuutʼina (Sarcee) Nation. This land, a Sarcee Indian Reserve, was leased in 1914 to the Canadian Forces to train soldiers for WWI. 

The 16,000 painted stones that make up this geoglyph were once carried from the Elbow River as a training exercise by Canadian soldiers. The river stones would later to be found by a historian and given official historical status as what is now Signal Hill’s Battalion Park. 

Signal Hill School of Music is so privileged to make music on these lands. Nestled in its mountain views and vibrant communities, we aim to serve the people who call this and its surrounding neighbourhoods: home. 

(Did you know? 137 also musically represents a group of notes (the first/root, third, and seventh) heard in simple jazz chords called shell voicings!)