Watching professional piano players execute some of the most intricate pieces at a rapid tempo is breathtaking. One of the first things that come to mind is “How did they do that?”. All pros have years or even decades of diligent practice behind them, but even more importantly, they knew “what” they should be working on.
Unlike self-taught pianists who will eventually hit a wall, the best piano players focus on acquiring and refining a particular skill set. The eye-hand coordination is an integral piece in this set, and it’s what all piano aspirants have to master if they want to progress to more complex techniques and compositions.
We are The Music Box, Tampa’s premier piano school, and we offer comprehensive piano coaching services to kids, parents, teens, adults, and anyone wishing to prosper as a piano player. In this article, we’ll cover the most crucial skills we help our students with, so let’s start from the top.
The Basics of Eye-Hand Coordination
Whether it be playing catch, juggling, shooting darts, sewing, or playing the piano, eye-hand coordination is a skill that dictates how “good” you’ll be in any of the aforementioned activities.
This skill affects how quickly and accurately your hands can react to what the eyes can see. Eye-hand coordination is very important for pianists because they need to separate the movements of one hand from the movements of the other (what we call the “rhythm hand” and the “lead” hand).
The good news is that this skill is teachable. All individuals possess it to a certain degree, and we’re here to ensure our students can reach a higher level in a comfortable environment. Check out our Facebook page for more details.
How Does The Music Box Coach EHC to Beginner Pianists?
We firmly believe that the simplest methods yield the most predictable results. At The Music Box coaching sessions, our piano coaches explain different (often simple) piano pieces, perform them with the students, and then rinse & repeat as many times as it is necessary.
Through repetitive piano patterns and movements, we foster logical thinking in our students. They quickly catch up on what works and what doesn’t, and more importantly, our coaches are always working with each individual student on both their strongest and weakest points.
Besides playing, practicing, and teaching piano music, we also encourage our students to engage in carefree activities that improve eye-hand coordination, such as painting, playing ball-based sports, and such. Believe it or not, even video games can improve eye-hand coordination since tapping the keys on a keyboard resembles playing notes on a piano.
The Music Box Personalized Coaching Approach
Most music schools acknowledge the importance of eye-hand coordination, but sadly, most of them consider it a prerequisite for playing the piano.
We believe that everyone should be given a chance to learn how to play an instrument that they wish, which is the reason why The Music Box isn’t staffed with piano instructors – we have piano coaches instead.
Each student makes progress toward their EHC skills at a different pace. Some are dextrous enough to play a piece they’ve heard for the first time right off the bat, but some students struggle to repeat even the simplest of patterns.
That’s why our coaches work with each student individually, get to know what they’re capable of, take notes of each student’s needs, and actively work on improving their skills. Swing by our Instagram page if you want to learn more.
Our coaches stay in contact with the students even after the class ends; students that need more time to learn can always contact their coach for help.
We Cover a Variety of Genres
Traditionally, piano music is often associated with classical music. Even though that may be the case for most music schools, The Music Box also covers rock, pop, and many other music genres on piano. From Rush to Nightwish and everything in between, we’re committed to exposing our students to diverse music styles.
We believe that kids and teens who play piano music that they like are inspired to practice more, feel more confident, and usually make faster progress. Circling back to what we mentioned a second ago, practice makes perfect – by simply playing their piano, our students work on improving their eye-hand coordination as well.
We Cover Songs Our Students Want to Learn
All of our students have at least one favorite band, which is usually a group that inspired them to start learning how to play piano.
Unlike many piano music schools, The Music Box coaches what the students want to learn. We do have a set curriculum composed of topics that our piano coaches believe are a must-learn for all students, but there’s always more than enough time for learning songs our students call out.
We’ve found that this is the best way for our students to express themselves and become more comfortable in their group. By creating a healthy, encouraging environment, our piano coaches strive to make sure our students feel at home while learning at The Music Box. Check out our TikTok page if you want to see what some of our brightest piano students have learned so far.
Non-Piano Games & Puzzles Between Classes
Our piano coaches have a simple mission – to encourage all students to find clever ways to make progress. We could always lay out the solution in front of them, but when they’re the ones who realized how it’s done, the lessons they learn are learned for life.
That’s why The Music Box piano coaches tell funny stories, communicate with the students, and play non-music games with them between lessons. We want our students to develop not just improved eye-hand coordination but a range of other logic skills so that their entire arsenal of piano techniques gets improved at the same time.
Welcome to Tampa’s Premier Piano School: Enter The Music Box
The sooner you start working on your EHC skills, the quicker you’ll make progress in your piano playing. Our HQ is located at 4321 Gunn Highway in Carrollwood, Florida, so swing by or give us a call as soon as you’re ready to join The Music Box. You can also enroll online by following this link.
