Performance is crucial to the lesson experience. With most teachers and schools, students may only have one or two opportunities to perform each year. Worse yet, after they perform that piece is put in the piano bench and in a month or so becomes forgotten. Imagine going to weekly baseball practice and only getting one or two games a year. 

At Hovland, students have the opportunity to perform every few months and continue to review past performance pieces in order to have them always ready to perform at events or for family and friends. Pieces are played at multiple events and for different audiences just like any musical group or professional musician would do. 

There is no doubt that "practice" is valuable. However, it is important to look at lessons in the long term and not get hung up in the present. There are a thousand reasons why a student may not want to practice at home but it doesn't mean they don't want to play the instrument. While playing at home is important, the lack of it should not influence your decision to keep you child in lessons. Many parents and concerned about the concept of "forcing" your child to take lessons. There are countless things that we "force" our kids to do that are not considered negative such as: going to church, brushing teeth, doing homework, eating vegetables, etc. 

Students don't quit lessons - parents do. The number one reason is because we are tired of fighting with them about practice. There is an easy solution to this. Stop fighting with them about practicing. Continue to work on the habit of playing daily and have them play for family and friends whenever you get the chance. In lessons, Hovland students are learning and progressing at every lesson. There will be a point that they will catch on and enjoy playing. For some it is after the first lessons, others after 100 lessons and some it could be longer. Either way, everyone will appreciate the ability to play even if they don't like to practice.

      "I don't like to practice, never have."

              - Van Cliburn (winner of the 1958 Tchaikovsky Competition) 

Regular lesson attendance is the most important element to keep interest and progress. Most music schools have a very strict makeup policy which is usually not looking out for the best interest of the student. At Hovland we have an online scheduling system where you can mark the student absent and reschedule the lessons with any teacher at any location within 120 days. This is a unique to Hovland and something you will not find at any other school.

Visit any school or teachers website and they will say they tailor the lesson to each students individual needs and abilities. While this sounds nice, it doesn't work. Imagine your child's math teacher tailoring the daily lesson to each student's needs. They teach their subject with a plan and objective goals. Just like math, each instrument has its demands that can be quantified and communicated. Be weary of any instructor that does not have expectations or the ability to communicate what should be learned and when it should be learned.  

While each teacher to Hovland has their own personality, we are all following the same process with the same goals. In addition, there is consistent training and oversight to ensure that all students are learning. When teachers change you can rest assured that the quality of your lessons will not. 

Even after years of class in school or playing a musical instrument, it is surprising how little parents know about music compared to other subjects they studied themselves. Most parents will know something about sports because they played sports themselves. Most parents will not, for many years, realize the results of their child's lessons, and lack the ability to know of what their child is really capable of. Many parents have only their child's apparent interest or happiness to determine if lessons are going well. Although helping students enjoy themselves is a valid aspect of teaching, it is not the determining factor of the quality of your child's music education. 

We understand that most parents are not in a position of knowing how to judge the outcome of the lessons. For this reason, we approach the lesson structure in a unique way through our assignment system, which gives us the ability to track and predict exactly where a student is in the course and what they will be achieving at any given lesson. This gives one means to measure progress in order to judge how well we, and your child, are doing. This kind of accountability cannot be found in any other music teacher or school. 

"The state of music education in this country is in alarming condition.  I hope you are disturbed about this fact; in fact, I hope it makes you mad. It is time to stop wringing our hands and talking to each other about the problems. We must take our case to the general public. It behooves every musician, from international performer to the hometown piano teacher, to take a good look at music education in this country. . . Individually and together, we must seek every occasion to speak publicly on the need for rigorous, engaging, and sequential music programs in every school."

             - Karen L. Wolff, former dean of Oberlin Conservatory

Music is not a mystery that only a select few can understand or appreciate; it is an exact study that when taught correctly can be learned more or less by everyone. For example, much is said about the genius of Mozart; but in addition to his miraculous gifts, he acquired the knowledge of music from his father at the ideal age for learning. Concerning education, Mozart said of himself, "People make a mistake who think that my art has come easily to me . . . . There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over."

Children do not need to be geniuses to learn the music of Mozart or to enjoy playing what he did as a child. The music written by the young Mozart, or his father, Leopold, is just as playable by children today and should be a part of the standard repertoire for beginners. We believe all children have a natural ability to become musically trained, especially musically literate. Our programming, by itself, prevents instructors from approaching lessons in any way other than educationally in addition to stopping the misconception that talent directly affects the ability to learn. 

              "Genius without education is like silver in the mine." 

                         - Benjamin Franklin