Joyous offers the highest quality instruction by an outstanding faculty in all string instruments and piano.
Age requirement: 3-17
Open only for professional or advanced students.
Age requirement: none
Piano performance is a performing art that is both of conviction and creativity. A good performer can turn lifeless notes into touching stories. We would like to encourage our students to approach music as if they were an artist, not a student. Performance class teaches students how to communicate with the audience through music.
This course provides an introduction to the theory and analysis of tonal music. Entering students are expected to be familiar with musical fundamentals. After a brief review to establish facility and speed in naming and spelling basic tonal materials, the course introduces species counterpoint, diatonic harmony, and the composition and analysis of idiomatic musical phrases typical of the Classical styles.
Before the 20th Century, there was no clear distinction between composers and performers. Most musicians both played and composed their own works. After 1900, the idea of a performer changed to artists who can only play the instrument. In a way, the creativity of music students is limited because of that concept. Through teaching students to compose music, we are training them to be more creative. Consequently, they can also learn to perform music in a more in-depth way. Placement application required.
For intermediate students, it is very important to experience the transformation from playing the notes with fingers to understanding music with their hearts and
mind. Learning how to play the piano cannot be only limited to training the virtuoso technique. It must include a comprehensive understanding of the composers, music background, and music history. The musicianship course aims to teach students more in-depth about the music they play.
This class introduces a variety of fundamental concepts while setting students on a path toward mastery of the skills required to achieve a high level of musicianship. This highly interactive course challenges students to build their skills through a series of dictations and performance-based recitations. Upon completion of this course, students will be fluent in treble and bass clefs, solfège, and all diatonic intervals and triads. Students also gain experience with sight singing and melodic dictation. Prerequisites: Working knowledge of treble and bass clefs, all major and minor scales and key signatures, intervals through the major third, ability to read and perform rhythms with divisions of the beat into two, three, and four equal parts. Placement application required.
