Huw G.

With 15 years experience of teaching the piano, I have taught many children and adults over the years. Most have come to me as complete beginners, while others have wanted to restart learning to play the piano after having had lessons in the past.

By giving your child piano lessons, you are giving them a lifelong gift, because playing an instrument is rewarding in so many ways, from the enjoyment it brings, to the self-discipline of focussing on a skill that is challenging but ultimately very satisfying and calming.

Working through the piano grades is of course the goal of many young people who learn the piano, and while most learners will be capable of achieving the first few grades, not everyone has the talent, passion and perseverance to reach the upper grades. But if you are enthusiastic about music, then that really helps. However, I do think it is really important to study other pieces alongside your graded pieces. The more piano music you try and learn, the better you will progress, and this will develop your sight-reading skills, which are so useful.

Above all, it is really important to spend time listening to classical music, as not only is this pleasurable in itself, but it will also help develop a good musical mind, and you will be inspired to learn to play some of the music you hear; and that, as a musician, is what music is all about.

I teach on a good Yamaha acoustic piano, and you will also need some kind of piano at home to practice on. There are many reasonable second-hand pianos on the market, as well as new pianos, and also digital pianos that are affordable and sound a lot better than they used to in previous years. I am happy to help and advise on sourcing a suitable instrument.