An innovative, research-based approach to learning piano
If you play piano without understanding music, you’re just pushing the keys and admiring the sounds. It’s kind of like typing in a foreign language. Sure, it looks cool…but you’d never assume you were fluent.
It would be terrifying to actually speak in that language. You’d constantly doubt yourself because you wouldn’t immediately understand what native speakers were saying and you wouldn’t be able to think fast enough to respond in a not-awkward amount of time.
Music is the same.
At Sounds and Friends, students internalize the language of music through movement and experimentation.
Watch your kid:
- Get comfortable with music…by learning what questions to ask and how to answer them so they know what Beethoven, Bebe Rexha, and all the other composers were up to when they were creating their hits.
- Own it…by coming up with their own spin on a song and playing it for their classmates. (And they’ll understand the structure of music so they can create without playing the musical equivalent of “You today are how?”)
- Know what they’re doing. Literally – how are their biceps working to make their playing louder? Are their sitting bones helping or hindering them from reaching the edges of the piano?
Can’t recommend Sounds & Friends highly enough! Arielle has been an incredible teacher for our kids. Under her guidance, we’ve seen amazing growth, not just in their musical abilities but also in their confidence and focus. Arielle truly cares about her students, and it shows in everything she does. Our whole family has benefited so much from her positive approach and thoughtful teaching style.
Cara and I will be sad to see Arielle move, but we’re grateful our kids started their musical journeys with her. If you’re looking for someone who can genuinely connect with your child and nurture their love of music, you couldn’t find a better teacher.
~ Craig H., Ben and Nora’s dad
Learn to play piano using research-based principles:
1. Start with the ears (because music is an aural art form). Your kids will listen and move to many short songs with different musical patterns – first for exposure, then identification. (Think of patterns as the “words” of music.)
2. Improvise and experiment! “Experience is the best teacher” – so your kids will take those elements they’ve been learning from listening and sing, chant, and play with them. They’ll then create their own music by combining the elements.
3. Read and write.
After understanding music through listening, improvising, and experimenting, kids will read and write familiar elements (just like you read and wrote words like “cat” at first, not words like “extraterrestrial”).
Hello! I’m Arielle Sukhram-Ziemer, pianist and piano teacher.
I’ve been teaching for over a decade and I have both my bachelors and my masters degrees in piano performance.
As a professional, I’ve needed both creativity and discipline in my work – and I think that’s what everyone needs for full enjoyment and mastery in any field.
I know that parents want their kids to both enjoy music and work at it – and so do I! I want my students to understand music and be able to do whatever they want with it – and I believe that reaching a goal and playing a piece you want to teaches important life lessons of steady effort and discipline.
I don’t know where my students will end up, so my goal is to give them a solid foundation for lifelong music learning. What does that look like in practice? Classes filled with…
…movement and singing – to give them understanding (and keep them coming back for more!)
…stories, artwork, and improvisation – to develop their creativity
…detailed instructions for HOW to play and engaging repertoire to study – to develop thinking and analysis (rather than mindless playing)
“Arielle has made amazing progress with my son. He has taken piano lessons before and was somewhat disinterested. Arielle has really tailored her teaching for my son to utilize his skill and technique and transform it into a love and passion… It is so rewarding to see how he is taking his lessons and using them to play songs that he loves for fun and without prompting.”
~ Lori B., Nixon’s mom
Let’s start playing!
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