Piano For Education
Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
From the moment we enter this world, we are surrounded by an orchestra of sounds and a ballet of movements that shape our understanding and interaction with our environment. Music, in its various forms, serves as a transformative key, unlocking the wonders of this world.
Learning to play a musical instrument provides an array of benefits that extend beyond the realm of music itself, significantly impacting education, cognitive development, social connection and overall personal development.
We understand
The profound joy and excitement that students experience from the moment they embark on their musical journey is more than just learning to play an instrument, confidence soars, musicianship skills evolve and music potential is unlocked.
We see the value of providing students with opportunities to experience and foster a love of music and bring out their musical potential from early child-hood right up to adulthood.
A Custom Approach
Recognizing the vital role of music within educational environments, our goal is to equip both teachers and students with professional services, laying a robust foundation for music school setups with leading brands for keyboards, digital pianos and acoustic pianos. We are equipped to provide teachers and schools with the essential tools to establish a unique piano learning lab tailored to their specific needs, supported by professional advice. Our range spans from fun and exciting keyboards equipped with various sounds and rhythms, ideal for sparking a love for music, to professional acoustic upright and concert grand pianos for practicing and examination purposes.
Our mission is to enhance music education accessibility and engagement by offering top-quality instruments that meet educators’ high standards. Whether you’re starting a piano lab for your classroom, creating a new music program, building your curriculum, or need music book supplies, we have the necessary tools to help create a dynamic music learning environment. Explore further to discover how we can help you!
Acoustic pianos with their timeless appeal, rich resonant sound and intricate craftsmanship add value and prestige to any learning environment.
Our acoustic piano brands include Beale, Ernst Krauss and our flagship Yamaha range. As an authorised Premium Yamaha dealer, we are able to offer the full range of Yamaha’s extensive catalogue spanning from the robust Yamaha U1 upright models to the illustrious Yamaha C7X concert grand piano. The latter is particularly renowned, celebrated for its unmatched tonal quality and dynamic range.
Yamaha concert grand pianos have graced the stages of the most prestigious venues in the world including many notable Universities. As a highly esteemed instrument, acoustic pianos are a valuable and rewarding investment for any educational environment and fit in seamlessly from studio spaces, school Theaters and Auditoriums to acclaimed Concert Halls.
Yamaha hybrid pianos strike the perfect balance between our tradition of old-world craftsmanship and our unwavering commitment to new technology. Today, Yamaha innovations such as Disklavier, SILENT and TransAcoustic have helped redefine what a piano can do. So educators can instruct using innovative and engaging methods.
The Silent Piano is an acoustic piano with sound-damping capabilities. Perfect a school environment where students who need a real acoustic piano can practice without disturbing others.
Yamaha’s incredible TransAcoustic is unlike any piano you’ve ever heard. A true acoustic piano that uses its soundboard to naturally amplify digital sounds, turning your instrument into the world’s most incredible acoustic speaker. The system allows you to not only play silently through headphones but also to use the pianos’ naturally resonant soundboard as a speaker.
Institutions and schools are now turning to Disklavier as new models of music making and education require technology to be in line with the new landscape. With a wide range of applications including the ability to faithfully reproduce every nuance of a performance and stream it anywhere in the world; the Disklavier is the ideal instrument for long-distance teaching. Unlike video conferencing, a piano-to-piano connection has relatively low bandwidth requirements, enabling a stable and accurate performance even when the video quality is poor.
The Disklavier also features a unique Remote Lesson application. Remote Lesson enables artists and teachers to conduct transcontinental piano lessons, master classes and even perform, while working remotely on interpretation, the pacing, dynamics, colour control, pedal techniques and other musical nuances. Students play for the teachers who can listen, watch and respond by demonstrating on a Disklavier that is connected to the student’s instrument.
The Disklavier ENSPIRE truly captures and illustrates the beauty of a piano performance. With precise playback capabilities, you can be confident that each performance as the piano is being reproduced exactly at the other end in real time
Disklavier pianos are true acoustic pianos that incorporate fibre-optic sensing systems, high performance solenoids and state-of-the-art computer technology. With just on tap, the keys and pedals of the Disklavier come to life and you can enjoy the Disklavier playing on its own.
Available in Upright, Baby and Contemporary grands, all CX Professional grands, all SX Premium grands and the CFX Concert grand. Experience a piano like no other with the Yamaha ENSPIRE Disklavier.
Digital pianos provide the perfect balance between quality and affordability making them a winning choice for educational environments. With 88-fully weighted keys these digital instruments offer an unparalleled playing experience, without compromising on authenticity of an acoustic piano action.They provide the player with an array of styles, rhythms, and accompaniments to enhance and experiment with their musicality.
Our wide range of digital pianos include both portable and cabinet style models. Our brands include Yamaha, Roland, Casio and Beale.
Whether you’re an individual learner or a school looking to introduce digital pianos to your music curriculum, we’re here to offer a tailored quote to meet your needs.
Keyboards present an exciting and enjoyable method for learning the fundamentals of piano, while simultaneously sparking a love for the instrument. They are designed with a smaller framework and non-weighted keys, making them an ideal choice for beginners, from children embarking on their musical journey to teenagers drawn to the vast selection of contemporary drums, rhythms, and styles. Even elderly individuals can appreciate the gentle touch required by the keys, coupled with the ability to produce authentic piano sounds. In addition to these benefits, keyboards often come with features such as light-up keys to aid in song learning, in-built lessons, and connectivity capabilities opening up a whole new world of learning and entertainment.
Piano Laboratory Setup
A classroom or group workspace Piano Laboratory is a creative workspace that enables both individual and multiple students to learn piano in a dynamic and interactive setting.
WHAT IS A PIANO LAB?
A piano lab is a dedicated area for music education that encourages active interaction between the teacher and students, whether it be group lessons or individual tutoring. Conventional piano labs usually consist of around 8 to 16 work stations, providing an intimate yet interactive learning environment. Various piano lab bundles are available for setting up these labs, each equipped differently to cater to specific needs. However, they all share a common objective: to offer students a platform where they can refine their piano skills at their own speed, while still benefiting from the collective learning experience that a group setting provides.
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BENEFITS OF PIANO LABS
The evidence only continues to grow in proving that music education does so much more than just teach children to play an instrument. It can bring an immense number of benefits to a child’s life such as enhanced cognitive abilities, as well as improved academic performance and social skills. [Journal of Educational Pyschology, 112(2)]
Classroom piano labs provide a wealth of advantages not just for students, but also for music educators, serving as invaluable teaching tools. A fully-equipped piano lab, complete with a communication system, provides you with the ability to teach students at a variety of different skill levels. Students can be grouped based on their proficiency levels, and through the use of teacher controllers and headphones, educators can easily monitor and engage with individual students or entire groups. This setup ensures that while focused instruction is being provided, other students are not disrupted, optimising the learning environment for all.
You can easily expand or enhance your music lab to accommodate the needs of your students. Consider the potential use of interactive music software, perfect for larger groups at different learning levels. When certain groups demand more of your attention, others can utilize the software to maintain their individual practice or enhance their understanding. This interactive software is designed to cater to all skill levels to keep your students focused.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF PIANO LAB EQUIPMENT
A simple setup
- Digital Pianos or Keyboards
- Headphones
A fully inclusive piano lab system will generally incorporate the following elements:
- Classroom hub: The central control system of your piano lab that transmits and receives audio from student and teacher stations.
- Teacher controller: Allows the teacher to manage classroom audio through tablet, laptop, or desktop interface (depending on system configuration)
- Instrument boxes: They offer connections for instruments and headsets at each student’s and the teacher’s stations.
- Headset microphones: These are used for communication and allows the teacher to have one-on-one discussions and interactions with students
- Individual Pianos: Each student station should have one, as well as the teacher. These can range from keyboard to fully-weighted 88-key digital pianos
- Cables: Your piano lab setup should come with instrument cables for connecting pianos to instrument boxes, and data cables for linking everything to the classroom hub.
Even though it might appear as a lot of equipment your piano lab is essentially a straightforward system. Every student’s station comes with a piano, a headset microphone, and an instrument box. The teacher also has these, along with a control unit to adjust audio levels, establish groups, mute classroom sound, and so forth. Each piano station only needs a single data cable to link up with the central classroom hub. Once everything’s in place, the classroom hub doesn’t require much attention, as the control unit manages the system. Students only need to know how to control the volume on their digital pianos, the teacher station or the teacher’s wireless control application takes care of the rest of the audio management.
GETTING STARTED
Setting up a dedicated music lab in your school can seem daunting but with our expert advice and educational price packages this can easily become a reality. We assist you from start to finish in creating a music lab that is tailored to the unique needs of your school with anything from keyboards, or digital pianos and any other associated products. Starting with a free consultation, we will determine your specific needs and collaborate with you to create a detailed plan to get your music lab up and running. Once you are set-up and ready to go, as a local store, we are able to offer continued support to you.
When you’re investing in a digital piano lab system for your students, choosing the right digital piano is key. We offer a range of fully weighted 88-key digital pianos that give students realistic piano feel and response, ideal for any level of learning. Digital Piano models range from portable to cabinet and our brands include Yamaha, Roland and Casio.
BENEFITS OF A DIGITAL PIANO LAB
- Weighted keys – Weighted keys are known to mimic the feel of an acoustic piano
- Graded hammer action – graded hammer action keys provide a more realistic playing experience.
- Size – Digital pianos are designed to be compact. Certain cabinet-style models even offer a slim depth feature that lets you neatly install it in any room.
- Portability – you can opt to choose a portable digital piano which allows you to move the instrument based on your needs. This is particularly useful for students who need to play the piano at school events like festivals.
Feature Rich – Digital pianos provide a range of sounds beyond classical piano, including strings and percussion. They also offer features like recording, integrated metronomes, and multiple connectivity options to improve the playing experience.
Interactive Apps -Learning on a digital piano offers benefits such as access to fun online learning apps that improve skills in sight-reading, music theory, and aural training. Students can also practice what they learn in class at home. Additionally, a digital piano allows you to transfer, edit, and print your performances, facilitating composition and sharing of sheet music.
Volume Control & Headphone Use – A digital piano offers the ability to control the volume or even connect headphones for individual practice. This is particularly beneficial in a classroom environment as it enables students to work at their own speed without interrupting others.
Ability to record and listen back to a performance – This allows you to identify and correct playing issues early, enable performance recording for detailed analysis by teachers, and allow students to recognize their strengths and weaknesses to improve timing and performance
Durability & Low Maintenance– Unlike acoustic pianos that need regular tuning, digital pianos are virtually maintenance-free. They’re also less susceptible to environmental factors like humidity, ensuring longevity.
- Cost Effective – In comparison to acoustic pianos, digital pianos are typically more affordable. In addition to this, the lack of tuning requirements can save you money over time.
A custom designed and equipped keyboard classroom, perfect for introducing kids to piano in a fun, group learning environment that is motivating to both student and teacher. Keyboards are smaller-scale, portable instruments that often come with 61, 66, or 78 keys instead of 88 and the keys will usually be semi-weighted or unweighted. Keyboards contain sound samples of hundreds of different instruments; when you press the keys, the keyboard replays these sample sounds. Most include extras like a built-in metronome, reverb and tremolo effects and a headphone jack We offer a range of high quality keyboards, which stand up to the heavy use endured in school keyboard labs.
A keyboard will have a different feel than an acoustic piano or a digital piano, but it has some advantages that are all its own.
BENEFITS OF A KEYBOARD LAB
- Sound options – Keyboards can contain hundreds of different sounds to try out. Don’t want to learn to play the harp, violin, or tuba? Just press a button on your keyboard to transform the sound of your instrument. This feature can make learning more engaging and enjoyable for students.
- Low-maintenance – You need to tune acoustic pianos once or twice a year, and after each move to preserve their sound quality. Since keyboards don’t have strings, they don’t require regular maintenance. You can also carry an electric keyboard around wherever you want and never worry about it going out of tune.
- Portable – small, light and often battery operated; a keyboard allows you to perform anywhere. In a school setting, keyboards can be used for numerous performances or to create a pleasant atmosphere at various events. They are lightweight, making them easy to move around both within the school and for extracurricular activities.
- Least expensive option – An electric keyboard can be the least expensive route to playing the piano.
Casio (click here for more info)
Roland
Yamaha
Casio: “Casio has always been present in schools, as its affordable weighted-key Privia piano is a staple for many school music departments, The difference now is that Casio is making a concentrated effort to build its relationships with these educational institutions and really address educators’ needs in a more direct way.”
Casio keyboards offer an excellent value and a durable solution for instruction that stand up to the heavy use these instruments endure in school keyboard labs.
“Our goal at Casio is to make learning music more accessible for everyone and we are excited to continue to dig in and make a difference in music education,” said Stephen Schmidt, Vice President of Casio’s Musical Instrument Division. “With the addition of Sandra Jordan and our new programs for music education dealers, we are confident that Casio’s increased presence in music education will benefit teachers and students, who can now have access to our feature-rich, quality instruments that meet the standards of music educators.”
Roland: Whatever your piano needs, Roland has a learning lab for you! More and more people, especially kids, enter the world of keyboard music playing portable instruments, both due to cost and convenience. Many educators are recognizing this as an opportunity to create the musicians of tomorrow, and a Roland keyboard lab provides the perfect mechanism to get kids playing on their chosen type of instrument while providing a fun, group learning environment that is so motivating to both student and teacher.
Piano Labs: A custom designed and equipped piano classroom adds energy and excitement to any school’s music program. With a wide choice of pianos, and the industry’s most comprehensive, flexible classroom controller, we will design a classroom to meet your needs and budget. Roland’s support extends beyond installation as their nationally known staff of educators becomes part of your classroom, providing on-site support for both product and pedagogy, with our compliments.
Keyboard Labs: Thanks to the amazing flexibility of Roland keyboard all levels of players can benefit and learn on the type of instrument they want to play. No computer is necessary, and our intuitive software and easy to use lab controller make all things possible. From analyzing your space and budget, to final design and implementation, Roland experts stand ready help create the lab that will meet the goals of you and your students.More and more people, especially kids, enter the world of keyboard music playing portable instruments, both due to cost and convenience. Many educators are recognizing this as an opportunity to create the musicians of tomorrow, and a Roland keyboard lab provides the perfect mechanism to get kids playing on their chosen type of instrument while providing a fun, group learning environment that is so motivating to both student and teacher. From illustrating the basics of music, to teaching piano repertoire, to creating virtual bands and enabling young composers — it’s all here in one easy to use package.
More info coming soon.
Ultimate Music Laboratory System
FROM YAMAHA
This ultimate lab system delivers crystal clear digital audio, putting unprecedented control in the hands of music educators. Flexibility to control what you hear, and what your students hear. For example, you can work one-on-one with a student even if they’re sitting at the far end of the room. Then you can hear every student playing at the same time.
The ML Touch app lets you to manage your classroom via an iPad. Being in control of the system from anywhere in the room gives you the freedom to go wherever you need, without being tethered to the teacher instrument. Automatically take attendance at the beginning of a class so you can get started teaching right away.
We offer a flexible and convenient free consultation service, book in any time to discuss your specific requirements and how we can support your music education goals. Additionally, we are excited to offer an informative evening session for parents or teachers, providing them with essential information on how to get a student started in piano. This session will cover the basics, including choosing the right instrument, understanding the initial steps of learning piano, and how to support the learners musical journey in the home.
We look forward to hearing from you, Piano City.
Why Choose Piano City?
- We have a wide range of available piano and keyboard options
- Quality brands
- Personalized Service
- Customized quotes
- Educational Pricing
MUSIC & TUITION BOOKS
We offer a wide range of music books from grade books to technical books, workbooks, sight-reading books and even syllabuses. We can customize your order to suit your needs and we offer discounts for bulk orders. Best of all, you can choose to either pick up orders in store or we can have them shipped directly to you
Click here to fill out an order form. (order form coming soon)
