The Simply Music method looks at music learning in a totally new light and pioneers a new direction in music education. It presents a philosophy and methodology that profoundly differs from the more common and traditional approaches that, although modernized over the years, are still based on fundamental principles that have remained largely unchanged for generations.
Simply Music stands in stark contrast to traditional methods, and in order to understand how it achieves such unprecedented results, it is important to spend a moment to briefly explore the existing culture of music education.
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The Culture of Traditional Piano Teaching
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Reading-based Programs
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 Playing the piano is highly regarded in our culture, and millions of students continue to have piano lessons each week. For centuries however, traditional methods have required that students learn to read music as the means of learning how to play. The sad result is that this ‘read first, play later’ approach is slow and frustrating. Many students never feel as though they experience much freedom with regard to their playing ability. And far too many students even lose their desire to learn piano altogether. As a result, learning piano has become shrouded in a multitude of myths: “learning piano is hard”, “you have to start when you’re young”, “it takes a long time” or “you have to have a special talent” etc.
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The reality is that expecting students to read music before they have learned how to play, is like expecting children to read and spell before they have learned how to talk!
In fact, we all talked for years before we learned how to read and spell.
Similarly, the Simply Music program temporarily delays the music reading process, and begins by distilling music into a fascinating array of special concepts that unfold directly onto the keyboard. Beginning students, with no need to have their attention on music reading, are free to relate directly to the piano. Within months, they experience a real freedom with their playing and develop a deep connection to their instrument as they build an extraordinary repertoire that includes contemporary, classical, blues, jazz and accompaniment pieces.
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'Aural' and 'Technique-based' Programs
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Some traditional programs focus on developing the ability to 'play by ear'. In this environment, the student's success is determined by the strength of their aural-physical relationship with the instrument. Commonly however, students who have a strong reliance on 'playing by ear', often rely on this to such an extent that it becomes a distraction and a major hurdle when music reading is introduced.
Other traditional programs concentrate on developing perfection with regard to students' ‘technique’ – the physical aspects of performance – posture, positioning, execution, fingering etc. Understandably, this requires teachers to have high-level playing abilities and extensive formal training. Whilst these qualifications are necessary in order to teach the very select few who wish to pursue a career in concert-level performance, they usually become the very obstacle in creating a successful, fun-filled and highly positive experience designed to suit the needs of the majority of the population.
In reality, most people want to have music as a pleasure activity and a companion in their lives. People want to experience the feeling that comes from immediately playing great-sounding music. For this very reason, traditional programs remain largely inappropriate.
Like most of the things that we learned throughout our lives and now do on a daily basis – tying our shoe laces, brushing our teeth and driving a car etc., – we learned by doing those things, experiencing them directly and not by studying the ‘theory’ of the subject or referring to notes. Similarly, Simply Music teaches students to play the piano by immersing them in the actual process of playing, and providing a subtle balance between guidance, discovery and direct ‘hands-on’ experience.
As a result, Simpy Music students accumulate a vast repertoire of great-sounding music, and with this as their foundation, develop an appropriate technique, learn how to read more easily, and as a by-product, naturally begin developing their ability to 'play by ear'.
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The Culture of Simply Music
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'Playing-based' Methodology
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 Simply Music actively ignores the myths about learning music, and bases its program on the premise that every single human being, without exception, is deeply and naturally musical.
Each day, every one of us expresses this in a thousand ways - through our body’s instinctive rhythms, our heartbeat, our breathing, our movements. Our innate musicality is precisely what gives us the ability to walk and to talk!
Simply Music draws on and feeds this natural sense of music we all possess, and places highest priority on the fun and sheer pleasure of playing music – immediately – from the very first lessons.
The Simply Music program is ‘playing-based'. We use students’ existing visual, aural and physical skills, combine these with their natural sense of music, and subsequently achieve unprecedented results. The bottom line is that Simply Music students get to experience the absolute joy and satisfaction that comes from immediately acquiring a huge repertoire of great-sounding music.
Unlike learning by rote, this program is tactile, experiential and multi-sensory, with students being physically, visually and aurally absorbed. After building a repertoire of 35 to 50 pieces covering a broad range of musical styles, students go on to learn Simply Music’s unique approach to reading music, as well as develop a powerful foundation for learning the more formal aspects of music education.
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For more detailed information about how Simply Music was created, you can click to download the Curriculum Overview listed on the left hand side of this page.
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