Elements FAQ for Parents


Q: Where can we get a keyboard? Should we rent one? How much does one cost to buy?
A: It is actually much less expensive to purchase a keyboard than to rent one. Casio 61 key models similar to what we use in class are available from Target, Best Buy or Wal Mart for about $99.00. You will also need an AC/5 adaptor for about $8.99 so you don't have to use batteries. Costco and Sam's Club often have keyboards available but they are generally more expensive and it's too no advantage for our students to pay more than $100.00. Also guitar center often has keyboards and if you tell them you're with Elements Music they may offer a discount on keyboard and adaptor. The phone numbers and locations for guitar center are:

             Peoria - (602) 375 3800
             Tempe - (480) 735 6900
             Scottsdale - (480) 362 1150

Alternatively there is a Casio outlet in Tempe at the Arizona Mills Mall that also offers discounts on new equipment and often have refurbished models for sale, their number is (602) 375 3800.

For any other equipment questions please call our office at (623) 933 0681

Q:Keyboard club seems expensive compared to the other after school clubs. Is it overpriced?
A: It’s true keyboard club is more expensive than programs like chess, science, languages, etc. But its not really a fair comparison, for a number of reasons.
 
First, keyboard is the essential instrument for anyone wanting to learn music. Singers, horn, string, and wind players, guitarists, even dj’s benefit from understanding music at the keyboard. But despite its foundational role in advancing the music, very few schools have the necessary space to house a keyboard lab. So, Elements actually brings a temporary keyboard lab to the school. As you might imagine, even with our streamlined equipment, this takes a bit of effort, especially on some hot Arizona days!
 
Second, compared to piano teachers around town, Elements represents an extraordinary value. To get a 1⁄2 hour lesson from a qualified teacher, you will spend anywhere from $20 to $35, depending on the teacher’s experience. Over 8 weeks, that’s between $160 and $280, and those are for 1⁄2 hour lessons. Some music schools charge even more, and in addition, they charge you for the books, songs, and materials. With Elements, all learning materials are included, and with Elements’ online service, (free to all keyboard clubbers) your next song or lesson can be as close as your desktop!
 
Third, of all the after-school clubs, Elements teachers are the highest paid and best trained. As much as is in our power, we are not going to let you, or your child, be introduced to music by an inept, bored, or untested teacher who doesn’t know the material, the current repertoire, or the proven techniques needed to motivate beginners. Good teachers are rare! Elements classes are in much more demand than we can handle. Elements hires less than 15% of applicants as teachers!!!
 
Fourth, 25% of your tuition goes to support your school district’s after-school programs. It doesn’t come to Elements at all! And Elements has adopted a very strict teacher to student ratio policy to ensure that your child gets the necessary personal attention to comprehend all the lesson material.  
 
Fifth, we feel Elements is the very best way to introduce your child to music at the keyboard. Yes, you can pay more to have a teacher guide your child through a traditional methodology, only to have them quit after 3 painful, frustrating years. Or, you can let Elements nurture your child’s innate desire to PLAY on the keyboard! It is called “playing” the piano, right?. We put the fun in it, not through fluff, but through a sense of accomplishment. How much is that worth?
 
Q: I’ve heard that Elements doesn’t really teach how to read music. Is this true?
A: Who said that? Now we’re taking off the gloves and taking names! Not only does Elements teach how to read music, but it uses a simple, funny, cool audiovisual way to make sure that students really understand the connection between the notes on the treble and bass staves and the corresponding keys on the keyboard. These nifty aids make it much, much simpler for students to read their notes. And, it enables them to read and play all the notes right away, instead of having to sit through months and months of “five finger position” exercises. You can’t play hot new tunes if your hands are glued, as it were, to the keyboard in one of these silly “hand positions”  the traditional methods enforce on beginners.
 
Now, it is true that Elements doesn’t teach reading music for the first 8 lessons (level 1.) Why? Because we know it is of utmost importance that a beginning student experience some success right away! What kind of success? The ability to play some songs they love, using both hands to hold down a melody and a bass line. The ability to play the song “in time” with the right feel and the right beat or groove. This takes some effort, some practice. Why introduce the student to all the esoteric technicalities before they can get to this point? This is discouraging, almost to the point of punishment!
 
A question for you, oh frequently asked questioner; Did you learn how to speak your native language first, or read it? Of course, you speak for four to six years before you begin learning to read. Yet most traditional lessons put “reading” music ahead of “playing” music. Elements gives the students 8 weeks to “feel” what it’s like to actually play songs, before we transition them, in our own unique, very fun way, into reading the music on the keyboard.
 
Q: You people at Elements seem pretty cocky, pretty sure of your approach. Who is behind this Elements thing, and why is Elements different than other methods?
A: Yes, we are confident our method, our approach, is solid, simply because we’ve seen it work. We know it works. Kids drop off of traditional methods within 24 months at rates approaching 94%. No wonder. Just look at a traditional method! They don’t motivate students, which makes it harder for teachers, which makes it ultimately a waste of time and money for parents.

Why does Elements work better? One reason is that Elements is contemporary. Many of the traditional methods are 50-100 years old! Not only are they pre-electronic keyboard, they’re pre-Beatles! They’re pre Duke Ellington!!! They are very classical in they’re approach, they are primarily designed to introduce the young student into the skill set necessary to sight read classical music. (A skill set, which, in reality, takes roughly 3 hours a day for about 6 years to acquire.) Is it any wonder drop out rates continue at epidemic proportions?

Elements loves classical music. Elements developers’ have degrees in classical piano performance and traditional music education. But they are also working, professional musicians who do not disparage the incredible accomplishments musicians and instrument designers have made in the last 25 years. The designers of the Elements method have ties with world famous Grammy-winning artists, top studio musicians, producers, and dj’s.

Elements gives you what you need to make music, without a lot of fluff or time wasting excursions into abstract medievalism. To put it simply, Elements is the method the pro musicians wish they had. Try it for your family, and discover that its the method the budding musician needs to succeed at the keyboard.
 
Q: We did Elements and it didn’t work for us. Who’s fault is that. Are you saying it’s our fault?
A: Heh heh, basically. Come on now, Elements is great, but at the end of the day, its an instrument method. Learning an instrument requires that the beginner put some time in. In the case of a child, this means it requires some parental input, encouragement, and if need be, structure, reminders, and gasp, discipline.

Now, in fairness, it could be that our teacher and your family member didn’t have ideal chemistry. This happens sometimes, and frankly, its unavoidable. Not every student “clicks” with every teacher. In that case, contact us to try another teacher to repeat the level at a significantly reduced cost. Let’s see if that doesn’t fix the problem.

And remember, learning an instrument takes time. We’re frankly amazed sometimes by parents who ask us after the first 8 weeks “What else is there to learn?” What is there to learn? Paul McCartney takes music lessons at 60! Donald Fagen of Steely Dan went away after their gold and platinums to study. The great classical masters still play for teachers they respect. You never stop learning, no matter what level you achieve on the instrument.

The trick is to make the initial time as a beginner as streamlined and painless as possible. But, no matter how fun we make it, you’re still a beginner! And you will be more or less a beginner for 2 years!!! The question is, what kind of music do you want to be surrounded with in that time? Your favorite songs, or dry a dust traditional “teaching” material. That’s the bottom line.