The Walnut Grove, Guildford, and White Rock School of Music and Dance believe that private instruction is the best way for anyone to learn how to play an instrument.  The one-on-one instruction means that students are given instruction that best suits how they as an individual learn.  Private lessons also mean that they are able to learn the type of music they personally are most interested in.  Also with private lessons a teacher can focus 100% of their attention on that one student to ensure that things such as hand positioning, posture or understanding of a particular concept are correct.  If a student has a particular difficulty in one area, the teacher can work on it without hampering the progress of a class of students and alternatively if a student is excelling in one area, the teacher can move on. We offer 30 minute, 45 minute and 1 hour lessons.  Our music teachers have university training in the instruments that they teach.  We teach students from beginners to very advanced. With locations in Langley (Walnut Grove), Surrey (Guildford) and White Rock we have a convenient location near you.

Pre-Piano Lessons

We offer private music lessons for 4-5 year old children. These lessons are especially good for the child who is not yet ready to sit through a private half-hour lesson, or for any child who really wants to start any musical instrument, but is not quite ready for the regular 1/2 hour private lessons.

The format for the lesson includes lots of varied activity and lots of fun. It is taught by our teachers who teach our group preschool music program. This program can be taken on its own without being in the group program or for children already in the group class it will enhance the material and experience the child has in the group class. For children who have completed the group program these lessons will continue to develop and add to the skills learned in the group program. As the child progresses and their attention span increases more and more time will be given to actual piano skills. These lessons prepare the student to either go on into private piano lessons or another age appropriate instrument. Lessons include:
• Music history
• Introductory piano skills
• Note reading
• Rhythm games with percussion instruments
• Listening to many styles of music
• Singing
• Fun

Piano and Keyboard Lessons

Our schools offer piano lessons for students of all ages and abilities from beginners to very advanced students.  We offer every style of piano lessons from classical to jazz and pop.  We have students who want to play just for fun and students who excel with the Royal Conservatory of Music curriculum. As we have so many piano teachers on staff we are able to match students with a teacher that works best with their particular age, ability and interest.  We start piano lessons from age 5 onwards.  Before age 5 we recommend our group preschool music program or our pre-piano private lessons.  Our piano lessons are all private one-on-one instruction and lesson lengths are 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 1 hour.  While our piano lessons are all private, parents are more than welcome to sit in on their child’s lessons.  For our advanced piano students we have teachers with master’s degrees in piano who can prepare them for university entrance or to complete their certification with the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Voice Lessons

We have many students who take voice or singing lessons at our schools.  Our voice lessons are all private on-one-one instruction.  Students sing all kinds of music from their favorite artists to classical arias.  Our voice teachers all have a university degree in music specializing in voice and sing everything from pop and jazz to opera.  Our teachers all have performance backgrounds as well.   Just a sample of what a student will learn in singing lessons includes how to breathe properly, how to increase their range, proper pitch, how to project and stage presence.  Our schools offer 3 optional performance opportunities each year with our Christmas recital, Spring Sing and Summer recital.  We provide a professional accompanist who rehearses with the students and plays for them at the recitals.  Many of our students also perform at local festivals.

Guitar Lessons

Our private guitar lessons include acoustic, electric and bass guitar.  We have an excellent guitar teaching staff and teach guitar lessons in everything from rock to jazz, classical to pop, Spanish to chording.  Many of our teachers actively perform in bands.  Our guitar teachers have college or university music degrees so they know the proper theory and technique no matter if a student is interested in metal or in classical.  Guitar lessons at our schools are enhanced by the opportunity of learning how to jam with other musicians in a rock band setting or how to perform solo in one of our recitals.  No matter what type of guitar lessons you are interested in, we have the teachers to help you.  Typically a student would be 8 before starting guitar lessons, due to their hand size, but some younger students start with a junior sized guitar.

Violin, Fiddle, Viola, and Cello Lessons

Our strings program offers private instruction in violin, viola or cello.  Our private violin lessons start as young as age 5.  Due to the size of the instrument, most cello lessons start at 10 years of age or older.  We offer the Suzuki Violin program the Suzuki Viola program, the Suzuki Cello program, the Royal Conservatory violin program, the Royal Conservatory viola program, the Royal Conservatory cello program and we offer fiddle lessons.  We have students of all ages from adults to children.  For younger children we highly encourage a parent to sit in on the lesson to help the student at home with things such as posture and hand positioning.  We supplement our private violin, viola and cello lessons with fun ensembles or fiddling groups that play in our recitals.  Our students who chose to do the Royal Conservatory system consistently score very high on their examinations.  Our violin, viola and cello teachers have university or college degrees in their instrument and many perform regularly with local orchestras or bands. Basic restrictions are usually due strictly to the size of the child – e.g. hand size for piano or lung capacity for brass and woodwinds. 

Flute Lessons

Our private flute lessons generally start at age 7 and older, but sometimes younger students will start with a special curved-head flute.  We have both male and female flute instructors and as will all our instruments, the teachers have university or college degrees in woodwinds.  Our flute lessons are offered in 30 minute, 45 minute or 1 hour lengths. Our flute students perform in our Christmas and Summer recitals with many also performing in local music festivals such as the Kiwanis festival.  We offer a wide range of styles and many students choose to do their Royal Conservatory of Music flute exams.

Saxophone & Clarinet Lessons

Our private saxophone and clarinet lessons start from age 8 onwards.  Earlier than age 8, a student typically does not have the lung capacity and strength to handle these instruments.  Our saxophone and clarinet instructors are proficient on both instruments so a student can start with clarinet lessons if they wish and switch to saxophone lessons without having to change instructors.  Our saxophone and clarinet instructors actively perform in all types of bands and ensembles and as soloists.  Saxophone lessons and clarinet lessons are offered in 30 minute, 45 minute and 1 hour lengths.

Bassoon & Oboe Lessons

We also offer lessons in more obscure woodwind instruments such as bassoon and oboe.  Most bassoon lessons or oboe lessons start at age 11 or older as these double reeded instruments are a little more difficult for younger students.  Our bassoon lessons and oboe lessons are offered in 30 minute, 45 minute and 1 hour lengths.

Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone & Tuba Lessons

Our brass lessons include private trumpet lessons, french horn lessons, trombone lessons and tuba lessons.  Students for these instruments usually are ages 9 or older as they need to have developed a great lung capacity and in the case of the tuba need to be big enough to hold the instrument.  Our brass teachers have university or college degrees in music and perform in everything from salsa bands to local orchestras.  We can help students enhance their skills for their school band program or develop advanced skills to become soloists.

Drum Lessons

We offer a wide variety of drum lessons or percussion lessons.  Most of our students learn on a drum kit.  We have both male and female students and typically do not start drum lessons before age 8 as students need to be able to reach both the pedal and the high hat.  We do have some younger students but suggest they come in for a trial drum lesson to see if they are big enough to get started.  Drum lessons are taught on a drum kit in our studios but students are able to get started practicing at home on practice pads before purchasing or renting a drum kit.  Our drums lessons stress proper technique so students become good drummers quickly. 

Preschool Music Program

Our preschool music program is a fun, interactive group program for children ages 3 – 5.  In this class they learn the fundamentals of music including rhythm, melody, notation and an introduction to orchestral instruments.  The class is 30 minutes long, one time a week.  In the rhythm component they learn by doing fun games with rhythm sticks, triangles, shakers, hand drums, etc.  For the melody component they learn the concepts through lots of singing.  They will learn high – low, loud – soft, pitch, major – minor, etc.  For notation they learn how to recognize musical symbols such as tremble clef, bass clef, half note, whole note, etc.  (Much the same as learning your alphabet before you learn how to read.)  We also teach them how to recognize all the instruments of the orchestra both by sight and sound.  For example, by the end of the program they can quickly tell you if the sound they hear is a trumpet or saxophone.  The preschool music classes are taught by our instructors with university degrees in music who love working with young children.  The instructors are patient, fun and very encouraging.  The preschool music program prepares students to go on into private instrument lessons when they are older.