SMARTS Music
Student Piano Lessons
SMARTS Student Piano Lessons provide you with a premier piano experience like nothing you’ve experienced before! Our Yamaha digital piano lab is the only one of its kind in the Mahoning Valley where students will gain piano skills and are part of a musical community. Being part of a piano lab is a unique experience because when we work together everyone achieves more. Students interact with the teacher and other students through the use of state-of-the-art technology designed to personalize their learning experiences and meet every individual student at their skill level. SMARTS teachers are professionals in their field and come to us with years of experience and expertise. SMARTS piano lessons are once a week and include piano skills and music theory. SMARTS makes sure to complement our hands-on-music lessons by teaching topics such as rhythm, chords, notes, octaves, scales, music notation, and so much more. Our curriculum is designed to instill a core understanding and provide a comprehensive learning experience for every SMARTS student. Our facility, equipment and teachers make this a program you can’t find anywhere else in this area!
Requirements: All SMARTS Piano Lessons are free to you but attendance, hard work, practice and dedication are required from all of our students. If you know that your SMARTS Music student cannot attend one of his/her scheduled lessons, you must call 330-574-2787(ARTS) to notify SMARTS of an approved absence. If your SMARTS Music student misses more than 3 lessons, he/she will be asked to withdraw from this session of SMARTS Piano lessons, giving another student the opportunity to participate. There will be SMARTS Piano Practice Cards issued and each student must practice at least one hour a week between weekly lessons. Our suggestion is 15 minutes a day/four days a week, but you can decide what works for you, as this is the minimum requirement. Remember, students will learn more with more practice. SMARTS piano students will take lessons for the entire year and showcase their hard work at Art You Can Hear in April 2020.
Adventures in Piano
Grades K-2
This is the first beginner-level piano class offered at SMARTS for grades K-2. Adventures in Piano will teach you the basic rhythm, music reading, and listening skills needed to take piano later in the SMARTS Piano Lab. Explore the piano using all your senses with colors, videos, soundtracks, and movement games. You’ll get to make your own songs, and you might even get to try other instruments, too! Register for this adventure to discover if piano is the instrument for you!
Tuesdays, 4:30-5:15 pm
Adventures in Piano
Grades K-2
This is the first beginner-level piano class offered at SMARTS for grades K-2. Adventures in Piano will teach you the basic rhythm, music reading, and listening skills needed to take piano later in the SMARTS Piano Lab. Explore the piano using all your senses with colors, videos, soundtracks, and movement games. You’ll get to make your own songs, and you might even get to try other instruments, too! Register for this adventure to discover if piano is the instrument for you!
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:15 pm
Adventures in Piano
Grades K-2
This is the first beginner-level piano class offered at SMARTS for grades K-2. Adventures in Piano will teach you the basic rhythm, music reading, and listening skills needed to take piano later in the SMARTS Piano Lab. Explore the piano using all your senses with colors, videos, soundtracks, and movement games. You’ll get to make your own songs, and you might even get to try other instruments, too! Register for this adventure to discover if piano is the instrument for you!
Thursdays, 4:10 – 4:55 pm
Adventures in Piano
Grades K-2
This is the first beginner-level piano class offered at SMARTS for grades K-2. Adventures in Piano will teach you the basic rhythm, music reading, and listening skills needed to take piano later in the SMARTS Piano Lab. Explore the piano using all your senses with colors, videos, soundtracks, and movement games. You’ll get to make your own songs, and you might even get to try other instruments, too! Register for this adventure to discover if piano is the instrument for you!
Thursdays, 6:05 – 6:45 pm
Piano 1A
This is the first beginner-level piano lab class offered at SMARTS. It is a prerequisite for all other piano lab classes. If a student has prior piano skills, they may opt to take a skills assessment with a SMARTS Instructor by appointment to place into a higher class. Cost: $5-20 for a discounted music book. (Actual cost is $7-25)
Wednesdays 4:20-5:20 pm
Thursdays 5:30-6:30 pm
Piano 1B
This is the second beginner-level piano class offered at SMARTS for grades 1-6 for students who have completed a year of Piano 1A. If a student has prior piano skills, they may opt to take a skills assessment with a SMARTS Instructor by appointment to place into a higher class. Cost: $5-20 for a discounted music book. (Actual cost is $7-25)
Tuesdays 5:30-6:30 pm
Wednesdays 5:30-6:30 pm
Thursdays 4:25-5:25 pm
Improv Piano
This advanced-level piano class will make the piano come alive, as you explore how to use the instrument to make solos and riffs by learning how play and create music by ear. Experiment with emotion, style, and melodies as you develop your own sound on the piano. This class will rely heavily on applying music theory to music-making and song creation, and studying the musical composition of many well-known classical, rock, pop, and country songs.
Tuesdays 4:25-5:25 pm
Rock Band: Grades 5-12
Want to be a rock star but not too keen on starting a band in your parent’s garage? Join this gig! We’re looking for guitarists, drummers, singers, bassists, keyboardists – you name it. In this class the students will be working together to write original songs. Throughout the process, students will get a hands-on experience of being "in the band” from the initial stages of collaborating with each other to complete their own songs, to rehearsing together and finally recording their songs! Students of this class will get a fuller appreciation of music creation, teamwork and what it takes to actually record a hit song and perform a live show as a real band! Students must be proficient with their instrument and comfortable reading rhythms and notes to enroll.
Wednesdays, 5:25-6:25 pm
SMARTS Inner Rhythms
Grades K-2
Calling all budding musicians! We got the beat! Do you? Take this class to discover your musical talents and prepare to be the coolest kid drummer at SMARTS! In this class, students will have fun experimenting with rhythm and making music through hand-drumming games that involve stories, colors, reading and math. Students will develop proper hand-drumming technique and will be exposed to other types of instruments, in addition to percussion. Students will work together to create music in a group setting and learn to interact with their peers by adapting, improvising, listening, and taking turns. By the end of the class, students will be able to internalize a beat and will be connected musically as a rhythm circle.
Tuesdays: 4:30 – 5:15 pm
Ukulele 1A
Grades 3-12
This fun Hawaiian instrument has captivated audiences with imaginations of island life for years, but it’s not only an instrument you hear on vacation. The ukulele appears in many recent top radio hits, such as Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” The simplicity of the ukulele makes it a great first step for anyone interested in learning guitar! In this beginner’s class, students will learn harmony and melody relationships, as well as rhythmic structures and coordination. The class will focus on basic chords and rhythm patterns that can be utilized solo or in conjunction with the group. No previous experience is required to attend this class. Don’t have a ukulele? SMARTS can help you purchase one for a discounted price of $30. (Actual cost is $40.) Ukulele bags are $10.
Wednesdays: 4:20 – 5:20 pm
Ukulele 1B
Grades 3-12
This fun Hawaiian instrument has captivated audiences with imaginations of island life for years, but it’s not only an instrument you hear on vacation. The ukulele appears in many recent top radio hits, such as Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” The simplicity of the ukulele makes it a great first step for anyone interested in learning guitar! In this beginner’s class, students will learn harmony and melody relationships, as well as rhythmic structures and coordination. The class will focus on basic chords and rhythm patterns that can be utilized solo or in conjunction with the group. No previous experience is required to attend this class. Don’t have a ukulele? SMARTS can help you purchase one for a discounted price of $30. (Actual cost is $40.) Ukulele bags are $10.
Tuesdays, 5:35 – 6:35 pm
Violin Lessons
SMARTS Violin lessons give students the opportunity to investigate the world of strings in an exciting and informative private lesson setting that will surely allow each student to fully explore their artistic expression. The SMARTS Violin program is a premier program with SMARTS. Students work in small groups of either 3 or 4 with the violin instructor, and parents welcomed and encouraged to participate. In a class each week, students will learn to identify musical terms, music theory, musical styles, history, maintenance, and the basics of musical performance on the violin. Personalized and tailored instruction is designed to utilize each student’s current abilities and then building skills upon that foundation. The emphasis of this class is on the pedagogy of the violin, a full-spectrum view of string performance is obtained. This type of enrichment and one-on-one attention is something you cannot find anywhere else in the Mahoning Valley! Students will be required to journal their time on a practice card.
Violin 1A
This is the first beginner-level violin class offered at SMARTS. Students will learn technique and form with holding and playing the violin with a bow and finger-plucking methods. Students will learn to use their ears, count music, and play with a group in unison. Learning violin takes patience, concentration, and attention to detail, but it is a lovely and rewarding instrument to play. Students will play exercises and warm ups that will prepare them to play their first song by the end of this class.
Tuesdays, 6:00 – 6:40 pm
Violin 1B
This is the second beginner-level violin class offered at SMARTS. Violin 1A is a pre-requisite for this class. If a student has prior violin skills, they may opt to take a skills assessment with a SMARTS Instructor by appointment to place into a higher class.
Thursdays 5:30-6:15 pm
Violin 1C
This is the third beginner-level violin class offered at SMARTS. Violin 1A and 1B are pre-requisites for this class. If a student has prior violin skills, they may opt to take a skills assessment with a SMARTS Instructor by appointment to place into a higher class.
Thursdays, 4:35– 5:20 pm
SMARTS Percussion Methods
Grades 3-7
Every great band needs a great drummer. But the band is even more fun, when everyone is a drummer! Maybe you’d like to try out for your school’s drum line, or maybe you’d like to start a band of your own. Either way, this class is for you! You’ll learn the basic skills needed to play several types of percussion instruments – snare, djembe, and hand percussion. You’ll learn fun and catchy stick patterns and grooves as well as basic music reading skills. Join this class to learn a new instrument and discover the diverse sounds, rhythm layers, and emotional effects percussion has on music.
Thursdays 4:15-5 pm
SMARTS Percussion Methods
Grades 6-12
Every great band needs a great drummer. But the band is even more fun, when everyone is a drummer! Maybe you’d like to try out for your school’s drum line, or maybe you’d like to start a band of your own. Either way, this class is for you! You’ll learn the basic skills needed to play several types of percussion instruments – snare, djembe, and hand percussion. You’ll learn fun and catchy stick patterns and grooves as well as basic music reading skills. Join this class to learn a new instrument and discover the diverse sounds, rhythm layers, and emotional effects percussion has on music.
Thursdays 5:05-5:50 pm
SMARTS Recorder Karate
Grades 2-5
Hi-yah! Get ready to learn a new instrument in this adrenaline-packed class, where practicing earns you karate belts! In this class, students will learn to play popular tunes on the recorder, such as “Hot Cross Buns,” “Twinkle Twinkle,” and “Old MacDonald,” as well as explore music from other world cultures. The more you practice, the closer you are to earning a black belt! Using curriculum from the field-tested Recorder Karate program and other world culture music programs, you’ll be a music master in no time.
Thursdays, 5:05-5:50 pm
Voice 101
Grades 3-6
Discover the secret to becoming at better singer with SMARTS voice classes! Singing is one of the most expressive ways humans communicate and in Voice 101, you’ll explore a multi-disciplinary approach to vocal training. Whether your interest is pop, musical theater, or opera, this class will empower you with the knowledge of performance skills, a deep understanding of vocal technique, and the confidence to take the stage. Students will engage in group vocal warm-ups and exercises that train the body, breath, and voice for healthy singing. You’ll also learn how to read music and what it takes to captivate an audience. Singers will work on selected repertoire from various genres, both as a group and individually. Bring a song you’d like to sing to the first class and let’s get started!
Wednesdays, 4:10 – 4:55 pm
Voice 101
Grades 5-12
Discover the secret to becoming at better singer with SMARTS voice classes! Singing is one of the most expressive ways humans communicate and in Voice 101, you’ll explore a multi-disciplinary approach to vocal training. Whether your interest is pop, musical theater, or opera, this class will empower you with the knowledge of performance skills, a deep understanding of vocal technique, and the confidence to take the stage. Students will engage in group vocal warm-ups and exercises that train the body, breath, and voice for healthy singing. You’ll also learn how to read music and what it takes to captivate an audience. Singers will work on selected repertoire from various genres, both as a group and individually. Bring a song you’d like to sing to the first class and let’s get started!
Wednesdays, 5:50 – 6:35 pm
Voice 101
Grades 4-12
Discover the secret to becoming at better singer with SMARTS voice classes! Singing is one of the most expressive ways humans communicate and in Voice 101, you’ll explore a multi-disciplinary approach to vocal training. Whether your interest is pop, musical theater, or opera, this class will empower you with the knowledge of performance skills, a deep understanding of vocal technique, and the confidence to take the stage. Students will engage in group vocal warm-ups and exercises that train the body, breath, and voice for healthy singing. You’ll also learn how to read music and what it takes to captivate an audience. Singers will work on selected repertoire from various genres, both as a group and individually. Bring a song you’d like to sing to the first class and let’s get started!
Thursdays, 6:05 – 6:45 pm
Previous Music classes offered at SMARTS:
- Adventures in Piano
- Beats
- Drum and Dance Workshop
- Family Drum Circle
- Improv. Piano
- Inner Rhythms
- Jazz Improvisation
- Musical Worlds Workshop
- Percussion Methods
- Piano Lab 1A
- Piano Lab 1B
- Piano Lab 1C
Previous Adult Music classes offered at SMARTS:
- Adult Piano