Courtesy of Piano Lab
It’s not uncommon to hear people say: “I played piano a little when I was a kid, but…”
Alexandria musician Marilyn O’Leary wants to end this by inspiring more kids to commit to learning music and sticking with it.
Last year, she opened Piano Lab (www.StudentsLovePianoLab.com) in the Fort Hunt neighborhood as part of this mission.
“Parents [said they] had taken a couple of years of piano and wish they stuck with it,” said O’Leary, 46. “They weren’t clear on the ingredients the kids need to actually become a musician. We really wanted to break that cycle.”
Often, piano students will quit early on because they lose motivation, she said. Irregular practice patterns, unbalanced skills and not learning to play in groups can also contribute to a lack of music literacy, she said.
O’Leary, who is lead singer in D.C. sextet Chaise Lounge, created a multi-tier approach to teaching music. She wants the students – 130 in this year’s cohort – to link their study of music to experiences that matter to them.
First, she teaches hour-long classes to eight students at a time as opposed to the usual one-on-one teaching. This peer interaction bolsters learning, she said. Second, she sets up “peak performance moments” such as student shares and an end of the year showcase in June for students to show off their talents.
At Piano Lab’s annual showcase this year, the students performed at a local church on the school’s eight pianos (The studio now has 16).
O’Leary created an 88-key guide for students to measure their achievements, giving students a way to know where they are in their musical education, she said. There’s a sign off each time they master a skill.
She provides a variety of activities for learning music since students learn differently, she said. These include writing music, listening to music, studying eras of music or playing games. She likes students to know the options they’ll have by learning the new language, she said. It could be playing in a band, teaching, composing for movies, working as a recording engineer, playing for fun and more.
Parents have told O’Leary their kids are going to the piano on their own a lot more often. She chalks this up to the accountability and pleasure of coming to class to contribute their part to the whole.
O’Leary said she developed a strong music foundation growing up in Durham, North Carolina. She started music lessons there at age 5. Her teacher held students to high standards and built strong relationships, she said. The teacher helped her put songs on paper, which she submitted to her elementary school choir director. The songs ended up in school shows.
“Having early opportunities that really mattered to me – where I felt recognized and successful – solidified my ID as a musician,” said O’Leary, who went on to study audio engineering and piano performance at American University. “I made the decision I was going to learn the language of music.”
O’Leary ran the studio and taught classes on her own during its first year. This summer to hired two other teachers and has teens work as assistants in classes. A lot of endeavors have felt like “pushing a boulder uphill” for her, but not this one, she said. “Many elements have simply come together, putting me in the right situation at the right time,” she said. “For example, I am in the same boat as most of my clients (I have school-aged children in the Fort Hunt community), which gives me a good understanding of their needs and makes it easier to make decisions that work for them.”
O’Leary learned from many talented musicians and observed different kinds of learners in her over 20 years of teaching music, she said. She finds she can write a lesson based on the inspiration of the week, be it com-position, instrumentation, Blues or jazz.
After more than a year in business, she has learned to treasure her clients, and advises other business owners “tune in and listen to your intuition for every next step.”
To learn more about Piano Lab, go to www.StudentsLovePianoLab.com or call (703) 887-4133.
