Why Choose Our Academy for Piano Lessons
Our Piano Teachers
Our teachers are truly the core of our institution. As mentioned previously, we receive hundreds of teaching applications every year, and every piano teacher on our team is a proven professional with a great personality (and their educational, performance, and teaching background speaks for themselves too!).
Our Facility
We pride ourselves on teaching students on the finest upright and grand pianos, including a large array of Yamaha U-1s and U-3s, as well as Steinway & Sons Grand Pianos. We feature a comfortable lounge for parents with high-speed WiFi, an area for little kids to play and check out Lego magazines and coloring books, as well as plenty of free parking. The Academy, located on the border of Pasadena and Altadena, is central to grocery stores, even allowing you to make a quick grocery run while your child is in class.
Our Experience
We have been part of the Pasadena, Altadena, and La Cañada communities since 2003. Delivering piano lessons to thousands of students (both children and adults) over the years has allowed us to foster the best possible environment for learning music.
Our Policies
We provide students with month-to-month lessons with no long-term commitments. Switching gears away from music? Simply give us a 30-day heads up and you are good to go! Need to change your lesson time? Let us know and we'll be glad to look at other options. And of course - need to miss a lesson? Let us know in advance and you can always receive a private make up credit, rather than lose your lesson or do a group make up.
Our Accolades
We genuinely hate to brag - but we have been chosen as the Best Music School by Expertise Magazine for several years in a row. We are also a Pasadena Weekly Reader Recommended Music School (every year since 2015). Lastly, we are a Steinway & Sons Teaching and Educational Partner, an extremely rare designation for private music schools, as well as members of the Music Teachers' Association of California. The list of the Academy's accolades, including students' competition wins, goes on, and we really hope it speaks for itself!
In Home Lessons La Cañada
Meet Some of Our Piano Teachers in Altadena
As Pasadena and Altadena's top-rated music school and academy for piano lessons, we generally attract over fifty top piano teachers' resumes for a single piano teacher opening at our school located on the border of Altadena and Pasadena. As you can imagine, the selection process to teach piano at the Altadena Academy of Music is extremely rigorous and includes not only technical and behavioral interviews, but also sample lessons and feedback collection from students.
Due to this rigorous interview process for piano teachers, we pride ourselves in having the most dedicated and prestigious faculty of any school in the Altadena and Pasadena area. Teachers on our team have received degrees from the world's best music programs, including the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, USC Thornton School of Music, Juilliard, Peabody Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Columbia University, and the Curtis Institute of Music.
All of our private piano teachers possess not only excellent teaching ability, but also hands-on performance experience which allows them to share unparalleled real-world expertise during each and every piano lesson.
Dr. Regina
Mr. Sam
Ms. Amanda
Ms. Theresa
Our Piano Lesson Gallery in Altadena and Pasadena
Frequently Asked Questions About Piano Lessons
If you would like an instrument to practice on at home, there are several options. One popular option is to purchase or rent an electric piano, keyboard, or digital piano. If you decide to purchase one, we recommend that it have weighted keys so the feel of the instrument is more like an acoustic piano. Another option is to rent or purchase an upright, baby-grand, or full grand piano. Upright pianos are a popular option because of their compact size and are fairly affordable to both rent and purchase. The Altadena Academy of Music can recommend reputable music stores in Pasadena, La Cañada, Altadena, San Marino, and Los Angeles for all of your piano needs. Additionally, if you ever need to have your piano tuned, please do not hesitate to ask us for referrals!
Generally, children ages 4.5 and up are old enough to begin piano lessons. Students younger than 4.5 are able to enroll in General Music Private lessons, which will cover many of the fundamentals needed to successfully transition to piano lessons once a student is at the right age.
Starting early is encouraged as there are a multitude of benefits of taking piano lessons as a child. These include better cognitive development, enhanced memory, as well as the social benefits of being in a music school setting. Additionally, taking music lessons has been proven to improve students' results in math, as well as shown improvement in mental health and self-esteem. Of course, aside from the scientific benefits, music lessons are fun and enjoyable, and give children a unique hobby to be passionate about.
As the old saying goes (pun intended), you are never too old to pursue a new hobby. Adults make up about one-third of the Academy's students, and adult piano lessons specifically are a very popular choice. Adults choosing to pick up music usually do so to engage in a new hobby, meet friends , and hone their musical abilities.
Additionally, students looking into improving their memory, as well as controlling certain conditions, such as Parkinson's tremors, are actually encouraged to begin piano lessons, as playing music is scientifically proven to stimulate the brain and allow you to strengthen and improve your hand coordination.
All of our piano lessons here at the Altadena Academy of Music include sight reading and music theory. Unlike many teachers and schools, we are against delivering piano lessons that teach students how to play "by ear" and do not partake in this practice. Learning music and taking piano lessons without learning how to sight read is akin to learning a foreign language without learning the alphabet. You may be able to recite a few phrases extremely well, but once faced with a phrase that may not be exactly what you have learned, you will not be able to make any progress. The same goes for music, hence the need for all students taking piano lessons to learn how to sight read, as well as understand basic music theory.