We teach music lessons to all students according to our unique Synergo Music Method™. We developed it as a comprehensive system of musical education that is natural, progressive, and enjoyable for students. With Synergo, students of all ages and abilities will build a solid foundation for pursuing their musical goals, whether becoming a concert pianist, accompanist, film composer, or just playing for pleasure.
Synergo Music Method teaches music as a language of emotional expression. The music is presented to a student rhetorically as a set of meaningful idioms, consisting of patterns of melody, rhythm, meter, and harmony. We emphasize learning expression before learning theory, similar to language learning programs, such as Montessori and Rosetta Stone.
| Spoken Language | Music |
|---|---|
| Learn to Speak Before Read/Write Words | Learn to Play Before Read/Write Notes |
| Learn Meaning & Context Before Grammar | Learn Meaning Before Music Theory |
| Phoneme | Musical Tone |
| Letter | Note |
| Word | Motif |
| Phrase | Phrase |
| Sentence | Period |
| Paragraph | Section of Form |
Unfortunately, the standard in musical education, starting from the beginning of the 20th century until today, disregards the parallels between speech and music, and teaches music formally rather than rhetorically. This shift is largely responsible for the "crisis" and "decline" in western classical music. Synergo Music Method restores the rhetoric approach which produced the majority of repertoire that people enjoy playing and listening to today, such as Mozart, Bach, Chopin, etc.
Synergo Music Method is a 10-year core learning method. By following it consistently, an average 6-year old child will be a fluent and capable musician by the age of 16. The core consists of a series of correlated text-books and courses. Of course, the schedule will be adjusted to the individual needs and abilities of the student. Below, you will find the standard course schedule for an average student:
| Core Education | |
|---|---|
| Playing By Ear | Student develops hand-ear coordination, and will be able to reproduce simple melodies on the piano. Later, accompaniment of the left hand is added. |
| 2-Hand Coordination | A series of exercises that teaches a student to distinguish between rhythm and meter. A student will be able to simultaneously perform different musical material in each hand. |
| Basic Repertoire I | Beginning repertoire, without pedal. The student will begin to learn to interpret and perform classical masters expressively. Includes pieces by composers such as J.C. Bach, L. Mozart, Dittersdorf, Haydn, Turk, Purcell, Kabalevsky. |
| Basic Repertoire II | Intermediate level pieces, mostly Romantic era, which require the art of pedalization and phrasing. Includes pieces by composers such as Tchaikovsky, Grichinenev, Tcherepnin, Schumann, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Casella. |
| Individualized Repertoire | Pieces at this stage will be selected based on student preference, technical abilities and needs, and new artistic content. |
| Comparative Listening I | A course of performance comparison. A student will listen to and make sense of various performers' renditions of the same work, and compare and contrast them in 3 aspects of music - Dynamics, Rhythm, Tempo |
| Comparative Listening II | Once a student is familiar with all prerequisite music theory concepts, he will expand his listening experience, and produce comparisons incorporating all 8 aspects of music (Phrasing, Tempo, Meter, Dynamics, Rhythm, Articulation, Texture, Harmony, Form). |
| Book of Piano Motions | A unique textbook that teaches expressive pianistic motions and resolves weaknesses in technique, based on Blumenfeld's method (teacher of Simon Barere, Anatoly Kitain, Vladimir Horowitz). |
| Art of Piano Performance | A comprehensive 12-volume collection of original pieces composed to progressively expose the student to musical idioms and their corresponding techniques. These volumes' primary focus is to develop the student's internalization of musical concepts and ability to imagine and project them before playing. Each piece is dedicated to a specific technical matter and/or a particular means of expression. These pieces are much easier and more expressive than the vast majority of children's music methods.
Stories are provided for each piece – making it easier for the student to associate a given musical idiom with a corresponding image and emotion. At the end of every piece there is a clear summary of what is new and important. The teaching philosophy behind Art of Piano Performance is so that the student learns more pieces faster – where every week he is given a new piece. This fast pace advances the student very quickly while keeping him interested and motivated. |
| Basic Notation | A textbook and accompanying workbook, which introduce young children to the basic elements of notation, including stave, notes, clef. |
| Rhythm & Character | A completely unique workbook designed to train the student's ability to perceive motion and sound-gestures in music. It pioneers a series of exercises on natural movement to music, never before formulated in piano instructional literature. |
| Elementary Music Theory | A textbook and accompanying workbook, covering all the basics of music theory necessary to be a good performer. |
| Melody Analysis I | A workbook designed to help the student learn to see and feel the elements of a melody, and understand what exactly makes the melody expressive, and how. This book incorporates concepts learned from Elementary Music Theory to reinforce practical mastery of them. |
| Melody Analysis II | This volume is designed to produce a mastery of melodic phrasing. Melodies presented in this volume are designed to be as challenging as possible, so that all piano literature a student is likely to come across will be substantially easier. The student must define phrases, caesuras, sentences, sections of form, climax point, and optimal articulations. This volume also places a demand on being able to play technically challenging melodies fluently and expressively. |