Piano with classical sheet music for music appreciationIn your music appreciation lessons, we are free to explore a general overview of classical highlights, or deepen your own pre-existing musical passions.

Please contact me now to find out more

This is your opportunity to spread your wings as a musician or listener and deepen your knowledge and enjoyment of a wide variety of music. With so much classical music to embrace (orchestral, chamber, solo, choral, vocal), a wonderful voyage of discovery awaits you.

You can have music appreciation lessons irrespective of whether you are also taking piano lessons with me, although we can build some useful synergies if you are doing both. Being able to read music is an advantage, but don’t worry if that’s not the case; you can gain a great deal of fulfilment by exploring purely from a listener’s point of view. At the other end of the spectrum, we can go into significant analytical detail if you would prefer a more academic approach.

Depending on your individual experience and aspirations, your music appreciation lessons will feature some combination of the following elements, to varying degrees:

  • overview of music history
  • the lives and times of individual composers
  • the main components of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, pitch, texture, form etc.)
  • stylistic characteristics and ‘tricks of the trade’ of the great composers
  • the qualities of different instruments
  • the role of the interpreter
  • suggested listening and reading

However, there is no fixed formula for your music appreciation lessons with me. The musical pathways we explore can be as free or structured as you choose. If you already have enthusiams for certain composers or styles, we will develop these and I will introduce you to related repertoire which I hope you will value and enjoy.

If you don’t play an instrument, the time we spend together is likely to improve your critical faculties as a listener, which will hopefully give you a platform from which to enhance your enjoyment of music for the rest of your life.

If you are also studying piano with me, the same applies, but the extra insights you gain will undoubtedly have a positive effect on your piano playing too.

Rates

£70 per hour, £55 for 45 minutes. Durations longer than an hour are possible for advanced students. There’s a small extra charge, to cover travel distance and time, if the lessons are in your home.

To explore further, please call me on 07917 363376 or email ian@ianflint.com

Please contact me now to find out more

“I heard Ian Flint give lecture-recitals for the Rachmaninoff Society in Amsterdam and New York. As well as being a world class pianist, Ian has the rare gift of being able to explain complexities of music in a simple and understandable manner. Moreover, his sense of humour makes the learning experiences highly enjoyable.”

Debra Takakjian, pianist and pedagogue, Paris, France.