First Steps

Ms. Maggie believes wholeheartedly in engaging the student’s imagination during piano lessons. Practice should be the same – dull, unimaginative practice leads to dull, uninteresting playing and students who do not learn to enjoy playing the piano. Parents help immensely when they encourage their children to have fun during practice, to creatively explore sounds – even the ones not written on the page, and to mindfully practice. This means that when the child’s attention span has ended, practice ends too. It can be taken up again after a break or rest period if more work needs to be done.

Maggie Padilla specializes in beginning lessons for young children ages 4-6 years.

Children, especially young children, learn best through play – anything that engages their imaginations is going to delight them. Stories, games, and imagery drawn from the world they’re already familiar with draw children into the world of piano playing. Children this age are encouraged to split their weekly 30-minute lesson into two 15-minute lessons per week. This block of time is more natural for their developing minds, giving them the perfect amount of material without hitting overload, and suiting their natural attention span. The second lesson allows for extra repetition and learning additional content after their minds have sifted and processed the material from the first lesson. Students who follow this pattern of learning progress far more quickly than their counterparts who take the full 30 minutes in one session.

Tales of a Musical Journey

Based on the Modern Unified piano technique, which traces its history through greats such as Chopin and Beethoven, Tales of a Musical Journey is a one-of-a-kind method book that solves many of the problems found in modern-day books. These books do a wonderful job of engaging the child’s imagination with colors and books written just for them, however, they sacrifice technique and create tension and physical stress in the hand, arm, and shoulders. The old books that taught good techniques failed to reach children in their developmental stages. Tales of a Musical Journey unites the two in a book uniquely written for children, beautifully marrying technique with artful imagery that captures the child’s imagination and interest. These books build enthusiasm and artistry right alongside technique and note reading, engaging the whole self – body, mind, and emotion – in the pursuit of music. All books and materials can be found at irinagorin.com.

Tales has been translated into multiple languages. Lessons will take place in English, however, Ms. Maggie can also teach from the Spanish translation if preferred.