F.A.Q.

General Questions

Dots & Squiggles was created for 3-7 year olds, to bridge the gap between toddler music sessions and private tuition, in that formative period where a natural love of music is too often lost. D&S therefore gives children the opportunity to learn the basics in a fun, innovative way and at a much more realistic cost than private tuition for children of that age. We would never discourage you choosing private tuition over our group-based programme but it’s definitely worth trying both in the first instance to see which your child responds to.

The stages are progressive and to move on to the next stage, it is important to have a firm grasp of the previous. That being said, stages can be repeated to help embed the skills. This should not be seen as a failure, but rather allowing learners to progress at their own pace. This is similar to the way schools revisit key concepts each term.

Sessions are paid for as a 12-week block, three blocks per year. This includes a weekly 45 minute session, rhythm instrument, music stave whiteboard and a Dots & Squiggles bag to keep everything together. You will need to provide a basic keyboard or piano for home practice outside lesson time. We can offer advice as to which keyboard would be best suited for beginners. Don’t worry, in the early stages you don’t need anything extravagant. For more information of our current fees, get in touch.
Absolutely not! Just bring an open mind and an appreciation for music. You will learn side by side and most likely both end up playing the piano!

It is expected that an adult attend the lesson with each child. Children should practice 3-4 times a week for around 10-15 minutes to reinforce the skills and considering the age of the learners, they will need to do that with an adult. In the beginning, there’s not much to practice and a quick 3-5 minutes may be sufficient. Remember that it’s more about establishing the habit of daily practice rather than drilling in 10 minutes of Hot Cross Buns until everyone in the household is unhappy! If you’re joining the Dots & Squiggles programme (not the Pre-School programme where there is greater flexibility) it is important to commit fully to the times as it may be tricky to catch up.

We realise that piano is not for everyone, and in our experience, children are busy bees with so many different options for extra curricular activities. When signing up, ask about our flexibility for new starters, but we would always suggest committing to the first term with everything you have. Often children will develop and progress without showing the excitement or enthusiasm you might be hoping to see. That’s often simply because they are much more engaged than with other activities and we’ve had many parents comment on how the programme has helped them develop and learn key skills also at school.
Our mission is to make mini musicians. But we don’t want that to be limited by location. We’d love to hear from like-minded music and piano teachers wherever you are about opportunities to get involved in Dots & Squiggles.
Satisfied Parents

Parent Testimonials

Such a fun way to learn all aspects of music, not just playing the piano. My 3 year old grandaughter is already reading rhythms, playing tunes and composing her own little songs but mainly just has fun! Want your little one to learn music in a fun way? Well this is the way to do it.

CAROLINE WARREN
If you didn’t find the answers to any other questions you may have, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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If you’d like your little one to become a mini musician, would like us to visit your nursery or school, or interested
in teaching our Dots & Squiggles programme, we’d love to hear from you.

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