Irvine

All lessons are private with one teacher and one student at a time. Each school has multiple sound-proof rooms where each student takes a weekly lesson with their teacher.

One major advantage of going to a music school instead of in-home lessons is that students have access to a group of teachers who have varying teaching styles which focus on a broad set levels, genres, and techniques. This allows students to learn from the teacher that best fits their interests, potential, and needs. And as students progress, they can start learning from another instructor at the school if that's the best path for their growth. There is also a seasoned General Manager working with all of the teachers and families to help each student get the most out of their experience.

Yes, of course! While we start our beginner level students with our patented alphanumeric notation, sheet music is introduced within the first few levels. We teach the beginner techniques in our notation, and then the student learns how to map it and read it in sheet music. This process continues back and forth until the student reaches the mid intermediate category, where at this point they are fully only reading sheet music. The transition has been seamless for thousands of students.

Your experience as a prospective student starts with a 1:1 orientation and school tour with one of our teachers. You’ll review the curriculum and methodology that makes Payam Music different from traditional lessons. During our half hour together, we’ll also start to get to know the student to start to personalize their experience by learning what genre of music they'd like to learn and what learning style will be the best match. We invite parents or a guardian to join students at the orientation. No preparation necessary!

Every student’s first lesson is free. The 50-minute lesson will be customized based on what we learn about the student in the orientation. The student will be able to play a song on their first day! At the end of the lesson, we’ll make a mutual decision whether the student is ready to start piano lessons.

We think it’s bananas that piano has been taught the same way for hundreds of years. Just as a child learns to speak before reading or writing, the Payam Method introduces piano in a natural, intuitive way. Our approach makes learning more accessible to all levels of learners by drawing from the psychology of language learning. For example, we start with our alphanumeric notation — using the familiar language of ABCs and 123s, not the foreign language of sheet music — to help students make meaningful progress and build confidence from day one. Read more about our curriculum.

The song selection students receive are based on their personal taste. If a student has a passion for learning classical music, or any specific genre or style of music, our curriculum can be tailored to fit the personal needs.