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FORTISSIMO An Authorized Yamaha Music School

Congratulations to FORTISSIMO students who passed the ABRSM piano grade exam: Queena Liu ( ABRSM 1), Cynthia Wang ( ABRSM 3), Maggie Huang ( ABRSM 5), and Madeline Huang ( ABRSM 5). Congratulations to FORTISSIMO student for achieving State level award: Queena Liu - Primary music composition - Award of Merit. Music therapy services and music lesson for special need students by a licensed music therapist/ teacher available at Fortissimo now.

Our experienced, professional staff is adept at working with anyone

youngster through adult--at any skill level--beginner through advanced.

Junior Special Advanced Course (JSAC)

Some JMC graduates demonstrate a unique capacity for accelerated music learning. This is evident by their highly developed sense of the primary elements of music, including pitch, harmony, and sense of rhythm. In addition, they love music class and have supportive families. For these children, Yamaha’s Junior Special Advanced Course (JSAC) is offered as an opportunity to support accelerated music learning.

A four-year program, the Junior Special Advanced Course (JSAC) is designed for children who are eager to learn how to express themselves through music and how to create music of their own. JSAC students participate in group lessons that develop general musicianship skills, and private lessons that develop performing ability.

Yamaha's JSAC classes have had many exciting opportunities, including being selected to perform an original class ensemble composition at the Yamaha National Junior Original Concert (JOC), and as Yamaha Student Ambassadors performing in the local community.

CLASS FORMAT

1 weekly 50 minute group lessons (6-10 students per class)
1 weekly 30-minute private lessons

4 Year Overview Years 1 and 2

Group Lesson: 50 minutes
Private Lesson: 30 minutes

Years 3 and 4

Group Lesson: 80 minutes
Private Lesson: 45 minutes

CLASS ACTIVITIES

Solfege

Sight singing – to develop music reading ability
Expression and Theory – to develop expressive singing songs with accompaniment. This subject helps students to understand the sense of melody as they make a connection between music and the score.
Dictation – to develop the ability to sing or play back the melody, harmony, or a two-voiced melody that the teacher plays on the piano
Singing with Accompaniment – to develop the skill of singing a melody as they accompany themselves.

Keyboard Harmony to develop the ability to harmonize a given melody and to learn different styles of accompaniment

Sound ‘Plaza’ to discover and create new sounds and timbre

Music Appreciation to listen to and analyze music composition

Ensemble to develop arranging skills by playing music of different genres and style

Improvisation to learn how to transpose, make variations, improvise on a motif and improvise freely

Composition to create original compositions and express unique musical ’voice’

Private Lessons to develop performing ability.

Yamaha Grade Exam students will take Yamaha Grade Examination approximately once per year.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Although parents are in close communication with the teacher, parent attendance in the class and private lesson is not necessarily required. This is up to the teacher and based on the needs of the class. Many children are beginning to thrive and find confidence in their increasing independence, so either right away or eventually, the parents are not in the class. From time to time, the teacher may ask the parents to attend for a special occasion or reason.

INSTRUMENT

It is ideal to have an acoustic piano at home, but digital with 61 to 88 keys will also suffice. Eventually, the goal should be to purchase a piano.

PIANO REPERTOIRE

The study of piano repertoire in JSAC is taught in the private lesson along with piano technique. The teacher assigns the student technical exercises and repertoire in their private lessons, based on the individual student's needs, similar to the standard, more traditional piano lesson format. Each student will study the repertoire that their teacher believes he or she should study, taken from standard repertoire of the baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary idioms, and contained in the publicly available anthologies.

WHAT REPERTOIRE LEVEL WILL MY CHILD ACHIEVE BY THE END OF JSAC?

Each student is unique, but in general, by the end of JSAC, most students are playing at least on this level: sonatinas, early advanced level Mozart or Beethoven, Chopin Nocturnes or Preludes, Bach Preludes, Debussy, Shostakovich etc. Occasionally a very talented, ambitious JSAC student may perform a piano concerto level repertoire.

Upon Completion of the Course

Once your child has completed the Junior Special Advanced Course, children may continue in private lesson instruction and/or composition classes. As the children develop more advanced musical skills, they are also encouraged to express themselves by performing and composing their own music through programs like Junior Original Concert.

All in all, the unique combination of the comprehensive Yamaha group class with a high level of individual attention in the private lesson, under the guidance of a gifted and committed Yamaha teacher, is truly an incomparable music education experience.

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