Piano Keyboard Club
We bring electric piano keyboards to the school and theme songs. Using specially created visual tools and books, we teach the participants basic music reading skills and piano playing technique, so that they get playing the songs that they like right away. Our highly trained Instructors use lots of music learning games and activities to teach the basics of music theory, so the sessions are great fun for the kids, and they stay focused and motivated from week to week as they progress through the program.
Session are usually organized into six or eight week segments. Once a sessions in each school throughout the school year, and to progress our students to a high level of musical proficiency. At the end of each segment our participant students generally have either a recital or an Open House (where parents are invited to come and learn more about what their kids are doing in the program). Our class ratio is generally never more than eight students per instructor (all of whom are background checked and are trained on school policies and procedures for maintaining the utmost safety of all students). The Piano Keyboard Club offers each child a well rounded approach to learning music in a social environment with other kids.
Junior Rockers Band Program
For kids who love rock music and dream of being in a rock band, this is the place for you. They’ll get the chance to learn to play their favorite rock riffs on electric keyboards, guitars, bass and drums, in a real rock band setting. We invite both experienced and beginner musicians to take part, as there are roles for everyone in our ensemble band! Also, guitarists and bass players as well as singers are welcome to come and be a part of the fun. Instruments are provided for each session, but kids are welcome to bring their own instruments if they prefer. Come and jam on music from artists like the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Taylor Swift and many more. And get really to rock out on the final day live performance.
Private in Home Lessons
There is much to be said for 1 on 1 music instruction. In fact, the great majority of music learning in America still takes place in the form of private lessons in people's homes. Unfortunately, most music teachers out there have not moved with the times; they use old fashioned teaching methods that fail to inspire or motivate their students. Musical Minds has created an in-home lesson curriculum that keeps the student focused and engaged, and moves each one in their own direction and at their own pace. Our private students will not only learn playing skills, but will learn how to tap into their creative abilities as well. Our unique approach to private music lessons allows the student to keep on having fun as they progress.
We bring the keyboards to your school and set up a complete music lab. Every student gets to work on their very own keyboard with individual headphones. Method books, materials and tools are included. Our usual course lengths are eight weeks long, with one hour sessions each week. Tuition varies depending on operating costs per school.
- We use visual tools developed to make learning piano theory more logical and easy, so that the student can play actual songs faster, with less emphasis on repetitive drills and scales.
- Our students begin to learn in groups. In the social environment, we are able to introduce theory in more fun and engaging ways, such as games and activities.
- Instructors are trained to create and maintain high levels of motivation.
- We use popular music: the music the student wants to play rather than the music the instructor wants the student to play.
We recruit the highest quality individuals to lead our programs. Our instructors are trained to deliver our curriculum with the highest level of enthusiasm. The majority of our instructors have music degrees and extensive teaching experience. And all of our class sessions are regularly monitored and supervised. We run background checks on all of our instructors.
Warren Mendes
My name is Warren Mendes and I'm the Director of Musical Minds. I began offering after school music programs back in 2001, after spending a couple of years at Rhodes Music Corporation. At Rhodes I worked to promote the highly acclaimed teaching methodology of the legendary Harold Rhodes, developer of the famous Fender Rhodes piano. Before that, I was a recording artist, a session musician and a songwriter. I was lucky enough to have several of my compositions recorded by successful artists, and I was able to work with many "big name" artists, but I was always frustrated by the state of the music industry. Growing up in the United Kingdom and the West Indies, and being exposed to so much incredible music as a youth, I developed a huge passion for all things musical.
I studied law at university (my pragmatic side made that decision), but my understudies were always music courses. As soon as I graduated I promptly sought out a career in music. My friends and I soon secured a record deal, and away we went! By the time I became involved with music education, my passion for being in the mainstream of the music industry had significantly mellowed, and I believe that in the realm of teaching I had found my knish. I love working with kids and showing the years. I'm a strong advocate of music and art as two key formative building blocks of childhood development. I believe that for kids, music is one of the keys to self confidence, self esteem, creative thinking (essential for problem solving in subjects like math and science), and even social awareness. I have seen all kinds of kids in our program - gifted and talented kids, slow learners, kids with behavioural issues, autism, ADD, ADHD, shy kids, happy kids, you name it. They all love music, and they all enjoy learning to play music and they get so much joy learning to make music. From the very first class that I started in West Los Angeles I could see the vision of bringing a high quality program to schools everywhere. Slowly I assembled my team, and together we have grown steadily, so that our program can now be found in schools up and down the West Coast, from as far north as Seattle all the way down to San Diego.
David Carruthers
David Carruthers is one of those unique individuals who employs both sides of his brain equally. He has an extensive background in business and finance, having been a Chartered Accountant in Canada (the equivalent of a CPA in the United States), and he's held the post of chief financial player with numerous jazz outfits and big band orchestras in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, and before that in Toronto, Canada. David is a lovable guy whose heart is completely in this program, and he brings that good Canadian sensibility to Musical Minds. He's well liked by kids, parents and school officials alike, and he wears many hats in the organization, so his true job can best be described as our operations manager (or maybe the heart of the program).
