As you start to attend private ukulele lessons with Music Junction, it will be beneficial to have a personal instrument to practice at home. If you don’t have a ukulele yet, you can borrow your teacher’s during your lesson for the first lesson or two, but you'll need one after that. For virtual lessons, it’s best to have your ukulele purchased right away. Our music instructors can help you find an affordable instrument to purchase, just let us know and we will help you get set up!

Our Music Junction team is happy to help you choose the perfect instrument before you start lessons. Normally we will have you choose your instrument before scheduling you with your instructor. Many of our instructors also teach multiple instruments, which would give you more than one instrument choice with the same teacher. After you have come to a decision about your instrument, we can also help you with purchasing the instrument, if you need to, so that you are ready to go for classes. Just let us know you need help with that when you reach out to us, and we will make sure you get the support you need!

The main thing you need to learn an instrument is time and dedication. You can learn to play any instrument when you set aside the time to do it. That said, there are some skills or traits that can make it easier to play an instrument. For example, it could be easier for someone to learn an instrument if they have already learned another instrument. Many musicians start on the piano at a young age, and then learn other instruments later. The piano is a great instrument for developing a strong foundation in music because it’s easy to see music concepts laid out on the keyboard. Also, musicians who have learned a string instrument will have an easier time learning other string instruments. That’s because most string instruments use similar finger techniques, so a lot of the technical skills learned on one instrument could transfer to another. Another factor that may influence a student's abilities is their natural finger dexterity. Also, if the student has a lot of exposure to music in their family, they will often be able to more quickly learn and memorize music. Even with every advantage in the book, it will not compare to time and dedication. When a musician sets their mind to learning an instrument, anything is possible and improvement is inevitable.

We love seeing our students perform in live shows, and are happy to coordinate events whenever possible. The teachers at Music Junction see performances as an integral part of learning and believe it offers tremendous benefit to their learning. After all, why learn an instrument just to hide your gift? Your Burbank music instructor will prepare you for our quarterly recitals, ensuring that you have your song ready and rehearsed before the big day. With Music Junction hosting four recitals per year, we make sure that you never go too long without a performance. We only recommend that you give yourself a chance to rehearse the song you choose in class before performing. With your teacher’s help, you are sure to have a rewarding experience!

The piano is one of the easiest instruments to get started on, due to the visual layout of the notes, and how easy it is to push down the keys. For this reason, we recommend piano lessons even as early as 4 years of age. Adult students can also benefit from the ease of getting started on piano. It is easy to play melody lines on the piano with little or no training, which is often how beginner students use the instrument. Playing chords and more elaborate multi-note arrangements come later on piano. Guitar and ukulele could also be considered easy in a different way, because it’s easier to play chords on these instruments. The nice thing about playing chords is that many songs use only a few repeated chords for an entire section, while the melody note is constantly changing. So learning 4 chords on the ukulele could give you the capability to perform an entire song. To perform the song, you would need to add the melody line by singing it. For young students, we recommend starting guitar no earlier than 7 or 8 years of age, because you need more finger strength than piano. Ukulele requires less strength and can be learned even earlier. Adults can also consider the ukulele as an easier string instrument to start on than guitar, since it’s easier to press down the strings, and there are only 4 strings instead of 6.

Yes, definitely! Learning more than one instrument together can actually help you learn both of them faster, because what you learn on one will help you with the other. One great approach could be to pair singing with piano, guitar, or ukulele, so you can play and sing together. If you like to sing, learning a second instrument can be extra fun if you get to sing with it.

Your teacher will have a plan for your first lesson, including new student orientation, and an instrument introduction or review to get you started. You will need your instrument of course, but if you don’t have one yet, that’s ok, just make sure to let us know in advance so your teacher can be prepared. When you are doing in-person piano lessons, you won’t need to bring an instrument, because you and your teacher will share a piano in one of our teaching rooms. If you are taking virtual lessons, it would be good to have a notebook handy to take notes. For in-person lessons, we will provide you with one. If you have already taken lessons before, please bring any lesson books you have worked with in the past, so you and your teacher can review them and see what would be best for going forward. You could also prepare a song that you have worked on in the past, for your teacher to review with you, to use as a jumping-off point for your first lesson. For total beginner students, we have our favorite lesson books we recommend, and we will arrange for them to be ordered for you. You will normally receive them in your first or second lesson. Your first Music Junction lesson is an exciting time, where you get to enjoy the anticipation of everything you will learn, and how far you will go, so enjoy it!

Lessons at Music Junction are absolutely tailored to each student’s age and skill level. For our youngest students, ages 4 & 5, we recommend piano lessons only and we have special piano books for that age. The next age category is 6-9 years old, and we provide lesson materials for children that are designated for that age range as well. For older children, we use materials appropriate for either preteens or teenagers, and then adult students will have their own adult lesson material. If the student is not a total beginner, your teacher will do an assessment in your first lesson and find a good starting point for you that matches your level. Some students who already have experience in their instrument, choose to do a review of the lesson material from the beginning to have a reminder of all they have learned, and reinforce the basics, before moving forward. Either way, Music Junction lessons are a private one-on-one experience, so your teacher’s priority is to make sure your lesson plans are working for you. If you have any suggestions or ideas, always share them with your teacher so that they can make sure to incorporate them into your lesson plan.

Our students that participate in weekly ukulele sessions see constant improvement, often starting on week one. Every week, our instructors build on the progress from the last lesson, so you gain constant knowledge and improvement, especially when you practice in between the private ukulele lessons. Studying the ukulele is an ongoing adventure that lets you see and feel the progress from week to week, month to month, and year to year. Each month, you will see an improvement that gives you a nice confidence boost. Looking back at a year of improvement, you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment. Just enjoy the musical journey, and you’ll notice your private ukulele lessons give you improvement at astonishing rates.