Key Identity Access (TM)

Ryan David Dwyer created Key Identity Access (TM) to remove all barriers to immediate music learning. We have conducted an interview with him.

What are the reasons that your piano lesson for kids are more superior?

Our program recognizes every human being as both naturally musical and naturally creative. Since all note reading based teaching systems rely on regurgitation learning, then only “some” children who are willing to be compliant and obedient to the technical training will be accepted to intermediate and advanced lessons. Even some teachers turn down beginner students who don’t display a sense of rhythm. However, we assert that everyone has natural rhythm, demonstrated by walking in perfect beat and brushing teeth in perfect beat. As we introduce students to basic musical concepts we encourage them to create their own music with the ideas we have provided for them. If they mess up and don’t do our lessons perfectly it is not a big deal. What is most important is that they are experimenting and discovering which types of sounds are their favorite to play.

How does the hand positioning exercises with illustrations look like?

What is wonderful about our diagrams is that they leave no question as to what is to be played because students are shown clearly. Notes on a page are abstract learning, real life demonstration would be concrete. We are a bridge between abstract and concrete learning, facilitated by the color distinctions consistently associated with the same keys, and the hand positioning diagrams (picture provided as sample) showing the recommended fingers to play.

Is your program for both parents and children of 3-6 years?

One of the greatest benefits of our lessons is that they require parent involvement, which includes the added bonus of parents learning to play and compose with their children. It has been an intriguing phenomena to observe some parents that don’t take advantage of this. Yet leading by example is an important part of showing kids what to do, rather than simply telling them. Parents could use our lessons as opportunity to take a leadership role with their children in a fun and interactive way, as another bonding experience. Some adults though, are seemingly trapped in the “traditional” piano lesson mindset of regurgitation, and the idea that they could easily express their own creativity through music can be a bizarre concept to embrace. So we definitely offer a challenge for parents to experience an emotional freedom they may not have ever allowed themselves to embrace.

What does this hybrid program consists of?

It has been my observation that most online piano lessons do not offer anything physical to accompany the teachings. Therefore, there is no actual tangible confirmation that what the students are learning is true progress. The hybrid approach shows video lessons that reveal a recommend way to apply each lesson. The children’s courses come with a physical workbook, flashcards, and 12 crayons. The students literally color in where they will play, then press their fingers on the hands (that show which fingers to use), then they press their fingers on the keyboard in the book. They also color in the keys they’ll play. The exciting thing is that they experience what they will play (on their actual piano) in their workbook, ever before they attempt to play for real! This is entirely proprietary and part of a patent application process.

How important is finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination development?

At a most fundamental level, finger dexterity is vital for reaching and grabbing small and large objects. The ability to accurately match what one sees to what one desires to do with their hands, according to what is seen, is important because it results in sensory harmony. What one sees, hears, and feels working together increases our ability to receive accurate interpretation of communication to us, and communication toward others. Young children who are right handed may find it difficult at first to use their left hand with some of our Lesson 1, 2, and 3 exercises. This is a sign that when they do improve being able to accurately reach, they have developed their muscles more efficiently. In addition, causing both sides of the brain to work in unison with creative input and output can only be a plus in my opinion. In this regard parents could consider our program an essential part of their children’s development. It could also help to alleviate certain symptoms of Autistic related spectrums because it immerses young children into interpreting their relationship with environment - visually, aurally, and physically. The composition aspects encourage them to express their thoughts for other people’s interpretation.

What should parents with young children note if they want their children to learn piano as a start?

In my book, “You’ve Had The Keys All Along” I ask a philosophical question, “Would you prefer your children learn to read and write about someone else’s novel perfectly, or would you prefer they learn to write their own book and express their own novel thoughts?” When contemplating the mindset behind the note reading approach, I am often bewildered that a great deal of Classical Piano teachers never learned to write their own songs. The reason being is that every single last one of the Classical Musicians were composers themselves. The primary reason for them to read and write notes was in order to help preserve their own original musical thoughts. Now that we have digital recording equipment, the necessity for such symbolism is not the same. On a last note (no pun intended) I use this analogy:

When was the last time you bought a ticket to another country, and upon landing at their airport, were stopped from exiting the gate, and you were told, “You cannot enter our country until you learn to read our language”. Do you think such an unexpected encounter would be happily welcomed by you? How long would it take to read their language? 6 months? Who knows…Now apply that to the desire to enter the land of music making. What we do at Key Identity AccessTM is give you the full value of the “ticket” you’ve paid for. All you wanted to do was experience the land of musical creation. We let you in right away, with no hassles!