Piano and guitar lessons at home in Short Hills, NJ

Lessons that start from your favorite songs

Ask most adult beginners why they want to play, and the answer is a song. A hymn from childhood, a Sinatra standard, the Beatles. Good teachers build the first months around one or two pieces you love, and sneak the reading and technique in along the way.

If you played years ago, the teacher will find your level quickly. Many returning players are surprised by how much their hands remember once the rust comes off.

Some people prefer to learn by ear rather than reading notes, and that's a legitimate way to play. A teacher can show you chord shapes and patterns so you can work out tunes you already know. Others want to read music properly at last, often something they gave up on as a child. Tell the teacher which camp you're in on the first visit, and the plan will look quite different.

Show tunes, from just down the road

Paper Mill Playhouse sits on Brookside Drive in Millburn, and plenty of Short Hills residents have been going for years. Show tunes make wonderful lesson material: the melodies are strong, the arrangements come in every difficulty, and it's a real thrill to play something at home that you heard on stage a few weeks earlier.

Some students like to learn a song from a show before they see it, then hear how the pit orchestra handles it.

Music therapy, by certified therapists only

Home Happenings also offers music therapy, but only from board-certified music therapists, the MT-BC credential, which we verify before a therapist can appear under that option. Music therapy suits someone for whom a traditional lesson isn't the right goal. It might mean singing familiar songs together, drumming simple rhythms, or using music to get a conversation going.

It isn't a replacement for medical treatment. Families often book it alongside everything else a parent has going on, simply because the person lights up when music is in the room.

Cost and scheduling

Teachers set their own hourly rate between $50 and $150, and lessons can be 1, 1.5 or 2 hours. There's a $2.50 booking fee and a 10% service fee at checkout. Weekly lessons at a regular time help most, so many students book every week until they cancel. If a teacher lives 20 or more miles away, a $25 travel fee applies per visit.

Most teachers suggest short daily practice between lessons, ten or fifteen minutes, rather than one long sitting. Little and often is easier on the hands and the memory.