Montreal Heart of the City Piano Program

The Montreal Heart of the City Piano Program is a chapter of the national organization, founded in Saskatchewan in 1995. Since November 2007, the MHCPP has offered tuition-free piano lessons to children at English and French inner-city elementary schools in Montreal. Led by a team of dedicated volunteers through the Student Society of McGill University, the Montreal chapter has grown in the past year to include a total of four schools and now offers Math and English tutoring as well.

• Students interested in the program are selected by school staff based on need and enthusiasm.
• From September to April, children receive weekly 30-minute private lessons with volunteer teachers.
• Students in the program are required practice regularly during lunch hour or after school in a classroom equipped with keyboards, headphones and music books. All supplies are provided by our program.
• In April, participating students are encouraged to prepare one or two short pieces for the year-end recital, where they show their family and friends what they learned during the year. The concert is held at McGill and usually includes a tour of campus and/or a visit to the Redpath Museum.

Students practice on keyboards with headphones that were generously provided by Yamaha Music Canada. Music books were in part donated by Steve’s Music Montreal.

French students use the Alfred Basic Piano Library while English students are using Piano Adventures. Both books are very teacher and student friendly. While students share the method books, each child will receive their own theory book and notebook. Private lesson teachers are encouraged to write complete notes on what the students worked on at each lesson, the child’s strengths and difficulties, and what is assigned for homework. These notes will be used by practice time volunteers.

In addition, private teaching volunteers are expected to go over theory worksheets at the beginning of each month with students. These will be made available in the practice room and are used to evaluate the progress of the students as a group and help the teachers identify and address any specific issues the student may be facing.

Our funding comes from event-based fundraising and modest private/corporate donations. We are happy to announce that as of January 2012 we will be affiliated with the McGill Alumni Association’s Seeds of Change Program, through which individuals and businesses can make a tax-deductible donation.

We express our sincere appreciation to Yamaha Canada who has donated two dozen keyboards to the program to help us get started. They have been a pleasure to work with, and despite being such a large corporation, truly believe in making a difference in the community.

We also wish to thank Steve’s Music and the Leading Note music store who have both made generous contributions to the program.