Advantage

Skill Maps are Taaqademy’s Guiding Lights.

They capture the knowledge and skills required at every defined level of your musical learning and establish the structure of your music classes for a defined period. They also allow our faculty unrivalled freedom and flexibility to use whatever approaches they find are a best-fit for their customized one-on-one sessions, to achieve the stated Skill Map objectives.

We place a lot of value in our teachers and their abilities to accurately assess and develop the methods that will work best for their students; and since all our sessions are one-on-one, we have found this very effective in both avoiding a ‘cookie cutter’ outcome and enabling truly inspirational journeys of learning.

Skill Maps are referenced by the instructors and are written in our mother tongue / music language, so they may have jargon that a new entrant may not understand. But our instructors will be happy to translate it for you.

So if you want to know how long it will take for you to play like Joe Satriani and sing like Taylor Swift, the Skill Maps have a metric connecting practice time and level completion. Once you reach the Advanced Level 2 (A-2) read the last line. Skill Maps can be viewed by clicking the yellow button above.

This is how Taaqademy helps you understand your (or your child’s) progress in your musical journey.

Everyone gets there – some meander, some sprint, we just ensure that they are on track.
It’s like many of those idealized ‘life-goals’ – good relationships, fitness… there’s is no one hack or shortcut; it’s all about the small, consistent daily practice and drills that add up over time, muscle memory and neural pathways are built; and suddenly one day you’re Over The Hills And Far Away…

We keep you on track. Every class culminates in the filling of a Session Note by the teacher. At the end of 8 classes (a reasonable, minimum duration for most people to make progress with music learning), this information is compiled and interpreted to generate the Level Check Report that gives an overview of the topics covered, strengths, areas of improvement, what you can look forward to, recommendations from different faculty members who may have taken your class, etc.

Recitals are live musical performances by Taaqademy students. We usually conduct them once a week online and feature 8-10 students who are Recital-Ready. The space is held by an encouraging audience of friends, family and instructors, and gives the performer a taste of being centre-stage, butterflies in stomach, applause at the end. Confidence and happiness are a byproduct.

Not all the performances will be flawless, errors are fine. They build character and perseverance. Recitals help students work with the errors and work through them. They learn how to present themselves, how to introduce their music to an audience, interact with them, be nervous, and most importantly – put themselves out there and show up!

Oh yes, we also give each performer a Recital Certificate – a nice keepsake to mark their first foray into live performance! It can go in the file that also holds the certificate of participation in the Lemon and Spoon race.

Pudding in a Showcase! No no, Showcase is not the cabinet where Mom keeps curios. And Pudding is not the dessert.

Taaqademy faculty spotlights students who have gone through Recitals and are now performance-ready. This is a Showcase.

The video series of our Showcase sessions is Proof of the Pudding, hence called Pudding Sessions. These Pudding Sessions are shared on our social handles where they get wider exposure. Students get an opportunity to engage with fellow musicians, and music producers can discover new talent etc.

Our mentors have to be convinced that the student is Pudding-Ready. To feature in this dessert, the student should be able to perform a piece of music at Early, Intermediate level or more, with a high degree of proficiency and style. The student is then guided through the process of capturing an audio/video recording, which is then edited and put together by our team before publishing and promoting it on our social handles.

Shuffle or Teacher Shake-ups is when students get to experience a new teacher and discover different styles and ideas.

Most of our teachers are professional musicians and sometimes get called to perform for concerts and gigs. Sometimes they get sick, get lazy, get busy, get drunk, get married, you get the gist. It’s called being human. But your show must go on. So in steps a substitute teacher, laden with your Session Notes, to give you a flavour of their teaching style. This ensures continuity in your training and an opportunity to explore new dynamics.

Giving exams suddenly gives credibility to education. Trinity College of Music (London) is like the ICSE and RSL Awards (UK) is like the IB Board of Music. Also interchangeable, lest there be a discussion on which board is better.

Taaqademy is affiliated with both of them.

Music qualifications can elevate a student’s college application, establish a great roadmap with checkpoints, and enhance rigour and in general, parents love to brag about exams that their children take.

Music Examination Syllabus from both Trinity and RSL is available from Debut (Beginner) to Grade 8 (Advanced). Exams typically comprise theory and performance sections. Qualifications are available for a variety of instruments/vocal (in both Classical and Contemporary styles) – including guitar, piano/keyboard, voice, violin, ukulele, drums, music theory and music production.

Our faculty will help you prep, practice, and perform at your best.

Each exam body has specific schedules for applications and tests. We have a dedicated exams team that can be reached at exams@taaqademy.com. See, like that, we are full professional only!