Piano Logic was first introduced to the public school elementary music education classes in rural Montana.  The following is a commentary from the
elementary school music teacher comparing the two systems of conveying musical information:

Elementary School Music Teacher Uses New Curriculum in Classroom


Piano Logic was introduced to the college level music education classes in Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, Oregon. 

Dr. Larry Zgonc, a 30 year veteran music educator who received his Masters degree from the Juilliard School of Music and his Doctorate from Arizona State comments on the effectiveness of the new music education curriculum in the classroom.

Dr. Zgonc Commentary on Piano Logic in the Classroom

Hilda Chavez, the music teacher in the Haight Ashberry school district in the inner city of San Francisco, asked me to demonstrate the new curriculum in an actual classroom environment.  The following is the story about this event which was published in the Montana Whitefish magazine:

TEACHING PIANO LOGIC IN SAN FRANCISCO
INNER CITY SCHOOL

One day I received a phone call from Hilda Chavez, a public school music teacher working in San Francisco. Hilda was studying the Piano Logic program with her twelve year old son and was very impressed. She asked me for the opportunity to teach the new system in her school. 

I traveled to San Francisco to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Piano Logic program in the classroom.  As I prepared for the class, Hilda asked me what I thought I could accomplish in 45 minutes. I told her I would teach the children to play the structural foundation of Pachelbel's Canon and how to create a major and a minor chord from any key.

Hilda responded hesitantly, "Oh..really." I smiled and rephrased my answer explaining this was just a goal I hoped to reach. "That's good," she replied. "Everyone should have a vision".

Hilda was hopeful that I might succeed in this endeavor, but she had her doubts. Her personal experience with conventional methods of music education did not produce the rapid advancement in student comprehension and performance ability I suggested was possible. On top of that, the school was located in the inner-city district where many of the children were struggling just to pass their everyday studies. In addition, there were two old pianos in the front of the classroom. Each child would learn using a two-octave paper keyboard which Hilda had made for them the night before.

I began the music class with an explanation of how the language of music is similar to the English language. The children located the numeric tonal alphabet. Through visual methods of structural form, they learned how to select and combine specific tones from the alphabet to form music vocabulary.

Using their paper keyboards, the children practiced their hand movements used to combine the tones together. The students took turns coming up to the front of the classroom to play a real piano. With minimal assistance, each student performed the structural foundation of Pachelbel's Canon. Their fingers moved fluently across the entire piano keyboard.

I distinctly remember one student, an African-American boy named Mowatti. There was something very special about the look in his eyes when he realized that he could play the piano. His enthusiasm excelled as I showed him how to end the piece with a dramatic flare. I still remember his face radiating a beautiful smile. He was so happy with his success.

I continued to explain how to create a major and a minor chord from any key. The children practiced on their paper keyboards. One by one they came to the front of the class. "Miss Chavez," the student would yell out, "F sharp major," and a resounding performance of F sharp major filled the classroom. "Miss Chavez, F sharp minor!" and the same child played the differentiation between the two categories of music vocabulary with complete comprehension and ease.

As the bell rang, each child received a gold star for successfully playing the structural foundation of Pachelbel's Canon and creating a major and a minor chord from every key. For Hilda, the demonstration of what is possible was a necessary first step in the Piano Logic teacher certification training program.

After the class, Hilda expressed her amazement at how quickly the children understood the Numeric Language of Music®. Especially Mowatti. He was failing almost every other class at school.