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DANMAN'S CURRICULUM

Guitarist at an Event

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Our Personalized Approach

At Danman’s Music School, we believe every student learns differently. That’s why we customize each lesson based on age, goals, skill level, and musical interests — whether you're 3 or 83, learning piano, guitar, or voice. Our goal is simple: keep you inspired, progressing, and having fun.

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The 4 Pillars of Musical Knowledge

  • 🎵 Songs – Learn real music right away to stay motivated

  • 📚 Theory – Understand the “why” behind the music

  • 🎯 Technique – Build confidence and control on your instrument

  • 👁️ Reading – Develop long-term skills with music literacy

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Smart Tools. Real Results.

  • 60 Song Method – A signature curriculum that introduces songs in increasing complexity to build confidence

  • Skills Tracker – A clear roadmap of what you’re learning and where you're headed

  • Finale SmartMusic – Interactive technology that helps with play-alongs, rhythm, and sight-reading (great for tech-savvy students or band prep)

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Matching Students With the Right Teacher

With over 20 instructors on staff — each with different strengths, specialties, and personalities — we carefully match each student with a teacher who fits their learning style and musical taste.

Whether you're learning:

  • Guitar, Piano, Drums, Bass, Ukulele, Violin, Flute, Cello, Voice, or something else…

  • We’ll find a great fit for your journey.

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Age 3 to Adult – It’s Never Too Early (or Too Late)

We meet students where they are — whether they're just learning finger placement or preparing for college auditions. Lessons can be fun and playful, focused and technical, or exploratory and creative depending on the student’s age and goals.

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Flexible, Comfortable, and Consistent

  • Private, one-on-one instruction

  • Available in-store or via Zoom

  • 30- or 60-minute weekly sessions

  • Optional recital opportunities to perform and grow

Piano Lesson

🎵 How We Tailor Music Lessons to You

We tailor your lessons based on the instrument you’re learning — with step-by-step goals, songs, and skill-building techniques.

Whether you're learning guitar, piano, voice, or violin, we break the process into clear, achievable steps that match your pace and interest. Every instrument at Danman’s has its own pathway — so no two students learn the same way, even if they’re playing the same notes.

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🎯 What You Can Expect:

  • 🎵 A song-first approach — learn fun, recognizable tunes from the beginning

  • 🧠 Foundational skill building — technique, note names, posture, and tuning

  • 📈 Structured progress tracking with our custom Skill Tracker

  • 📚 Bonus items & ticket rewards — for added motivation

  • 🎶 Scales, riffs, chords, and real songs appropriate to each student’s level

  • 🎥 Video materials and play-along tracks available online

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📝 Example: Bass Guitar Starter Curriculum

Our Bass students begin with a step-by-step roadmap like this:

  • How to hold the bass and use your pick or fingers

  • Learn all 4 string names and parts of the instrument

  • Tuning and first finger placements using “finger-per-fret” technique

  • Read TAB and play riffs like Smoke on the Water, 7 Nation Army, or Ode to Joy

  • Learn basic chords (E, A, B7) and progressions (I-IV-V)

  • Power chords, walk-ups, and walk-downs

  • Explore hammer-ons, pull-offs, pentatonic scales, and more!

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What Beginner Guitar Students Learn:

  • How to hold the guitar properly

  • How to hold your pick

  • Names of all 6 guitar strings

  • Understanding parts of the guitar

  • Tuning each string (sharper & flatter)

  • Placing fingers on the fretboard

  • "Finger per fret" method (1st position)

  • How to read guitar tablature (TAB)

  • First riffs: Smoke on the Water, Seven Nation Army, Ode to Joy

  • Reading and understanding chord charts

  • First chord: E major

  • First strumming pattern: D_ DU DU DU

  • First finger picking pattern: T-M-I-R

Continued Development Includes:

  • Learning the notes on each string

  • Mastering A major, B7, and full I-IV-V progressions

  • Playing 2-chord and 3-chord songs

  • Introducing techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, barre chords, and power chords

  • Exploring E minor pentatonic and major scale shapes

  • Playing songs with real-world applications like Horse with No Name, Back in Black, and Star Spangled Banner

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Guitar
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What Beginner Bass Students Learn:

  • How to hold the bass properly

  • How to hold your pick or use fingerstyle technique

  • Names of the 4 bass strings

  • Understanding the parts of the bass

  • Tuning individual strings (sharper and flatter)

  • Tuning all 4 strings

  • Proper finger placement on the fretboard

  • “Finger per fret” method in 1st position

  • How to read bass tablature (TAB)

  • First riffs: Smoke on the Water, Seven Nation Army, Ode to Joy

  • Reading chord charts

  • First chord: E major

  • First strumming pattern: D_ DU DU DU

  • First finger picking pattern: T-M-I-R

Continued Development Includes:

  • Learning notes on each string (E, A, D, G)

  • Mastering A major, B7, and other chord shapes

  • Playing popular riffs and chord progressions

  • Techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, walk-ups, and walk-downs

  • Exploring 2-note and 3-note power chords

  • Learning barre chord shapes, scales, and I–IV–V progressions

  • Playing basslines for real-world songs like Funky Music, Back in Black, Horse with No Name, and more

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Close Up View of Bass Guitar Strings
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What Beginner Drum Students Learn:

  • How to hold drumsticks with proper grip

  • Basic hand coordination and posture

  • Playing with a metronome and internalizing rhythm

  • Introduction to the 40 essential drum rudiments

  • Mastering the Single Stroke Roll and Double Stroke Roll

  • Reading basic drum notation

  • Building patterns with paradiddles, flams, and drags

  • Developing muscle memory and wrist control

  • Practicing timing, consistency, and dynamic range

  • Learning to keep steady tempo across basic beats and fills

  • Applying rudiments to drum set grooves and fills

Continued Development Includes:

  • Learning advanced rudiments like flam taps, ratamacues, and drag paradiddles

  • Transitioning from pad to full drum set

  • Playing along with real songs and backing tracks

  • Exploring musical styles: rock, pop, jazz, funk, reggae, and more

  • Structuring fills, accents, and solos

  • Developing coordination between hands and feet

  • Performance readiness and jam session experience

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Drum & Symbol
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What Beginner Flute Students Learn:

  • Identifying the parts of the flute (headjoint, middle, footjoint)

  • How to assemble and align the flute properly

  • Proper posture and how to hold the instrument

  • How to form an embouchure and blow over the embouchure hole

  • Fingering and playing your first notes (C, B, A, G, F, E, D)

  • Combining notes into short melodies and scale fragments

  • Introduction to harmonics, overblowing, and octave control

  • Playing full note combinations and stepwise patterns

  • Understanding and performing C, G, D, A, E, F, Bb Major scales

  • Playing a full chromatic scale from C to C

Continued Development Includes:

  • Learning rhythm through whole, half, quarter, eighth, triplet, and 16th notes

  • Developing articulation using TA, TA-KA, and slurring patterns

  • Practicing tone, breath support, and vibrato

  • Combining scales with articulation for expressive phrasing

  • Learning how to play basic chords and harmonies

  • Working toward complete scale mastery and ensemble readiness

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Flute
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What Beginner Piano Students Learn:

  • How to play Middle C

  • How to place right and left hands in C position

  • Understanding finger numbers (Thumb = 1, Pinky = 5)

  • What is an interval and how to play 2nds through octaves

  • Your first chord: C major (LH & RH, rock and classical fingerings)

  • How to play 5-finger patterns in both hands

  • Introduction to the major scale formula

  • Playing ascending and descending scales in C position

  • Harmony basics: 3rds, 6ths, triads (harmonic & melodic)

  • How to play broken chords in both hands

  • Your first classical songs: Ode to Joy and Canon in C

Continued Development Includes:

  • Mastering chords and inversions in all positions

  • Playing chord progressions like C–F–G7–C using inversions

  • Developing hand independence (melody in RH, chords or bassline in LH)

  • Learning popular songs like Happy Birthday, Canon, and more

  • Playing Root, 1st, and 2nd inversion chords with fluidity

  • Using Hanon exercises to build finger strength and dexterity

  • Combining melody and harmony for full arrangements

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Piano Keys
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What Beginner Ukulele Students Learn:

  • How to hold the ukulele and your pick

  • Names and tuning of all 4 ukulele strings

  • Identifying the parts of the ukulele

  • Understanding half steps and whole steps

  • How to place fingers correctly on the fretboard

  • Using the “finger per fret” method in first position

  • How to read ukulele TAB and chord charts

  • First riff: Ode to Joy

  • First chord: C major

  • First strum: D_ DU DU DU (4/4 time)

  • First finger pick: T - I - M - I

Continued Development Includes:

  • Learning notes on each string (G, C, E, A)

  • Chords: G, Am, F, D, and 2-/3-string barre chords

  • Additional strumming and fingerpicking patterns

  • Playing real songs like Happy Birthday, Canon in C, and reggae-style rhythms

  • Full major scale (C ascending & descending)

  • Progressions: I–IV–V and I–V–vi–IV

  • Advanced skills: hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, reggae strums

  • Learning iconic tunes like Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World (Izzy version)

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

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What Beginner Violin Students Learn:

  • Identifying the parts of the violin and bow

  • How to hold the violin and bow correctly

  • Adjusting and using the shoulder rest

  • Names of the four violin strings (G, D, A, E)

  • Tuning using pegs and fine tuners

  • Playing downstrokes and upstrokes on each string

  • First rhythms: quarter notes and eighth notes in 4/4 time

  • Playing open string exercises and double stops

  • Introduction to reading staff notation (lines: E-G-B-D-F, spaces: F-A-C-E)

  • Playing simple melodies: Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Smoke on the Water

Continued Development Includes:

  • Understanding and playing intervals (half steps, whole steps, octaves)

  • Learning C major, G major, and D major scales

  • Building chords using the every-other-note method

  • Playing major arpeggios and learning chord shapes

  • Techniques like staccato, slurs, and vibrato

  • Learning full songs such as Ode to Joy (Beethoven) and Minuet in G (Bach)

🎯 Student progress is tracked and rewarded with tickets and bonuses — making each step exciting and goal-oriented.

Cello
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24699 Del Prado, Dana Point CA 92629
(949)-496-6556
danmansmusic@gmail.com
bryce.danmans@gmail.com
@Danmansmusicschool 

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