Stage 1 · Book 1 · ages 11 to adult
Debut
Debut is Book 1, taught in two 12-week terms of weekly 60-minute small-group classes. You start with chords and real songs, play a full song on stage within 90 days, and finish at week 24 performing your own program, filmed and ready to share.
Where this fits: Stage 1 for ages 11 to adult. Ages 8–10 start with Junior Debut.
Start dates
Next Debut start dates
Debut groups start on these dates. Book your free placement session to claim a seat.
Live
Debut classes with open seats
Straight from our class schedule, updated every few minutes. Your seat is set at your free placement session.
Who it's for
Anyone 11 or older, from complete beginners to adults coming back after years away. If you had lessons before but never practiced, this is your track too: the Momentum edition keeps practice to one small task a week.
Format
- Classes
- 24 weekly small-group classes, 60 minutes each, in two 12-week terms: 4–6 students with a home teacher
- Book
- Book 1 · Foundations, in one of three editions: Complete Beginner, Momentum or Returning Player
- Practice
- 10–15 minutes a day, five days a week (Momentum: one small task a week)
- Ends with
- Two showcases with professional video: a full song at the end of Term 1, your own program at the end of Term 2
- Contract
- None. When you've mastered Book 1, move up to Encore, or stop.
What's included
- 24 weekly 60-minute classes in the keyboard lab
- Your track's student book, with the Ovation Method exercises, technique and a day-by-day practice plan inside
- A personal skill map and practice plan every week
- A weekly practice video with written feedback from your teacher, and a parent progress report at weeks 6, 12 and 24
- Two showcase slots with professional video
- A makeup class in another group (one per 12; two for Full Score families)
- Two performance promises
What you'll be able to do
- Both hands doing different jobs
- All six chords in the key of C, named by number
- A song moved to a new key, by number
- A full song performed on stage for family and friends
- A song of your own, written down and performed
- Your first technique exercises, signed off by your teacher
Book 1 · Foundations
Twenty-four lessons, two showcases
Every lesson is written out in your book, with the exercises, technique and practice plan inside. Here's the Complete Beginner edition. The Momentum edition is "one small thing a week, and a song you can perform at the end." The Returning Player edition helps you "wake up what's still in your hands, and take it further than before."
- Lesson 1 Welcome to the Keys
- Lesson 2 Steady Beat, Loud and Soft
- Lesson 3 Two Hands, One Voice
- Lesson 4 Melodies in Numbers
- Lesson 5 Three Notes at Once
- Lesson 6 Same Shape, New Home
- Lesson 7 The Big Three
- Lesson 8 Eighth Notes and Your First Groove
- Lesson 9 Root–Fifth–Octave
- Lesson 10 First Study: Even Fingers
- Lesson 11 Halfway Showcase
- Lesson 12 A Chord with a Different Mood
- Lesson 13 Find the Repeats
- Lesson 14 Minor Five-Finger: A Minor
- Lesson 15 Same Chord, New Order
- Lesson 16 Smooth Hands, Singing Chords
- Lesson 17 The Whole Family
- Lesson 18 Reading Lab: Four Bars a Day
- Lesson 19 Same Song, New Key
- Lesson 20 Seven and Home
- Lesson 21 Make It Lab: Question, Answer, Intro, Outro
- Lesson 22 Your Own Song
- Lesson 23 Showcase Song and Run-Throughs
- Lesson 24 Showcase
Two promises
Perform, or we keep teaching free
The 90-Day Promise. Attend 11 of 12 classes and send at least 10 of 12 weekly practice videos in Term 1. If you can't perform a full song at the Term 1 showcase, we add free lessons until you can.
The Debut Promise. Do the same in Term 2. If you can't perform your Debut program at the week-24 showcase, we add free lessons until you can.
After Debut
Move up when you've mastered it
The showcase dates don't move. Moving up is about mastery: when Book 1 is solid, you move up to Encore for Books 2–4, even if that's early. If you need longer, you keep going in Book 1, free for up to 4 lessons for Full Score families and at the normal monthly rate otherwise. Nobody starts a book over.
Keep exploring
Related programs
Placement session
Play what you know, or nothing at all, and leave with your track and your first 90 days mapped.
Encore
Books 2–4: new keys, the pedal, gospel and blues, chord charts, and the Encore recital.
Group classes
First Chords Lab, Kids Keys Club and Worship Keys Lab.