ABOUT THE LEVEL UP PROGRAM

What is Level Up?

Our Mission

Level Up is a 10-level motivational program that uses fun, expert challenges to help motivate students and provide them with direction and structure in their lessons. The Level Up system features a structured curriculum that provides a standardized and accessible start for students and teachers while its fully-illustrated book allows students and parents to visually track their progress. The benefits of Level Up include increased motivation and accountability for students, an easy way for parents, students, and teachers to communicate about their progress, increased retention in lessons, and many more — all in a fun and tailored format!

What Is There to Love About Level Up?

Why Students Love It

What student doesn’t love leveling up and receiving rewards for their efforts? It creates an environment of learning that inspires them to practice more and stay in their lessons longer. Level Up is broken down into many small, achievable tasks. This helps to keep the positive momentum going to help them make quicker progress!

Why Parents Love It

Level Up is incredibly straightforward and easy for parents to use and understand. Parents are accustomed to standardized programs and Level Up helps to visualize their student’s progress and clarify where they are on their musical journey! A parent who is happy and included in the process will be much more inclined to encourage their child to stick with their lessons and continue practicing. 

Why Teachers Love It

The way Level Up is structured makes the teacher’s job so much easier. They have an organized system already set up for them that alleviates a lot of the stress and pressure to have a lesson plan in place. Every teacher’s dream student is one who is motivated to practice and follows through on their assignments. With Level Up as their motivation, teachers have many more students who fit this ideal.

History of the Program

From the desk of Jessica Schatz….

Before I founded my music school, Expressions Music Academy, in 2010, I was a full-time piano teacher maintaining 50+ students. I have since grown Expressions to 12 locations, nearly 3,000 students, and over 200 teachers. Since that time, I have been obsessed with developing programs to help motivate students to practice harder and commit to staying in lessons. I wanted to get to the heart of what made students want to quit... and then to what made them stay. So in 2012, I launched my most successful program to date, called the "Black Belt Achievement Program." In this simple program, students were encouraged to complete levels 1-10 by passing 3 official songs from each level. The program was a HUGE success in my school, and since that time, our growth has exploded and retention rates have improved. An extensive survey in my own school in 2016 with some impressive statistics including these highlights:

  • On a scale of 1 to 5, 78% of parents chose a 4 or above on how much more motivated their child was to practice at home as a result of the Black Belt program. 47% rated it a 5 out of 5.

  • 58.5% said Black Belt was the reason they remained a student at our school!!!

  • 81% of parents said the best possible enhancement we could add to the program was more non-song assignment options and an app to better track the program. So we listened!

Then, the Black Belt program became Level Up. In 2016, we added more non-song assignment options (performances, sight-reading, theory) and changed the name to Level Up. It only continued to grow and be a big hit with parents, students, and teachers alike! Since then, we've learned a lot about how people use the Level Up program to their advantage, and we have only continued to make improvements and refine the challenges and available resources to make Level Up the best possible motivational program.

Today, we bring you a new and improved Level Up that focuses on fun, hands-on challenges, engaging books, and giving students the drive they need pursue a life-long love of music!

— Jessica Schatz

Jessica on one of her many world-wide adventures. She’s an avid traveler and loves learning about new areas and experiences! When she is at home in the great state of Michigan, she hangs out with her two loving dogs, her three fluffy cats, and her always encouraging partner!

An inside look at the designs for Level 9 throughout the program.