Tired of looking for love in all the wrong places?

Well, neighborhood resident Harriett Young has an alternative for people to meet.

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Young teaches a weekly piano class for singles at Dallas Piano Warehouse, 9292 LBJ, where she is director of institutional sales. The six-week class costs $59.95. Class members are taught the basics – how to play with both hands, chords and pop tunes.

When the course concludes, students can continue studying on their own or sign up for private lessons, Young says.

“They may not play in Carnegie Hall, but they can play to their satisfaction,” she says.

But Young’s class provides more than music lessons – it offers a pleasant alternative to the usual activities for single people to meet.

“There are so many single people out there looking for something to do to meet other single people,” Young says. “A lot of them are having to go to bars, which is sad. You sit at a bar and hope someone comes up and talks to you.”

The class is at the Dallas Piano Warehouse, where electrical keyboards are provided for the students. The class meets for an hour on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Socializing and interaction with classmates are encouraged. And after each class, the students and teacher attend a happy hour and listen to jazz.

The singles class began as an experiment in October and caught on quick, Young says. Class attendance is capped at 13, and she had to open a second class because of demand.

“A majority of the people are coming to learn music,” Young says. “And that’s what I want. I don’t want this to be a meet-market. I don’t guarantee they’re all going to be good-looking.”

Her students range in age from the 20s to 60s, with the average age in the 30s. Most have always wanted to learn to play, but just never got around to taking lessons.

“If you can get up in the morning and remember your name, you can play the piano,” Young says.

Young, who specializes in light jazz, has been playing since she was six years old and was playing professionally when she was 16. Her father was a regional manager for Conn Band Instruments and her grandmother was a concert pianist. Growing up, she was constantly exposed to music, and family friends were always dropping by with instruments to play.

“It’s probably been the love of my life – music,” Young says.

But learning to play the piano gives people more than just music, Young says.

“It helps the brain work out problem-solving,” Young says. “They’ve even proven children do better in school. Now I’m not saying you’re going to progress to vice president of your company by taking my class. But it’s better than sitting at home and watching videos.

“It comes out to $10 an hour. Now you can go out to a bar and easily spend $10 in an hour and accomplish nothing and maybe not even talk to anyone.”

To register for the class, call Dallas Piano at 231-4607.