Piano Lessons
Below,
I relate some of my experience and philosophy as a teacher of piano since 2007. For my credentials, you can take a look at
my music bio or my tutoring bio. You can also visit my profile on Steinway's website, as I have been a Steinway Educational Partner since 2009.
As a piano teacher, I have worked with adults and children, with
beginners, and with more experienced players looking for a push or a
new
direction. I have
developed many different teaching
methods based on what each of my students wants to get out of lessons.
The heart of most lessons I teach is learning to play or understand
songs. Usually, I rely on my students to
select the songs they wish to study, which I then transcribe to make personal arrangements fitted to their abilities. Of course, I will suggest or recommend songs at times. I also supply relevant exercises and music theory to accelerate the learning process.
In teaching piano, I differentiate between concepts
and skills, while stressing the importance of mastering both. As
important as it is to understand the intervallic relationships in
something like the major scale, this knowledge does little for the
pianist if she or he cannot pick out the notes to the different scales
in real time. In observing that each person demonstrates unique
learning patterns and abilities, I have learned that some people will
come to understand the conceptual through mastery of memorized tasks
while some will succeed with technical mastery only after achieving some conceptual
understanding.
As my own musical journey has required me to internalize and master so
many different styles of playing, I am well-equipped to help my
students down whatever musical paths they choose. I also do my best to
make it as fun as possible. Learning new things can be frustrating, but
I try to structure things as gradual as possible.
For students interested in learning to read music (which many are not, and I don't force the issue) and/or play
classically, I rely heavily on Bela Bartok's pedagogical masterpiece,
the six-volume Mikrokosmos.
Piano students of most abilities can typically benefit from studying
some portion of this cycle of piano music that progresses in complexity
from the launching point of the absolute beginner. Mikrokosmos has inspired me to write my own progressive piano study (still very much a work in progress), which I have named Pianoverse in his tribute.