My Philosophy of Piano Teaching

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love music. I started playing piano when I was five and have always loved listening to all types of music. When I was young, I used to dance around the room listening to “The Planets” by Holst and thrilled to the “Ride of The Valkyries” by Wagner. I studied piano all through my school years and even though I never quite finished my University music education degree, it wasn’t because I didn’t love music. Later in life, when I started teaching piano, I decided to get more training on the piano as an adult and fell in love again.
I specialize in teaching adults because I have a rekindled enthusiasm for music and understand what it is like to finally play the piano well later in life. I want to share my passion for music and help other adults to find joy playing the piano. In order to find this joy, students need to have input into the kind of music they study. I find that if a student loves their piece, they will be more willing to work hard to make it sound right. I have a big library with all styles of piano music, so my students find the music that inspires them the most.
I also believe learning how to practice properly is extremely important. When I was younger, I memorized music easily and often just played pieces through. When I took lessons again as an adult, memorizing was no longer easy. I had to learn the hard way how to chunk my music, start at the hardest measures or the end, spot check, break my practice sessions into smaller time units, etc. I want to share these strategies with my students, so they can understand the best types of practice. We all need it.
I also found out as an adult student that I had terrible technique. Fortunately, I had a very patient teacher and was able relearn my piano technique as an adult. I know that good technique is always worth the effort and am happy to share my hard-won efforts at learning proper technique. There is a great satisfaction in learning to do something hard well. My educational goals for all my students is they learn to play music they love well, with healthy technique, understanding, and artistry.