Teaching Philosophy 

 
I strive to offer comprehensive instruction to build a solid musical foundation that will enable each individual to meet his or her goals.      
 
My top priorities are: 

• Offering a positive and nurturing studio environment with flexible, individualized curriculum that will help students to develop self-esteem, independence, and self-discipline, as well as an appreciation and sense of musical artistry. 
• Building a solid music theory foundation beginning with the learning of scales, arpeggios, chords, and their applications in music. This will help students to really know what they are playing. It also gives students a structure on which they may learn to improvise and compose their own music.   
• Guiding students in developing healthy playing technique. This is essential not only to aid in injury prevention, but to allow free musical expression without pain and excessive tension.  
  

Lesson Content

Each lesson will usually begin with a warm-up time during which students will be expected to present their assigned technical exercises. This may include scales, arpeggios, chords, and technique pieces. Students can also use familiar, well-learned pieces as additional warm-ups.    
 
The majority of lesson time will be spent on repertoire. Elementary students will mainly focus on repertoire from beginning level method books until their reading skills and basic musical foundation are very secure. Students beyond the elementary level will normally study pieces from a wide variety of musical styles including traditional classical repertoire from the Baroque through the present, jazz arrangements, and popular music.
 
I recommend for students to try working on a few pieces of varying difficulty at a time. For example, an assignment for an intermediate student may include one easier pop/fun piece, one etude or study, one new piece of standard piano literature, and one well-learned piece of standard piano literature. By combining better learned pieces with new pieces, this insures students may enjoy the satisfaction of being able to sit down and play something they know well, plus they will experience continued growth by learning new, appropriately challenging literature. Repertoire selection can vary according to students’ individual interests. Students are encouraged to communicate their musical preferences and bring pieces of interest to their lessons.  
 
Portions of each lesson may also include sight-reading, written theory, ear training (which can involve singing or humming), and music history, as well as movement and rhythm activities away from the piano.