Piano Lessons
Below,
I relate some of my experience and philosophy as a teacher of piano for
over 3 years (as of 2010). For my credentials, you can take a look at
my music bio or my tutoring bio.
As a piano teacher, I have worked with adults and children, with
novices, and with more experienced players looking for a push or a new
direction. 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 a jazz pianist and as a keyboardist in numerous styles of popular
(and unpopular) music, I am well-equipped to aid my students on their
own personal musical journeys. I usually rely on my students to
select the songs they wish to study, while I supply supplemental
exercises and music theory to accompany their study. Of course, I will
also suggest songs to my students at times.
For students interested in learning to read music 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.