Lessons
Private piano lessons are given once a week, with highly encouraged group lessons several times each semester. Lessons concern five basic areas:
- Piano — learning technique, reading & musicality through learning to play music on the piano.
- Theory — learning terms, symbols, patterns & concepts through workbooks, worksheets, exercises and examining pieces.
- Ear Training — developing aural perceptiveness and recognition of sound patterns through exercises and games.
- Composition — applying piano, theory & ear training through creating music and writing it down on paper.
- Improvisation — applying composition through real-time discovery and play.
With young kids, I seek to include all of these in the first few years. Not every student is open to everything, so I adapt to their interests and willingness. The first 3 are really essential, though, so I work to include them all to whatever extent is possible in ways that are fun and interesting, rarely encountering resistance. Over time, students will tend to become more specialized in their interests and so will their lessons. If an older child or adult (with or without prior experience) has a special interest already, lessons can be tailored to that from the start. The bottom line is that everyone’s interest in music is based on the joy it brings us. I aim to pursue any or all of the above with that in mind, to find the joy in each area of learning.