Piano Lessons in Karns City, PA

Instruments: Piano Clarinet

I have been a private lesson instructor of students in grades 4-12 for over 6 years. I have experience and familiarity with multiple teaching methods and repertoire, and I always do my best to personalize the lesson experience for each individual student. I also recently completed my student teaching experience within the State College Area School District. Each day for a total of over five months, I worked with students in the elementary and high school level across bands, choirs, general music, and small group lesson instruction. Read More

Instruments: Piano Music

I understand each student is different, so it's about what they need instead of what I want them to be. I am extremely adaptable and flexible. I've heard a lot of stories from my students where their previous music teachers discouraged them by not listening to them at all. Me myself had similar experience as well, therefore, I completely understand how terrifying it could get when students needs are not being heard. Read More

Instruments: Piano

The two methods I typically use for young beginners are "The Music Tree" by Franicis Clark, and "Piano Adventures" by Faber and Faber. As the child progresses, I add supplemental materials and more advanced performance pieces that may be used for recitals. For adults, there are a variety of good methods that I draw from, taking their genre and style preferences in mind. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

For young beginners, I like to use the Faber and Faber series. They do a wonderful job incorporating reading, listening, and writing into the curriculum. I also think creativity is a huge part of music. I love asking students to write their own songs. When I play their compositions on the piano, their reactions are priceless! For older beginners, advanced students, and voice students I use a similar approach but with supplemental materials. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Music

For all beginning students who are children, but also adult beginners, I like to focus on vocal warm-ups and exercises to ensure that they develop the fundamentals of healthy singing. After getting to know the student's voice a bit, I believe that coaching solo vocal repertoire is essential to building vocal technique and confidence in performing ability for many different situations. When assigning vocal repertoire, I first like to find out what sort of music the student is interested in and also what their goals are in taking voice lessons and assign repertoire accordingly, but I also like to begin with songs from Schirmer's 24 Italian Songs and Arias book to strengthen basic breath support and a vocal line that is connected to good breath support. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Cello Viola Recorder Fiddle Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion

Because every person is different, learns differently, has different interests, and diffferent strengths, I believe that flexibility is one of the most important goals of a good teacher. I treat every student as an individual and always adapt my teaching style and method in whatever way seems to best benefit the student. According to my students' varying skills and interests, my lessons have included different focuses: technique, improvisation, sight-reading, performance, theory, hymns, composition, history, or accompaniment. Read More

Instruments: Piano

Art comes in all forms, in my mind. I believe that building the framework of ability is only the tip of the iceberg, and I have encouraged my students to tinker on the piano as well as practice their lessons. Learning what styles they enjoy and what their strengths are helps them to be creative, even in writing their own music. Read More