Piano Lessons in Laredo, TX

Instruments: Piano

What do you think is the hardest thing to master on your instrument?
In my case when I was beginning to learn piano I taught myself without any real understanding of how the hands work in relation to good technique. So while I had a very strong musical understanding and could play pieces in relatively acceptable manner I had no sense of how to bring out even more color, emotion etc. which comes from better "technique". There is an incredible amount of possibilities of movement using fingers, hand, wrist, forearm, the entire arm and so very much more. Learning to use every part of my body, just about, was a very new thing to me and required that I back up a bit and relearn some facets of proper technique.

Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
I have my own method of teaching that includes technique, a very healthy dose of theory and ear training. Many of the method books offer a lot. I like some of Bastien as I appreciate how it is laid out for the beginner. It is simple without spending too much time on each new topic before introducing a nice or familiar piece of music for the beginning student. There are a number of good method books available. It is ultimately the instructors responsibility to glean what is important from them and creating a lesson so the student feels motivated enough to spend the necessary amount of time on something, that by all accounts, is simple and at the time to the point of being boring for some students. In this case I either create my own technique lessons or I'll compose a piece that introduces a new technical difficulty in a fun way.... hopefully.

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
Assuming we went over pieces, technical issues and musicianship skills there may be a given number of musical activities the beginning student will be expected to work on. For the beginner I may have them very slowly, with a pencil, name the notes. Then I will have them play one hand at a time... and for the melody (should that be the case) I'll have them name the note. At times I might have them photo copy the music and write note names beside each one. They are not to write note names in their music. This is an example for the beginner. There will also be a rhythm component to a lesson as well as ear training including interval recognition etc. For the more advanced student practice may focus on a particular section of a piece or a difficult technical concept that is relevant to a composition.

Read More