Piano Lessons in Parkland, PA

Instruments: Piano Organ Keyboard

While the piano is usually a part of an orchestra it can be played and be complete without any other instrument participating. Let me offer you a challenge: wake up that sleeping piano in your living room! The first old movies may have been silent but no respectable piano should be. Let me give you the benefit of 20+ years of teaching and performing experience. At the end of 10 easy lessons I guarantee you will be playing songs with both hands. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

For beginning piano students, I typically start with the Hal Leonard "My First Piano Adventure for the Young Beginner," series. As students progress in their piano studies, I begin introducing solo repertoire that will support the concepts being learned in the book series. I will also assign small writing projects from time to time, to sharpen students' compositional and music reading skills. For voice students, my approach will vary, depending on individual experience and skills. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet

Since the majority of my students will earn a living outside of music, I've learned that the number one task is to make music easy to use as a life-long pasttime.My experience with young people has taught me that rather than seeing myself as a music teacher, I'm a teacher who uses music to teach about life. I love connecting musical development to other things we do and talking with students about how musical thinking and discipline affect other areas of our lives. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I think that students learn best when they are relaxed and having fun.  So, anything I can do to keep it light - whether it's drawing a picture to make a point or making up silly words to learn a complex rhythm or using crayons to mark the sections in our music - is a win in my book!  Laughing and making mistakes are a big part of learning.  When my students make errors, I don't scold, I say "good for you, now we can learn something!" I believe that it is both possible and critical to develop the student-teacher relationship as a collaboration. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet Bass Guitar

It is equally important to learn music from method books and through sonic exploration; I have personally learned a lot from books and while "noodling."When teaching trumpet (all skill levels), I use books including Arban's Complete Conservatory Method, Clarke's Technical Studies, and Schlossber's Daily Drills and Technical Studies.For guitar and bass guitar (beginner through intermediate), I start with Hal Leonard's Play Bass Today series. I teach beginner piano with the Bastien series and Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course.I also have a library of alternate method books and additional materials including excerpts, solos, duets, and play-alongs. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I encourage students to pick the music they want to play.  For those who have no prior music knowledge at all, there are numerous beginning methods that are satisfactory.  I teach harmony and ear training at a level in agreement with ability of the fingers to execute.   It is so nice to learn to play by ear, (starting with very simple tunes) going from the brain to the keyboard without the crutch of the paper score.  Of course this is the objective of preparation (study, practice) anyway, so the emotional feeling that the composer intended can be experienced and interpreted (and communicated to the audience) in a wonderful, magical way.  Read More