Piano Lessons in Penn Center, PA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Flute Harmonica Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

There are often good lessons that go along with these pieces, and I pick pieces that are famous for good reason! For students of any level, it is useful to have a combination of repertoire that is more challenging, and pushes my students to see beyond their current skill level, as well as repertoire that allows them to enjoy the expression that is possible with their current skill level. There are 4 components to every lesson, and for me, every practice sessions as well: warm up exercises, technical exercises, repertoire, and play (aka performing the repertoire, improvising, writing music, etc). Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice

I'm currently a second year student at the University of Delaware where I study physics, music composition, and piano performance. Although I'm a classically trained musician I am constantly looking expand my musical vernacular, and some of my favorite genres include swing, flamenco, classic rock, bluegrass, and Irish folk music among others. I began writing music in high school for my peers, and since then my pieces have been performed in various schools and universities. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I keep a "Piano Homework Assignment" Word document for each student on my laptop which I can then email to you after your lesson is over for reference during the week.  A usual assignment would consist of a "Warm Up" section where we focus on hand position or scales or technique, a "Lesson Book" or "Repertoire" section where we work on new pieces or songs, a "Theory" section for written assignments, a "Fun" list for pieces we are done with but want to keep playing just for fun and then a number of special sections depending on student interest.  Special sections might be things like - improvisation, composition, playing by ear, recital or competition prep, exam prep, sight reading, ear training, etc.  I'm comfortable in few method series but I prefer Faber Piano Adventures for typical beginning children and The Music Tree for very young beginners.  I try to make sure each student has a piece they love every week. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

My general rule of thumb is, the younger the student, the less technique I will teach. Although I do not necessarily consider there to be a minimum age requirement for pursuing voice lessons, I do copiously encourage parents to be astutely aware of the potential risks encountered when young students are taught vocal and breathing techniques which should be reserved for intermediate or advanced students. My focus with younger students is to instill a passion and excitement for music while developing fundamental techniques. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Mandolin Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My teaching experiance has been mainly one one one. I've never given group lessons mainly because you can't totally focus on the student when there are several people involved. The best teaching/learning situation is the individual lesson where the focus is on one person. All my lessons are with one individual. More than one creates distraction and breaks the contenuity of the learning experiance. My experiance has been with grade school students, College age, middle aged and also senior citizens. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Saxophone

My teaching experience began in my post undergraduate college days. After graduation, I began studying at a studio called Jazz Improv with a Master's level instructor. One of his students asked for a saxophone teacher and the party was referred to me. I was then able to obtain a second saxophone student; I have also had two piano students when teaching. I enjoyed teaching music and it is something I look forward to getting back to as I attempted to acquire students on my own with minimal success. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Flute

For beginning piano students, I usually employ the Faber or Alfred Series books. They are intuitive and the various books (Lesson, Theory, Technique, Performance, etc) complement each other well! They also have an "older beginner" series that is great for teens and adults that are new to piano. I also encourage my students to try composition, even if it is very simple melodies. This is usually after they have established a good grasp on beginning music theory concepts.  For beginning voice, we begin half with the essential signing technique as well as the beginning musical concepts such as pitch, rhythm, etc. Read More