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24 Years
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Happy Customers
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Cities with Students
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Teachers in Network
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Piano lessons in Philadelphia . Whether you are looking for beginner guitar lessons for your kids, or are an adult wanting to improve your skills, the instructors in our network are ready to help you now!
Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Oboe Bassoon English Horn Acoustic Guitar
I love the learning process and to see students progress through the stages of learning an instrument. I taught myself to play the piano before I started formal lessons. I began playing the saxophone at the same time I took up the piano. I entered my undergraduate program in 1992, majoring in music education with the saxophone and piano as my principle instruments. During my studies at the University of South Alabama, a new program was started in MIDI and I attended an extra year to master digital audio. Read More
Instruments: Piano Violin Electric Violin
My teaching style revolves around a student's interests, and my lessons are modified and personalized for each individual. Every student has a different style of their own, and I work hard to help them develope their style. Learning music should never feel like a chore; it should be a form of self expression. Rather than using only lesson books to teach, i also provide them a blank and personalized lesson journal, in which they learn the foundations of writing, reading and understanding sheet music and music theory. Read More
Instruments: Piano Voice
I have been playing the keyboard since the age of 5. I have been teaching since I was 21 years old and completed my first college degree. Music is my life. I have been the Organist and Choir director of two churches and I have been fortunate to sing and work under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, and many other great conductors. I pass along my love and passion I have for music to my students. Read More
Instruments: Piano Voice
Coming from an education background, I have several diverse experiences which qualify me to teach music. In college I majored in music education and developed tools to introduce beginners, both children and older amateurs, to music. I student taught students K-12 in choir, piano, theater, and general music. While In college, I also served as a teaching assistant for sight-singing classes, and found that I love developing a solid foundation in music literacy with my students. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Flute Harmonica Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar
My teaching style is relaxed and organic. Don't get me wrong, we will work hard! But it will be fun and enriching. I teach my students to appreciate the music they make, and to listen to themselves for what is working well, in addition to what can be improved. At the end of each lesson, the student and I collaborate to make goals for daily practice. Every few weeks, my students and I collaborate on goals for next few weeks and the next few months. Read More
Instruments: Piano Flute Clarinet Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion Music
I'm a passionate and motivated instructor who loves working with students and sharing my love of music. I graduated from Temple University in 1988, with a Master's of Music degree in the area of Percussion Performance, and Jazz emphasis. During my career at Temple I had the opportunity play with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and at various venues including in New York at Carnegie Hall, as an example. I obtained my NJ Teacher Certification for the grades of K-12 in 2004, from Rowan University. 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 Organ Keyboard
Have any of your students won awards or been selected for special honors? How have they succeeded?
My students have won awards given by the New Jersey Music Teachers' Association, Arts 4 Teens, and the Haddonfield School of Performing Arts Students Competitions.
My students have received full music scholarships to Peabody Conservatory, Northwestern University, and NYU. Have been accepted to Princeton University as a music minor, and have received a grant for music study at Chicago University. Other students have been accepted as piano oerformance majors to Rowan University, Temple University, and the Berklee School of Music for jazz studies.
While not all my students entered the field of music, some have become teachers in their own right, a film score composer, and a well-known television performer as jazz pianist.
Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
John Thompson - it is comprehensive, address the basic issues of piano technique, and
helps greatly to instill a love of music in the student
Bastien - contains attractive music that students enjoy, teaches chords and theory as well
basic techniques
Hal Leonard - has a fine adult course that includes techniques, a sophisticated approach to
musicality, and progresses in simple but effective steps.
I will emphasize, however, that if a student has had some lessons and is already into a particular book, I generally encourage the student to continue in that particular method until it is finished. I then shift the student over to one of the above methods.
If you have a Music Degree, what is it in (Performance, Education, Musicology, Theory, Composition, etc) and why did you choose that degree?
My degrees, Bachelor of Music and Master of Science, are both in piano performance.
I chose the music degrees because piano performance was my strong suit. I was fascinated by the piano from an early age, and was playing piano be ear long before I took formal lessons. I also composed many small pieces for the piano before taking lessons.
My degrees included extensive study of music education practices, and a thorough groundwork in music theory.
I also have 40 credits toward a DMA in music composition from Temple University.
I also studied the organ at the Eastman School of Music and play professionally at a Roman Catholic church.
If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
Even while I was still starting piano I was always fascinated by the organ. I suppose I enjoyed the variety of sounds the organ could produce. When my parents took me to visit
a friend of theirs who owned an organ I would sit down at the instrument and stay there until the visit was over! Later, in high school, I taught myself the instrument, even landing
a job at our local church. I taught myself to use the pedals and learned Bach's Toccata and
Fugue in D minor on my own. It wasn't very good but later, at Eastman, I took formal lessons and within a short time was playing all the virtuoso pieces fluently. I still play the organ at a Catholic Church and enjoy it very much as my second instrument.
When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I decided to become a professional musician when I was a sophomore in High School. This was when I discovered that playing the piano could be a form of expression. I also realized the value of being able to hear a piece of music and then, with practice, be able to render it on the piano and enjoy the music as played by myself instead of someone else. I would ask my teacher if I could play, for example, Copland's El Salon Mexico, to which he replied I was not yet ready, yet, I went ahead and learned it on my own! I always enjoyed playing music that I already knew and I always try to afford my students the opportunity to play music that is familiar to them.
24 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
3,123
Teachers in Network
Trusted as the industry leader, for over 21 years the teachers in our network have been providing Piano lessons in Philadelphia to students of all ages and abilities.
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