Piano Lessons in Portsmouth, VA

Onah K

Instruments: Piano Violin Music Keyboard

What musical accomplishments are you most proud of?
I'm proud of myself anytime, anywhere, as a pianist, however especially whenever I stand on the stage with whatever music I have with me and be able to show my own expression of music and share with whoever the audience is most I'm proud of myself.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
My mom isnt professional, and pianist but she is soprano and she's flutist. My one of cousin from my mom's side, learned one of Korean traditional instrument called, Gayageum as hobby. I would love to learn this instrument as well one day.

If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
Besides piano, I also learned violin as well and almost same years as piano and I learned violin by my mom forcefully. I also learned little bit of kalimba as well for fun. Kalimba is also one of keyboard instrument but you are using thumbs only. I decided to learn and teach this instrument myself because the sounds are so cute and I get to learn about this instrument from my one of music course calmed World Music from my college. Not only other instruments, I also learned how to sing as well. I joined choir from long time ago even when I was little girl. My mom also pushed me to sing at church choir. My mom also soprano and she was soprano for armature choir in the church and I followed her and sing as soprano as well from when I was girl and I kept join choir even during college years. I also have ocarina as well for myself, this one I decided to learn myself for fun because I found out I had some at home and for fun. My one of cousin from my mom's side learned one of Korean traditional instrument called, Gayageum as hobby. I would love to learn this instrument next as well one day.

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
My most favorite style & genre of music to play is from classical period. Obviously, its one of the most popular generation of music. There are a lot of well known composers from classical period music you can learn more about, such as, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, etc. And its one of the fun musical period! :)

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
If I weren't a pianist, I would be either translator, astronomer, or paleontologist. First of all, I love to learn another languages. I've learned German few years during my high school years, and little bit of Spanish at my previous work about a year to communicate with Spanish people better. It was also fun to learn Spanish because it's almost similar as English. It was not that hard to learn. My next interest language is Japanese. How can you live without learn any language in any place? In my opinion, learn language is most important wherever you live. Second, I would like to be astronomer, because I love stars. I also wondered how galaxy works around, or I want to find more about universe deeply in details. Last, I want to be a paleontologist, because I'm so curious about fossils especially related dinosaur fossils.

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
As a pianist, there's many dream pieces I want to learn, however, currently my most dream piece is Prokofiev Piano Concerto No3. I saw my one of colleague performed and won for concerto competition, and it was really stunning and very powerful one of the concerto ever! Hopefully one day, I could also achieve this piece in the future and perform with orchestra. I also get know Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15 recently, so beautiful and lyrical piano concerto ever! I would like to learn this piano concerto after Prokofiev concerto.

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
In my opinion, for me, as you grow up and as professional pianist, 5 hrs is maximum per day. If not, 3 hrs at least per day is ok but it really depends on the piece.

Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
For piano, especially beginning students, I mostly use well known books such as Music for Little Mozarts Series, and Piano Adventures Series, etc. If the are Korean students, I included Korean brand piano books, such as Beyer, or out of Korean kid collection of piano song books.

What do you think is the hardest thing to master on your instrument?
Most biggest challenges for me was independence of the hands, fingers, and musical lines especially for difficult pieces. It might be basic things, but actually the most difficult if you try to remember by your heart.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
I will not be too strict, but in my opinion, my children is ready for their lesson if they completed their homework and improved playing by practice but I will also help them during lesson.

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
I choose to be pianist because I love sharing my own expression feeling of love of music through piano, share beautiful music with people around the world, and make happy memories with piano.

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Set aside at least 30 minutes as goal each day to practice, however, don't feel stressed out yourself. Set up your ability tempo before play. Practice section by section slowly with metronome. Do not practice fast first from beginning. Listen to the song or study the score when you are not practicing.

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I wanted to be pianist from when I was little but I fully decided to be as 'professional' pianist when I graduate high school when there's a choice for me either I want to major in music as a pianist or others.

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