Piano Lessons in The Plains, VA

Instruments: Piano Voice

After finishing school, I began establishing my own studio. In addition to classical piano, I have received two years of collegiate-level vocal instruction. Singing has been a part of my life since a very young age--I believe singing is a wonderful form of musical expression and recommend it to enhance instrumentalists' understanding of phrasing. I also play guitar and have ample experience in contemporary keyboard from church settings. I hope to use all of this experience to provide a rounded music education to my students. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I start all of my beginning students in John Thompson Book One as it provides a great base to build on. After that lessons become very personalized to the student's learning styles as well as their individual goals. Adult beginners I supplement with Faber. I aim to get all of my students playing "real" music very quickly without sacrificing solid technique and fundamentals. I tend to spend half of a lesson on drills and half working on songs. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice

Michael's approach to voice training is grounded in physiological and developmentally appropriate techniques. While this does not necessarily preclude any particular style of music, he believes very strongly that vocal health and well-being should take precedence in one's study of singing and that it is good for students to gain a diverse musical experience. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I am pretty new to teaching, since I started at around August of 2017. I taught for around one year in my senior year of high school, and had to leave for college during summer of 2018. I taught students at any place they were convenient with: sometimes at my studio, sometimes at their homes. I loved teaching when I first started. I am mostly focused on classical music, but teaching students helped me understand many more genres of music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Cello Drums Conga Latin Percussion Djembe

I find that as useful as many of the methods that I have found most useful for my own performance are, almost every one of my students in drums, percussion and cello requires a different blend of study materials. As a general rule, I rely on providing a balance of classic (some teachers go as far as to say 'canonical') books, and a wide variety of unique listening and independence exercises I've developed over the years. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar

I always encourage students to study and practice on a regular basis. This greatly helps them make progress and like the instrument over time. Nonetheless, it's important that each student progresses at his or her own pace. My homework sheets are designed to address both of those points. I always encourage them to practice well; when they practice well, they improved and once they improve they start to like the instrument more. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

When I work with children, however, I focus primarily on ear training and music theory, knowing that those skills will help them out so much more as adult musicians than prematurely trying to learn advanced techniques. In voices lessons with children, I limit my technique-talk to breathing and vowels. (Of course, for those kids who have no concept of what their head voice is, we work on that, too.)Other than that, we focus heavily on solfge, learning to read music, developing a sense of rhythm and internal pulse, and other musicianship skills. Read More