Mari K  
Instruments: Piano
Styles: Classical, Pop, Folk, Showtunes, New Age

I was hired by Ellen Masaki, owner of the Ellen Masaki School of Music while I was in college. I taught there for almost 10 years before I opened my own home studio, from which I have been teaching for over 25 years. I use a variety of motivational strategies to encourage consistent practice as it it the foundation of success. My students take great pride in their achievements, especially those that are challenging. I find that individualizing repertoire is a powerful motivational tool as it encourages students to want to progress in order to meet the challenge of playing their preferred musical genre. To make lessons more fun and engaging for my younger students, i utilize the learning games and features that are programmed on my digital piano, Since my students enjoy them so much, I use it as a reward activity as well.

I use a variety of methods for young beginners (depending on their age) - Faber& Faber, Alfred, Alfred Premiere, Bastien, and Hal Leonard. For beginning adult students, I find Faber & Faber for the older beginner to well paced to teach fundamentals. My digital piano has engaging learning games to reinforce fundamental note reading and rhythm, as well as aural training, chord recognition, and sight reading play along songs. My students love to see their play along music scores, and are always challenging themselves to improve. Once students have grasped the foundation skills, I introduce solo repertoire in their interest catagory.