Introduction
I believe that playing the piano should be free and easy on the body. The piano, above all instruments, is one that encourages a relaxed and fluid posture in which no joint or muscle is cramped or extended beyond its natural capacity.
The Intuitive Pianist
The freest and most magical playing comes from those who approach the piano with grace, intuition, and trust. An intuitive pianist knows that the piano is a living spirit that can communicate with us. The intuitive pianist looks at the architecture of a piece, knows that phrases have shape, and understands that rhythm is its own language with its own idioms.
Patience, confidence, and a little whimsy are essential ingredients in exploring a piece of music. The body is free and light, and every joint and muscle is engaged in joyful, buoyant playing. Most of all, the intuitive pianist understands that, above all, self-expression and communication are both the process and the goal of exquisite piano playing.
Many of us have lost our ability to be free and easy at anything that challenges us because of bad physical and mental habits that we've picked up over time. Approaching the piano for the first time - or after many years - with a sense of kindness, trust, and intuition is the best way to break bad habits and create new, healthy, long-lasting ones.
Process over Result
My goal as a teacher is to turn every budding piano player into an intuitive pianist. I emphasize process over repertoire-driven results. To understand, please read on.
Have you ever seen a young child beautifully play a Chopin waltz or a Bach invention, and then watch as he haphazardly tries to sight-read his way through the simplest of children's songs or a pop tune, painfully plunking the rhythm and notes out with unsteady hands? Without a doubt, such a child is the product of a repertoire-based teacher - that is, a teacher who has focused solely on the building of a classical repertoire, rather than on the fortification of the child as an independent, intuitive pianist.
So, how can a child who is barely able to sight-read an elementary nursery tune, play such exquisite classical pieces? The answer is simple: mimicry.
Mimicking what the piano teacher does, and then repeating those hand patterns over and over, will eventually get a student to play even the most advanced piano pieces. But knowing a few pieces does not make someone a pianist; it means only that one has a good capacity for imitation and memorization.
I encourage each one of my students - from children to adults - to become natural, self-sustaining readers, thinkers, and interpreters of piano music. The emphasis is on the process of acquiring literacy in piano music and fluidity at the keys, not on the result of having a defined classical repertoire.
Piano literacy is achieved by returning time and again to the fundamentals of hand technique, breathing, posture, theory, sight-reading, rhythmic recognition, and music history. Concepts will be applied immediately after discussion, so there is better retention and understanding.
The success of process-driven piano study comes from my approach of tailoring the program of study and, in fact, every lesson to the individual's level and needs. The arc of lessons will change naturally as the student becomes more adept in some concepts, while needing work in others. Material is carefully selected to illustrate specific concepts and, again, is chosen uniquely for the student based on her needs and interests.
Expectations for Piano Study
* During lessons students are expected to be focused, reflect on concepts, and ask questions.
* When it comes to practicing, remember this one thing: quality and consistency is more important than quantity!
* Students are expected to be patient with themselves. Beginning students may feel a sense of "heaviness" or "stickiness" in the muscles of their fingers, hands, and arms as they begin playing hands together. This is normal and will resolve with time.
* Students should feel free to ask questions about the instrument, the material, or anything else music-related to the teacher. Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn!
* All students will be expected to learn music theory as part of their complete piano education, as well as play different genres, from classical to jazz to popular music. This is to encourage development of finger independence, sight-reading, and rhythmic recognition, as well as the recognition of musical themes, figures, and cadences.
* Students are expected to be kind to themselves and to the instrument at all times. This is not only for the mental and emotional well-being of the student, but it also has a practical application: grace, lightness, and joyous exploration are the surest ways to achieve success at the piano.
I believe that playing the piano should be free and easy on the body. The piano, above all instruments, is one that encourages a relaxed and fluid posture in which no joint or muscle is cramped or extended beyond its natural capacity.
The Intuitive Pianist
The freest and most magical playing comes from those who approach the piano with grace, intuition, and trust. An intuitive pianist knows that the piano is a living spirit that can communicate with us. The intuitive pianist looks at the architecture of a piece, knows that phrases have shape, and understands that rhythm is its own language with its own idioms.
Patience, confidence, and a little whimsy are essential ingredients in exploring a piece of music. The body is free and light, and every joint and muscle is engaged in joyful, buoyant playing. Most of all, the intuitive pianist understands that, above all, self-expression and communication are both the process and the goal of exquisite piano playing.
Many of us have lost our ability to be free and easy at anything that challenges us because of bad physical and mental habits that we've picked up over time. Approaching the piano for the first time - or after many years - with a sense of kindness, trust, and intuition is the best way to break bad habits and create new, healthy, long-lasting ones.
Process over Result
My goal as a teacher is to turn every budding piano player into an intuitive pianist. I emphasize process over repertoire-driven results. To understand, please read on.
Have you ever seen a young child beautifully play a Chopin waltz or a Bach invention, and then watch as he haphazardly tries to sight-read his way through the simplest of children's songs or a pop tune, painfully plunking the rhythm and notes out with unsteady hands? Without a doubt, such a child is the product of a repertoire-based teacher - that is, a teacher who has focused solely on the building of a classical repertoire, rather than on the fortification of the child as an independent, intuitive pianist.
So, how can a child who is barely able to sight-read an elementary nursery tune, play such exquisite classical pieces? The answer is simple: mimicry.
Mimicking what the piano teacher does, and then repeating those hand patterns over and over, will eventually get a student to play even the most advanced piano pieces. But knowing a few pieces does not make someone a pianist; it means only that one has a good capacity for imitation and memorization.
I encourage each one of my students - from children to adults - to become natural, self-sustaining readers, thinkers, and interpreters of piano music. The emphasis is on the process of acquiring literacy in piano music and fluidity at the keys, not on the result of having a defined classical repertoire.
Piano literacy is achieved by returning time and again to the fundamentals of hand technique, breathing, posture, theory, sight-reading, rhythmic recognition, and music history. Concepts will be applied immediately after discussion, so there is better retention and understanding.
The success of process-driven piano study comes from my approach of tailoring the program of study and, in fact, every lesson to the individual's level and needs. The arc of lessons will change naturally as the student becomes more adept in some concepts, while needing work in others. Material is carefully selected to illustrate specific concepts and, again, is chosen uniquely for the student based on her needs and interests.
Expectations for Piano Study
* During lessons students are expected to be focused, reflect on concepts, and ask questions.
* When it comes to practicing, remember this one thing: quality and consistency is more important than quantity!
* Students are expected to be patient with themselves. Beginning students may feel a sense of "heaviness" or "stickiness" in the muscles of their fingers, hands, and arms as they begin playing hands together. This is normal and will resolve with time.
* Students should feel free to ask questions about the instrument, the material, or anything else music-related to the teacher. Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn!
* All students will be expected to learn music theory as part of their complete piano education, as well as play different genres, from classical to jazz to popular music. This is to encourage development of finger independence, sight-reading, and rhythmic recognition, as well as the recognition of musical themes, figures, and cadences.
* Students are expected to be kind to themselves and to the instrument at all times. This is not only for the mental and emotional well-being of the student, but it also has a practical application: grace, lightness, and joyous exploration are the surest ways to achieve success at the piano.