Piano Lessons For Pro Musicians & Dedicated Students: Dan Fogel, Pianist

So, here's a little about me. I'm classically trained, have been teaching for over 20 years, & regularly perform as a concert / cocktail pianist. I have a degree in piano performance from the Crane School of Music, have done graduate work at NYU, and taught at NYU over 64 students as an adjunct instructor. You may hear some recordings of mine at https://soundcloud.com/danpianoman/sets

and my youtube linked in my profile, for cool virtual effects videos! As an instructor, I dedicate myself to my students and make efforts to go above and beyond in quality, helping students to learn what they love, find personal meaning for music in their lives, understand how to learn it on their own, and optionally prepare for a variety of performances (up-to 5 opportunities per month!) I follow a constructionist / humanistic teaching approach: in which I teach the 'person' as much as the subject matter, and help the student to grow through their own personal understanding, rather than a didactic approach of only giving commands. I've taught students aged 3 to 73! You can learn virtually any style, ranging from: classical music, show tunes, jazz, video game themes, cultural folk tunes, improvisation, holiday, and or modern popular music.

Prices vary widely, & depend on various factors, and can be discussed over the phone. Considerations include:

• Duration of lesson

• # of times per week

• Special Merit Scholarship Considerations for Music Educators, Professionals, & Passionate Hard-Working Amateurs

• Need-based scholarships to those suffering documentable financial hardship

When I was sixteen, my friends would love to have me teach them theme songs from movies, cartoons, & anime because I was always playing a piano that happened to be around at a youth group, school auditorium, or one of our homes. I was often told I was a natural teacher even then, as after a single session people would come up to my friends impressed and ask them how long they played piano, and my friends would reply "20 minutes" :p They started referring me to their family members and friends of their family. I have learned so many things over the years from what works and doesn't work with my students, as well as from supervised teaching in my undergraduate work, education courses, education psychology, my concentration in piano pedagogy (how to teach piano), and my contributed grad school work in education.

I've taught students aged 3 to 73! You can learn virtually any style, ranging from: classical music, show tunes, jazz, video game themes, cultural folk tunes, improvisation, holiday, and or modern popular music. The wide breadth of students I teach include: 1) Music Educators, including piano teachers, who wish to become become more proficient or adept at piano, or improve their own teaching 2) High achievers of all levels 3) Advanced students looking to switch teachers 4) Intermediate & Elementary students 5) Complete beginners of all ages, who are willing to dedicate time each day to the piano, even if only for an initial trial period to see if they like it enough to make a regular commitment 6) Adults who want to reconnect with piano after decades away from it 7) Professional musicians 8) Undergraduate music majors 9) Self-taught pianists 10) Students with special needs and talents

1) Find out what town the professional's studio is in. Thumbtack may have matched you with someone who lives an hour away. 2) Usually, high quality instructors form our own studio with extremely limited travel options. While it may be convenient to have a pro come to you, how important to you is the quality of the instruction? Ask me about the dozens of things I offer my students that most other instructors don't. 3) What is the range of achievement of the instructors past and current students? Request to hear some recordings or view some videos. 4) Unfortunately most piano instructors have not even been trained at a conservatory or even a music school in piano performance / instruction. There is sadly no legal requirement to have any sort of certification or expertise, so many people call themselves piano teachers even if they've never studied education, advanced technique, and with a master pianist. Unfortunately, this frequently leads to teachers often not conveying to students how to practice effectively, read proficiently, learn to master an unlimited number of pieces/songs on their own with increasing difficulty, and the technique required to play anything imaginable with beauty, comfort, and ease! Instead, many piano teachers unintentionally teach their students to play in a somewhat uncoordinated and musically uninspiring way, to always depend on teachers to learn anything on their own because their reading is so limited, to only learn one or two pieces each year, have one or two performance goals a year, and a very limited range of repertoire. Ask to attend a teacher's events and hear many of our students from all walks of life. You might be surprised that these inspiring students only started a year ago, or are a med student doing this on the side, or an ordinary kid who loves sports, or a child with a learning disability who has overcome these limitations in a performance, or a seven-year-old playing like be a high schooler, or a teenager playing at a professional level!

1) Let's say it's a great match, and I'm excited to work with Dan to develop my piano skills beyond anyone's expectations! Would I step up and commit to a weekly lesson at his Setauket studio (with flexibility to reschedule or to do live 2-way video lessons when necessary)?

2) If I don't yet own an instrument, Dan can help me acquire one! What do I have space for, and what are my budget / space limitations for acquiring a weighted 88-key digital piano, or acoustic: upright / grand piano?

3) Am I interested in an average of 1 weekly lesson, or am I curious to try discounted multiple or broken up smaller weekly lessons (including options for guided practice sessions on FaceTime or Skype)?

4) When can I set aside time to practice each day?

5) Do I have any ideal future performance goals? Ex. Ultimately, I'd love to perform:

a) Piece/Song  (like Moonlight Sonata, New York State of Mind, a Hungarian Rhapsody, or Autumn Leaves) one day,

b) For a Person (like mother, fiancee, spouse, boyfriend, family, colleagues, students, or friends]

c) on a Platform or Instrument (like my Grand Piano, digital piano, YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, or TikTok]

d) at an Event (like a recital, concert, bar, wedding, anniversary, proposal, casual get-together etc.)