Hsin-Lan Chien Piano Lessons

I could be excited all day long by the beauty of music from students’ piano lessons. It was a pleasure for me to see students’ progress and maturity in piano playing at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) and Northwest Vista College (NVC) during my early career. Through seminars, recitals and juries, students gradually developed performance skills, a must for a piano player. These activities best serve as assessments in a semester for both my students and me. This goal is set at the beginning for students to achieve. I found it is one of the effective ways to lead a student to the next level. Besides, student will observe others’ performance and learn from there.

I attempt to motivate students according to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Through my past 23 yrs teaching experiences, I could tell what/how to help individual and their unique qualities after the first lesson. Once I can clearly see a student’s primary artistic strengths, I work on building their expression and confidence. My teaching could be stressful and straight, but fun. Students could be motivated to keep their practice routines.

Before each semester starts, I spend lots of hours of preparation every night to make sure the coming class runs smooth with interest and enjoyness. The importance of stage presentation and creating a positive teaching environment are first two things of my teaching style. I have also learned the importance of listening and refined demonstration to all types of music so that there could be a proper perspective on my chosen repertoire for private piano students.

To create a teaching space in which my students can feel free to make errors is very necessary in my teaching theory. Students need to learn how to keep continuity when errors happen during the presentations or real performances. This will help students quickly search for relaxation and focus on the rest of their performances. A good piano technique is based upon students’ willingness to relax, and also a peaceful environment is a real asset. I provide students as many rehearsals as possible to make sure they get used to the performing instrument and the recital hall for recitals or juries.

In order to enhance everyone’s experience, my students are encouraged to be open to talk about and to analyze their pieces. In the presentation of my piano class or the seminar of private pianos, I welcome students’ discussion on repertoire, performance styles and possible different interpretations. During the presentation or seminar, I often ask other students for reaction to pieces presented. Students could be stimulated and gradually develop their potential musical ability. My ultimate goal in piano instruction is to educate and train pianist who pursue both a solid background in piano pedagogy and a wealth of performance opportunities simultaneously.