Gratz Opus 118 Music & Dance

   The first and most important aspect of beginning music instruction is to discover what the student hopes to eventually accomplish with the instrument.  We have a 1st and 2nd lesson, listening to the student play or begin with instrument orientation if the student is a beginner.  Appropriate instructional materials are obtained, and the musical adventure begins!

I personally have a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Spelman College, Atlanta GA, (1980) and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from  Miami University, Oxford, OH. (1982)  I have also attended a number or conferences and workshops related to piano pedagogy.

Gratz Opus 118 has a rate of 22.50 for a weekly 30-minute lesson.  Lessons are billed monthly, $90.00, payable in full at the beginning of each month.  Students may opt for a 60- minute minute lesson week, the rate would be doubled to $180.00 monthly.

I began teaching class piano as a graduate assistant. while working on my Master's degree at Miami in 1980.  I have been teaching piano ever since.

I have successfully taught students ranging from beginners at young ages to college music majors who were pursuing a degree in music education.  My assignment at Wirt-Emerson was to teach all students who wished to concentrate on piano performance as their art major.  (Wirt-Emerson is a public schoo/magnet school for visual and performing artsl in Gary, IN). The school goes from grades 6-12, and as the only piano teacher, I had the opportunity to teach some of those students for 7 years.  One of those students went on to major in music and college and has succeeded me as the piano instructor at Wirt-Emerson.  I took early retirement this past school year in order to become owner/Executive Director of Gratz Opus 118. 

Back in October, Gratz Opus 118 had its 4th monthly studio recital, featuring students from 4 of our 6 teaching studios.  The performance media were ukelele and piano for this recital, the students ranged in age from 8 to older adults.  The repertoire included Disney, Star Wars, Debussy and Beethoven.  The purpose of our monthly studio recitals is to give students an opportunity to perform in public, learn from the experience and continue the work.  Some students are preparing for upcoming competitions, others are enjoying what they've learned and are willing to share the gift of music.

Find out as much as you can about that teacher's experience/training.  If you can, talk to someone who's studied with that teacher.  Give yourself at least 1 month of study with that teacher to make certain that your personalities work well together.  By the end of 4 lessons, you should know whether or not it will work.

Be candid with your teacher at the outset regarding what you can realistically do regarding practice/playing time outside of lessons.  Many adults wish to study an instrument, and practice time between lessons is needed.  You may not have much time to give to it, but think about what time you can give.  This will help the teacher determine how they need to approach your individual music education.

     As I stated earlier, please let your teacher know what you hope to accomplish by studying an instrument (voice is also an instrument)  There are those who wish to one day play Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, there are others who want to be able to play well enough for family sing-alongs or whatever they enjoy hearing.  The quality of the instruction should not change--technique will still be important as well as other aspects of performance, but with both student and teacher on the same page, the learning experience will be enjoyable for both.