About
My mission as a piano instructor is to infuse my love of music and my passion for piano into my students. I am very careful in my technical approach, but I also am realistic about the various goals of my students. I work with children and adults, beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, and teach classical, jazz, theory, composition, improvisation, memorization techniques, and playing by ear. For the students who are interested, structural and harmonic analysis of their pieces are provided, and creative ways to understand musical structures are employed. This facilitates comprehension and faster learning. My students would describe me as patient, kind, thorough, and creative. My students are motivated using positive reinforcement, the setting of realistic goals, and the specific means to achieve them. Students are given a carefully written weekly plan, and weekly interface with parents occurs, to clarify goals. For the younger students, this is often the first time there has been an expectation of them to commit. Many of my students have stayed with me over five years. Students who desire can participate in recitals.
Highlights
Reviews
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
The student and I discuss the objective of piano study. Is this for fun? Do they wish to perform? Do they have an audition coming up? Are they going to major in music in college? Do they want to learn music theory? Do they want to compose? Do they like classical music, or jazz, or worship music? Have they had prior experience? If so, what was it? How old is the student? Does the student have special gifts and/or challenges? Does the home environment support the process of learning piano? Once objectives are established, means and methods can be established. All students are given precise instruction (written, oral, demonstration, and some video.) The pacing is contingent upon precisely observed weekly progress.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Please see extensive bio.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
My students enroll by the semester. I commit fully to them, and it must be reciprocal. Lessons are priced approximately as follows:
$35/30 minutes
$50/45 minutes
$70/60 minutes
How did you get started teaching?
The love of sharing knowledge emerged while I was very young. l started tutoring reading to special children when I was in grade school! I was hired by a local studio when I was 16 years old to teach piano, and since that time, my love of education, music, art, and people has caused me to center much of my work around it.
What types of students have you worked with?
I have worked with extremely serious and competitive, highly talented students as well as children with special physical and/or psychological needs. Most of my students are children whose wise parents recognize the value of music education to the life of a child, as multiple studies demonstrate there is great value in music education. Studies demonstrate that learning a musical instrument increases intelligence, social confidence, abstract reasoning, discipline, concentration, and college readiness. Many of the children who are my students are not going to become professional musicians, but will study and play piano as part of a well rounded education. My students range from very young (around age 5) to past retirement age. My studio is an international place, with people from many countries coming to me.
Describe a recent event you are fond of.
The students went to the M. D. Anderson Rotary House for an annual recital. They enjoyed playing beautiful music for their family and friends, as well as the cancer patients and their families passing by. Also, last year, we had a fabulous Holiday Baking Extravaganza at my house, and we baked over 300 cupcakes for students, families, our police, the fire department, and a church. It was great fun and a great mess was made by all.
What advice would you give a student looking to hire a teacher in your area of expertise?
After the student establishes that the teacher can help fulfill their mission to learn piano, (is the teacher skilled, committed, educated, experienced, cordial, reliable...?) then they should trust their natural instincts about the teacher, and throw themselve into the process with joy.
What questions should students think through before talking to teachers about their needs?
Do I want to learn piano enough to spend time 5 days out of 7 pursuing this? Do I have a serviceable and tuned piano, or fully weighted 88 keyboard with pedal jack and touch sensitivity? Is the teacher within a reasonable drive? (In the Houston Metroplex, this is a determining factor.) Is the studio happy, clean, safe, and well equipped? Is the studio acoustically private? Will I listen to a million other people playing and not be able to concentrate? Is the teacher focused? Does he or she have a plan and enough experience to help me reach my goals? Can I afford the tuition? Will I attend as scheduled? Can I grow with this teacher?