PIANO LESSONS
A student learns more than how to play piano while learning to play the piano. Making music is one of the fundamental ways we know ourselves as humans, and in piano lessons a student learns a particular way of making music which connects her to one of the great art forms of Western civilization. She also learns a way of focusing. She learns how to engage with something rich, larger than herself. While her brain billows with new connections she learns about herself, her spirit. This is true at every age and every stage. It is lifelong. And this, too, she learns - something for her life, the whole of it.
​
How lessons proceed depends on many factors, such as the age of a student, her level of readiness, her particular inclinations, and the level of engagement she can give to the process. But the single most important factor is the level and the quality of active support a significant adult in her life is able and willing to give her. When considering piano lessons for your child, consider the level of engagement you yourself are prepared to give to the endeavor.
Here is a breakdown of what we address in lessons:
​
​
I. MUSIC READING
​
Musical notation is complex. It is gorgeous. And it is not always intuitive. Beginning students develop note-reading skills by an incremental process which makes the written musical language accessible at each step of the way. Exercises in notespellers, games with flashcards, and reading simple pieces are just a part of how we begin. Learning at this stage is nonlinear. It requires patience and curiosity.
​
​
II. TECHNIQUE
Technique is how you play what you play. Building technique is a gradual process of increasing one's bodily awareness. It involves learning how to optimally use the muscles employed in playing, and equally, how to allow the muscles not involved to stay released.
​
For beginning students, I use a modified approach to the famous (infamous?) exercises of C. L. Hanon, as well as exercises of my own devising. I teach scales early on, both as technique and part of the musical tool chest. Students also play simple etudes.
​
For intermediate and advanced students, exercises increasingly emphasize fluidity, flexibility, stability, release of the arm, and ever more subtle bodily awareness. One of my primary influences is the so-called "Russian School", which emphasizes sound through weight, rather than through force. I teach students to constantly ask themselves how it feels to be playing. This is not separate from how it feels emotionally. Exercises are drawn from multiple sources, including Brahms, Weik, Czerny, and my own devising. Etudes play an important roll in technical development.
​
​
III. MUSIC THEORY
​
This is the language of composers. To learn a piece of music is to learn how, and of what, it is made. Music theory includes the elements of melody and harmony. Learning theory is a vital part of learning to recognize the patterns out of which composers construct pieces. Because the human brain is the great pattern maker, learning to recognize and understand musical patterns allows a pianist to learn music in accordance with natural neural functioning. Learning is no longer a matter of chance and mindless repetition. Learning happens faster and goes deeper.
​
​
IV. MUSICANSHIP
​
Musical expression arises in three tiers: the composer's intention, the inner life of the player, and the inner life of the listener. From early on I teach my students to think about these factors, and to engage the music on a personal level. Learning musicianship is not separate from learning the other elements I've mentioned. The understanding of music notation and theory increases as one understands the expressive aims of the composer. Technique blossoms as a player learns to enact her musical vision.
​
​
V. PERFORMANCE
Whether students go on to become professional musicians, or skilled amateurs, or choose, in the end, to keep their musical life private, it is important that they learn one of the primary purposes of all music, that of communicating with others that which can be said in no other way. Sharing music can be one of life's great joys. It can also feel scary. Learning to play for others means developing the strength that only comes through accepting a measure of vulnerability. Learning to play for others can be one of the great lessons in self-acceptance. Conversely, it can also bolster a student's confidence, strengthen his or her sense of self and what he or or she can achieve.
WHY WE TEACH MUSIC...
Not because we expect you to major in music,
Not because we expect you to sing all your life,
Not so you can relax,
Not so you can have fun...
​
But so you will be human.
So you will recognize beauty.
So you will be sensitive.
So you will be closer to an infinite
beyond this world.
So you will have something to cling to.
So you will have more love, compassion,
gentleness, good...
in short, more life!
​
Of what value will it be to make a prosperous
living unless you know how to live?
​
That is why we teach music.
​