Our Approach
It is important to find a teacher with the right approach. Most families embrace our approach, but we understand that it is not for everyone. It is true that not all piano teachers are created equal, and you need to choose the best teacher for you!
WHAT WE BELIEVE:
1. We believe in the use of technology in music instruction. Although there is no substitute for a quality acoustic piano, we find that modern digital pianos are very close to the touch and feel of a real instrument. Digital instruments offer an array of teaching tools that acoustic instruments cannot. That is why we unabashedly celebrate the modern electronic keyboard and its many sounds, drumbeats, and functions. We believe that if Mozart were alive today, he would embrace the electronic keyboard as well! We also use computer equipment, iPods, recording software, and notation software in our teaching.
2. We believe that there is more to the piano than classical music, and to limit one's study to classical is an exclusionary and narrow-minded approach. This is not to discount the importance of studying classics. Classics teach a level of nuance, technique, and artistry that all students can benefit from. But there is more to piano than classical!
3. We believe in the interest-led curriculum, and that students put forth the greatest effort when they are engaged deeply and passionately in their favorite musical styles. This does not translate into a structure-free curriculum, but one that is flexible enough to accomodate student interests.
4. Since music is a language, we believe that any music study should incorporate both reading AND writing (creating) music. Too may private music teachers only focus on learning to read music, and never equip students to produce music spontaneously, creatively, and off the page. This is analagous to the English teacher who asks students to read, but not write. Who has ever heard of such a thing? We want our students to be comfortable playing music they read, and making music from scratch. This means equipping them to improvise, creatively interpret lead sheets, and figuring out favorite tunes by ear.
5. Since music is a performing art, the study of music should train students to perform, or share their art with others. Just as visual artists do not drape sheets over their paintings and hide them in the closet, piano students shouldn't selfishly revel in their art all alone! It is meant to shared with others.
6. The best piano training equips students to think critically, feel deeply, and communicate that feeling with confidence. It is our goal that students find their own musical voice, can render their own interpretions of music, and play with feeling.
7. We believe in equipping students to read all forms of notation, including staff notation (traditional), lead-sheets, and chord charts. Nowadays, there is more to music than reading traditional notation! Jazz, pop, rock, and country bands don't always spell every note out for you, but sketch out the song's chord progressions, leaving the pianist to great liberties as long as s/he stays within that progression. Students need to know how to play this way!
8. We believe that fluency in the musical language depends upon one's knowledge of scales, chords and an understanding of their function in music. To teach students to read music without teaching them to see chords and scales in their music is like teaching the alphabet without teaching students how read words.
9. We believe in building strong technique. There is an important physical, tactile component to playing the piano that should not be overlooked. Students need to learn proper hand position and shape, the function of arm weight, the importance of a fluid and relaxed body, the mechanics of producing different sounds and volumes, independence of the fingers, how to negotiate leaps, how to pedal, and eventually, how to gain speed.
10. Most importantly, we believe that piano study can and should be FUN! Plain and simple, there's no more that needs to be said. Learning should be fun!
WHAT WE ARE NOT:
1. We ARE NOT stuck in the dark ages, when piano study consisted of a single acoustic piano and an all-classical curriculum.
2. We DO NOT force the student to mold to an inflexible curriculum, but rather, we mold the curriculum to the student.
3. We DO NOT spoon-feed students, but actively engage our students in the selection of music to study.
4. We DO NOT break students down, but we try to build students up. A piano lesson should focus on more than pointing out mistakes. It should build students up and focus on what they can do to improve their playing! Students gain confidence and respond best to positive reinforcement, encouragement, and incentives.
