What I Teach
It is very IMPORTANT to match your desired results with the teacher’s philosophy and experience. There is nothing worse than investing your time and money trying to achieve a specific result, only to find out later that your teacher wasn’t able to help get you there.
For example:
- Do you want good technique?
- Does your teacher teach technique?
- Do you want to learn Music Theory?
- Does your teacher teach music theory?
- Do you want to learn how to play jazz?
- Does your teacher have a lot of Jazz experience (either performing or by education)?
By sharing with you my philosophy, you should be able to determine “IF what I teach is a good fit for you."
To me, music is a language like any other language. To master any language, you need to be able to read, speak, and understand the grammar of that language, in order to express yourself properly. To express yourself properly with the language of music, you need to be able to read music, to perform well, and have a knowledge of music theory, which is the equivalent of grammar.
Because of my beliefs, I teach to the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) Levels for musical ability. My lessons will cover and include the following topics:
- Sight Reading
- Technique
- Theory
- Performance (Playing)
- Ear Training
To master the piano, one should know all of these topics. More importantly, knowledge and abilities for these skills should be in balance or all at the same level.
Lesson length (or time required) must be long enough to effectively cover all of the topics that you will be studying. A 30 minute lesson is good enough for Preparatory or Beginning Level students. For students seeking Level 1 and Level 2 proficiency, 45 minute lessons are required. As the student grows with their piano skills and knowledge, Levels 3 through Advanced will require 60 minutes at a minimum.
The ONLY exception to the program are Adult Students. I will teach adult students, who already know how to play the piano, how to improve their existing skills.