Piano Lessons in Athens, TX

Instruments: Piano

When starting off with students who are either children or complete beginners, I like to begin with Hal Leonard's All-In-One lessons book, while also incorporating individual sheet music to accentuate what the books are trying to teach. With adults, I take a quicker paced method by first establishing what direction in music they would like to go in, then introducing well-known songs of that genre into their repertoire. Both lessons groups will mainly start with a classical background to learn and reinforce proper techniques, and are then given the opportunity to branch off into any genre that entices them. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute Piccolo

I believe that it is important to tailor lessons to my individual students, helping to foster a love of music and learning. I think it is important for my students to have goals that they are striving to achieve. They can be big goals, like making it into a college of choice, but I also think small ones are important, like mastering the Bb major scale. We work towards goals and celebrate accomplishments together to help drive each student's passion. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Recorder

I use different methods depending of the students' age and ability. Singers should always learn to breathe correctly and vocalize depending on their range. I could also use the Vaccai method for opera aspiring singers. For basic piano guitar, chords and harmonizing for accompaniment. For the recorder to learn to read music and play what's written. I also can teach in Spanish and English. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Viola

Over my years of teaching, I have developed my own method for beginning students that caters to the individual student's needs and learning styles. Once the student has grasped the basic fundamentals, I start to introduce solo repertoire appropriate to their level, as well as focusing on learning proper technique. I believe that a very important part of my role as teacher is to guide the student on the route that they want to go. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trombone

For beginner piano students, I start from teaching out of the Piano Adventure Series, and Theory Time books. The Piano Adventure Series is great because the song arrangements have tiered piano proficiency for beginner to intermediate players. After students work in these books, other repertoire can be added to perform for holidays and recitals. For trombone students, I first make sure my students make characteristic sounds and introduce music to meet their playing level. Read More

Instruments: Piano

My teaching style depends very much on what your goal is in deciding to learn to play piano. I can teach you how to play classical piano, piano improvisation, piano accompaniment, or how to play in a certain style with a musical group. Your goal as a student determines the approach we take. That being said, typically, I take a three pronged approach toward teaching: 1. Theory; teach the fundamentals of sight reading and music theory in small increments and apply them by creating custom musical exercises. 2. Read More

Instruments: Piano

Learning should be fun for everyone! My main question to beginning students is: Why do you want to learn to play the piano? I believe keeping my lesson plans in line with a student's particular passion for music is the key to success. For younger students, I like to use the Leila Fletcher piano books, unless they (or their parents) express a preference for another lesson series. For adults, the lesson books I prefer to use, if any, will vary by what the student wants out of their piano lessons. Read More