Piano Lessons in Baileys Crossroads, VA

Instruments: Piano

My teaching experience dated back to my graduate-school days, when I began teaching private lessons to college-age students more than 20 years ago. I have been teaching since then to students from 3-year-old beginners to 75-year-old retirees. I founded my home studio, Joyful Keys Studio, in Gaithersburg, 13 years ago, and have been teaching consistently and passionately. Encouraging students to practice regularly and guiding students to find their musical inclinations and particular musical voices are my main teaching fortes. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I start all of my beginning students in John Thompson Book One as it provides a great base to build on. After that lessons become very personalized to the student's learning styles as well as their individual goals. Adult beginners I supplement with Faber. I aim to get all of my students playing "real" music very quickly without sacrificing solid technique and fundamentals. I tend to spend half of a lesson on drills and half working on songs. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Bass Guitar Ukulele Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For young beginners, I generally will start with a beginning method book (such as Hal Leonard's Essential Elements) but the book will depend on the instrument as well. For older students, I want to know what kind of music they enjoy playing or listen to, and guide them along to reach their goals--whether that be to play in a band, write and record an album, or just become a better player! Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I began teaching just before the age of 18 at a local music school. My initial training as a teacher was very formal/classical, but I began to experiment with more modern methods and technology and was eventually able to set out to create my own school. Soon thereafter, I had the opportunity to join a prestigious and wonderful program which gave me access to the biggest network of young musicians and teachers in the world. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I believe making music fun can keep students motivated and improve their skills. When you love music, you are more motivated to improve. I also believe music is based on a lot of techniques. In order to express your feeling through music and have more fun, you will need to practice to mature the technique. Practice makes perfect!!! I believe that everyone is unique. I encourage my students, but insist that they need to learn something new every lesson so they can get closer to their goals. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

When I work with children, however, I focus primarily on ear training and music theory, knowing that those skills will help them out so much more as adult musicians than prematurely trying to learn advanced techniques. In voices lessons with children, I limit my technique-talk to breathing and vowels. (Of course, for those kids who have no concept of what their head voice is, we work on that, too.)Other than that, we focus heavily on solfge, learning to read music, developing a sense of rhythm and internal pulse, and other musicianship skills. Read More