Piano Lessons in Cortlandt, NY

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
I suppose "Classical" music, would be my first love and therefore my 'favorite', if I had to choose a favorite style, as this is what my training is in and it has the most broad based classification, as it encompasses so many different 'sub-styles' -- Romanticism, Impressionism, Pointillism, 12-Tone Row, 'Modernism', Bi-Tonality; micro-tonalism. Next would be Broadway, Show Tunes; Vaudeville, and Movie music. This genre is so rich and expressive. But I absolutely love certain Country Music and Blues. Some of it is so honest, raw, natural, expressive and beautifully touching. Same with American Standards singers and Classic Jazz.

If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
Since it's not always practical to carry around a piano, it's handy to be able to play guitar to accompany oneself singing!

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
gradual, organic decision. I did not always position myself to work as a professional musician: my life path meandered and I explored other options, as my family, relationship and the circumstances of my life changed and went through some unexpected, and sometimes, dramatic twists and turns. Music always drew me back to her....It comforted me during my darkest periods. Yet, there were times when I took a hiatus from it, as the relationship I had with it, at certain times, was intertwined with difficult, conflicted feelings I had involving what I was undergoing in my university life; my family back home, and my own sense of identity. Returning to my relationship to music from a place of love and appreciation has enriched me as a human being. It is from this emotionally layered place I aim to share the joy and beauty of this art.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
My Mother has no musical training but she enjoys music and has enjoyed it since she was a child. She has a lovely voice and a great ear, perfect pitch and the ability to carry a tune well. She sang to me from infancy to early childhood and beyond, (less often, later). She also participated in a choral group I organized for seniors. Dad loved to sing and from his teenage years listening to old 78 records of Caruso (tenor) and Bülling, and later, 33 rpm's of Fischer-Diskau; Herman Prey, etc., he aspired to become a singer. He was never taught how to practice or about how music is put together--his understanding was purely emotive; intuitive. His sense of pitch was not as good as my mother's, as his listening skills may not have been as finely attenuated. He was a sculptor by trade. It was my paternal Grandmother who was an accomplished Classical pianist at a young age.

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