Piano Lessons in Lower Chichester, PA

Instruments: Piano Flute

I use the following method books, depending on the age and ability of the student: Alfred, Bastian and John Thompson. For younger students (under eight years old) I usually use the Alfred all in one book.. for older children, I use the Bastian set of four books: piano performance, technic and theory. For adults and teenagers, I use the Alfred all in one adult method book. For gifted students, I use the John Thompson book (the one I learned from). Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Oboe Bassoon English Horn Acoustic Guitar

For my beginning piano students, I emphasize the twelve major and minor scales with proper fingering, first one octave and then two octaves. These exercises strengthens fingers and create more familiarity with the keyboard. I use the book, Level 1 The Older Beginner Piano Course by James Bastien and the companion book, Musicianship for the Older Beginner. I have seen results when these books are used in tandem. The student increases in technique and start to master music theory simultaneously. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Electric Violin

When it comes to teaching beginner piano, my philosophy is to avoid making lessons and assignments feel like a monotonous chore. If a student feels overwhelmed and/or uninterested in completing assignments and attending lessons, it can have the same affect as being assigned too much school work and house chores; the student will most likely lose interest in learning. As a young musician, I make sure that my students look forward to their lessons by reinforcing the idea of music as a form of artistic expression. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My teaching experiance has been mainly one one one. I've never given group lessons mainly because you can't totally focus on the student when there are several people involved. The best teaching/learning situation is the individual lesson where the focus is on one person. All my lessons are with one individual. More than one creates distraction and breaks the contenuity of the learning experiance. My experiance has been with grade school students, College age, middle aged and also senior citizens. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I think that students learn best when they are relaxed and having fun.  So, anything I can do to keep it light - whether it's drawing a picture to make a point or making up silly words to learn a complex rhythm or using crayons to mark the sections in our music - is a win in my book!  Laughing and making mistakes are a big part of learning.  When my students make errors, I don't scold, I say "good for you, now we can learn something!" I believe that it is both possible and critical to develop the student-teacher relationship as a collaboration. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I pay special attention to the students' reactions and guide them from there because passion for the instrument is the top priority, and is the fuel to keep a musician going whether it is for a career or a hobby. I start by giving the student trivial assignments, but will quickly ramp it up to find their limits. If I find the student's limit, I will keep it just below that so the student can accomplish the given tasks, yet they can be outside their comfort zone. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I've had numerous students over the years, and at every lesson try to leave the student with a clear path to follow that is not too demanding, while still leading on to new levels of development. Many techniques I use are self-learned from trial and error.  I've done the work for the student.  This enables the student to make the most progress with limited practice time. I show my students how to practice, and also encourage them to explore the music they love. Read More