Piano Lessons in Robbins, CA

Instruments: Piano Voice Trombone

I believe lessons should be fun and engaging. I believe the most improvement in a student comes from practice time, so my goal as a teacher is to show the student how to practice most effectively by applying what they learned in their lessons in their practice sessions. If it is all right with them, we can record the lesson so they can go back and watch. As a teacher, I believe it is important to be positive and supporting, giving constructive criticism guide the student to play better while also boosting the student's confidence. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Organ Synthesizer Keyboard

If you’ve tried and failed, or even if you’ve never touched a piano, Smiley can teach you. And, you’ll have fun doing it because with my easy approach to learning, you will start playing the songs you like from day one, not practicing endless scales all the time, and boring music language that would be difficult to understand the first day. With my easy learning how to play approach, you would lean your first song and be able to play it, over and over until you learn a new song to share. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I try to find a balance between being laid-back and offering my students enough structure so that they can develop at an appropriate pace. While encouraging my students to find ways to express themselves, I also try to be realistic with them about the importance of musicianship and technique. Empathy is the most important thing for me, as I try to help and nurture my students to explore their own musical talents. Read More

Instruments: Piano Music Keyboard

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Faber's Piano Adventures or Suzuki's Piano School, however I am open to other books. Faber focuses more on written and piano practice whereas Suzuki focuses on auditory learning and piano practice. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first recital performance. For adults, I try to find out what the student is interested in, and guide my instruction accordingly to keep the lessons engaging and fun, no matter their ability level. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar

When it comes to teaching, I find the most important thing is that we work towards the goal of what the student wants to learn - in the case of their preferred styles/genres of music, and the songs that they really enjoy. Every student has their own individual skill level and pace that can be developed and worked around. First, I would find out the level of skill and musical interests of the student, then I would create a lesson plan utilizing all of the tools at my disposal - both from my personal experience and from other educational sources, such as: Blues books, Rock books, Classical guitar/piano books, theory books, and tablature books, or music from popular bands. Read More

Instruments: Piano

For beginners who are young children under 7 years of age, I always start with Bastien Piano Basics Primer A together with the theory book primer A then Primer B (piano and theory). Once the student has progressed to gain fundamentals I introduce Alfred’s Basic piano Library Prep Course with the theory book as well. Some students start from B but most of them start level C depending on their ability. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute Music

For beginning students in flute and piano, I use Trevor Wye flute books and Alfred piano books, respectively. These books cover fundamentals and hand technique and once that is learned and internalized, then I will introduce more solo or accompanied repertoire that they would eventually perform in a recital. For beginning composition students (which are taught remotely on Zoom), I will go over different "lectures" about fundamental music theory and integrate short composition assignments that go according to what was learned in the lesson. Read More