Piano Lessons in William Penn Annex West, PA

Instruments: Piano Bass Guitar Double Bass

I believe in tailoring music lessons to the individual students needs. This usually involves speaking with the student in the first lesson/lessons to find out what specifically they want to learn or improve. Once I've figured this out, I begin to find repertoire or create exercises that challenge this student in the respective area of focus. With younger students, I prefer to make an executive decision to begin with method books and then ease into more relevant material when the student is comfortable with their instrument. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Trumpet

I always start with what type of music the learner is interested in. This helps engage the learner so that the student comes from a comfortable place, and then we use the lessons from that music to apply and expand to other genres. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet Trombone Euphonium French Horn Tuba Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

My teaching style is adaptive to the students goals! I am a fairly easy going teacher that will help meet students where they are at, and walk with them on their growth journey. We will progress at the student's personal pace. My style can range from working casually on a new song each week, trying to perfect that concerto you have been working on, helping pre-professionals get to the musical level they need to achieve to become a professional themselves, or somewhere in the middle! Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Viola Keyboard

Excellent, nurturing Suzuki violin pedagogy - treating music as a mother tongue to absorb, imitate, and engage with - informs my methods for beginning and intermediate students. Gradually, as the student shows readiness, we blend in the traditional yet humane study of expert violin playing and thoughtful musicianship modeled for me in Dorothy DeLay's masterclass. As distinct from many string players, I am also a devoted and accomplished singer. So breathing, posture, phrasing, color, line, and articulation are key to my approaches to making and teaching music, and thus to helping my students x22singx22 through their playing. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I keep a "Piano Homework Assignment" Word document for each student on my laptop which I can then email to you after your lesson is over for reference during the week.  A usual assignment would consist of a "Warm Up" section where we focus on hand position or scales or technique, a "Lesson Book" or "Repertoire" section where we work on new pieces or songs, a "Theory" section for written assignments, a "Fun" list for pieces we are done with but want to keep playing just for fun and then a number of special sections depending on student interest.  Special sections might be things like - improvisation, composition, playing by ear, recital or competition prep, exam prep, sight reading, ear training, etc.  I'm comfortable in few method series but I prefer Faber Piano Adventures for typical beginning children and The Music Tree for very young beginners.  I try to make sure each student has a piece they love every week. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

If students have an interest in learning popular styles, I make sure to incorporate reading jazz/pop symbols into their lessons. When students are able, I have them learn scales and key signatures. For my voice students, I find it most important to pick literature that will be healthy for students to sing, as well as enrich their vocal development. For younger students, I like to both work on folk songs and music theater, and appropriate popular music if they are interested. Read More