Rachelle A
Instruments: Piano
Styles: Classical, Pop, Rock, Folk, Gospel, Spirituals
Rachelle A
Instruments: Piano
Styles:
Classical, Pop, Rock, Folk, Gospel, Spirituals
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 7-80
AA, John A. Logan College, Music Performance
2008 - Performed at Disney Magic Music Days with John A. Logan Choir 2009 - Performed at Lincoln Library in Springfield, IL with John A. Logan Choir 2017 - Performed on Norwegian Cruise Lines with John A. Logan Choir
Inspired by my maternal grandfather, I started learning to play the piano when I was in the second grade. I quickly fell in love with music and, after high school, decided that a degree in music performance was my next goal. In college, I traveled to Orlando, FL to perform in the Disney Magic Music Days with the John. A. Logan Choir, and to the Lincoln Library in Springfield, IL, also with the choir. After graduating from John A. Logan College in 2010, I began teaching Beginner Piano to local children, mostly my own relatives. I am looking forward to expanding with Musika.
My first experience with teaching was actually Vacation Bible School at the church I grew up in. My mother was the children's worship leader, so she taught the kids all of the music that went along with each day's lesson, and I was her teaching assistant. I did this for three or four years, and then after I graduated high school, I was given my own class to teach, not in music, but in the everyday lessons. In college, I got into theater while pursuing my music degree. I fell in love with the "behind the scenes" side of things, and operated a spotlight for most of the JALC shows between 2006 and 2012. Often, it was my job to train the second spotlight operator, as there was usually a different person for each new show. Being in choir as long as I have, I've definitely given many pointers to my fellow students. In particular, my friend Norah. She and I were paired up for a piano/guitar duet, and she was having a difficult time getting the rhythm right. I rehearsed with her every day until we had it just right.
I want all of my students to develop a love for the piano. When I first started taking lessons as a child, I actually hated it. Every time I would make a mistake, my teacher had me stop, and start the whole piece over. Now that I am a teacher myself, I see how impractical that was. When you are performing for an audience, and you make a mistake, you can't just stop and start over again. You have to keep going! Mistakes happen. This is a fact of life. The sooner we learn to "just keep swimming" as Dory so eloquently put it, the better off we'll be. I teach the fundamentals. I have a collection of Alfred's Basic Piano books that I work from. I believe that every student is different, so the pace that I teach at will be determined by my student's individual needs, but each of my students will be learning the same core principles, that they can then apply to whatever style of music they get into and enjoy.
The best teacher I ever had was a man named Nathan Arnett. He was the choir director at John A. Logan College for many, many years. Nathan is one of those teachers who legitimately cares about EVERY SINGLE ONE of his students, individually. He has to be one of the busiest people on the planet, but I have never seen him fail to make time for a student. He has always gone above and beyond for me, even to the point of emailing me job referrals when I was not only unemployed, but also no longer in his class! This is the kind of teacher I hope to be.
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