Teaching Philosophy

The primary goal of my teaching is to make the study of piano and playing music engaging and fulfilling. Music is a joy.  Unfortunately, piano study is a challenging endeavor, but it should always be satisfying. Teaching students how to learn efficiently, and teach themselves is a necessity in the field of music today. I believe that empowerment is the key to motivation.  Motivation is not something the teacher does to students; it is something students do to themselves. The teacher's role is to introduce possibilities.  Therefore, I emphasize initiative and self-direction. I also encourage exploration and creativity.

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It is essential for me to discover what a student's interests are and what she or he wishes to learn about. While lesson is often conversational, it is undeniably musical. During each lesson, I pay close attention to my student to ensure that what we are doing is understandable and clear. I believe that teaching must be matched to the student's learning style, not learning matched to the teacher's teaching style. Therefore, my teaching style, curriculum, and approach must be flexible, varied, and individual.

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Learning to play familiar tunes enhances the process of playing by ear. Furthermore, I encourage students to play as much chamber music as possible. Students realize the importance of listening when they are playing with other people.  It teaches the student to listen to the entire ensemble and fit his or her style, interpretation, and tempo in with everyone else.  In addition to this, I encourage my students to be exposed to the entire piano repertory from Baroque to the Contemporary styles of music. This way, they have more musical material to draw from in the formulation of their own personal voice and style. 

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Finally, I stress the importance of good practice habits. This includes efficient time management, daily warm-ups, and exercises for piano mastery.

By using this holistic approach, I aim to nurture students into being strong and capable musicians.