I'll teach you how I personally learned to play as someone who took lessons for 20+ years and taught for 10+ years. My teaching philosophy is that music should be fun! Theory, sightreading, and technique through chord progressions, short songs, and scales are all essential for the learning process. More than that, I show my students how to build up the skill to play fast, virtuosic pieces.
Tell me what you'd like to learn, and we'll make it happen!
The most important factors in your piano journey:
1. A Good Plan
Weekly scales, chord progressions, & more + your own arrangement or composition over multiple weeks.
1. A Good Plan
Weekly scales, chord progressions, songs, & more + your own compositions or arrangements!
I'll show you virtuosic exercises AND the theory to use them in your songs.
2. Consistency
You don't need to practice 3 hours a day to become an expert pianist.
Even 10-15 minutes per day will develop your skills over time - you just have to stay consistent!
2: Consistency
You don't have to play 3 hours a day to become an expert pianist! Even 10-15 minutes daily will develop your skill over time.
I encourage creativity - it makes piano fun and inspiring!
My Teaching Experience & Method
I started learning the piano when I was about 4 years old. My dad had a bit of piano experience, so he sat down with me and told me which notes to hit. I loved the songs and had a strong ear, so I picked them up quickly.
For about 10 years, I worked with an incredible teacher named Bonnie Early who used Robert Pace's method for theory along with Faber & Faber short songs. She gave me a little composition spiral notebook and told me to compose a song. By the end of the year, I had written a short song called "Skiing at Steamboat" and performed it to the other students and their parents. That was an inspiring process - every year, I made pieces that were increasingly complex to show people my ideas and playing abilities. It showed me that encouraging creativity in my own students is of utmost importance.
In college, I learned from the accomplished jazz and studio pianist, Mark Gasbarro. His recordings can be heard in Star Wars, Up, Spider-Man, and much more as he is a well known figure in the music and film industry. This is where I learned advanced jazz theory, chart reading, and improv. Under his tutelage, he took me from an impressive amateur to a well-rounded, advanced pianist.
His teaching method, and one I use for my more advanced students to this day, is having the student choose a song and come up with their own jazz arrangement. In addition, they are given scales, jazz standards, Bach inventions, and various pieces by composers like Gershwin. He told me, "You know, 'practice' is really just the first 5 minutes after you sit down." The piano has a way of keeping you there once you are inevitably immersed in the piece in front of you.
Because of my early start in piano, I've had the privilege of teaching many students over the past ten years. I have had students with varying musical backgrounds and different interests, and I have seen great progress in all of them. I find that every student requires their own slightly different teaching approach, and I view part of my job as finding out what that is. I am a firm denier of the idea that "one approach fits all" - especially early on.
I find in my teaching that cultivating an encouraging, fun environment is the most important ingredient to long term growth. I make sure the student knows that I don't just want a good performance out of them every week - I am rooting for them, and I care about the rest of their lives - not just piano. I often find myself encouraging them through their other activities when it comes up in conversation.
I believe you can't (and shouldn't) achieve a high level of piano without becoming an expert on the fundamentals. Some students become overwhelmed when they see the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. I know, it can be frustrating being stuck at your 100th harmonic minor scale repetition and seeing pianists you admire play complex pieces with seemingly no effort.
The good news is that it's not as hard as you'd think to get the basics down if you practice them daily. Also, those impressive pianists are still doing their daily exercises and trying to get better at them. I give my students technique training, scales, chord progressions, short songs, and theory training. When you spend even 10 minutes every day on these things, the piano starts becoming second nature over time. You may not realize it, but sooner than you think the instrument becomes less of a mystery and more of an extension of your thoughts and ideas.
The better you are at the fundamentals, the more seamlessly your own expression will flow out of the keys. It takes patience and time, but it is inevitable through consistency.
I didn't learn how to be "impressive" from my teachers. I sat down at the piano and copied the pianists who impressed me for hours and hours. I want to enable that kind of inspiration in my students. I encourage my students to show me a song they like or a piano video that inspires them, then teach them step by step how to learn it, or, a version of it that suits their level. That learning process combined with the technique and theory to pull it off correctly shows students that they can accomplish whatever they set their mind to.
I am a firm believer that anyone can learn to play the piano - and play it well. Consistent work often outshines talent in the long run. Many students are very surprised by what they can play when they sit down and put in the reps.
Every time I receive a new student, I am honored and thrilled to work with them. I love to encourage them in any way I can, fuel their passion for music, and cultivate a friendly but professional environment. The greatest payoff for me is seeing their excitement as they grow in their skill.
