Private Piano Lessons

While I'm most skilled in teaching classical piano lessons, I'm able to teach basic to intermediate skills in all styles of piano music. I will tailor curriculum to specifically help students achieve their goals, however I use the same curriculum for all beginners (varies by adult or child student). All child students will start out in an ear training curriculum that will develop their general music awareness and proper hand techniques. Note reading is often not introduced until a year or two into the ear training curriculum. Learning music is much like learning a new language and it works much better for children to first learn to speak, hear, and understand the "language" before reading it. Ear training and note reading will be taught using separate curriculums until the child reaches the intermediate stage in which they will be combined. Adults will start in a combined note reading and ear training curriculum as adults tend to learn "language" faster when they can both hear and read it. In addition to the ear training and note reading curriculums technical exercises are a regular part of the lessons and practice expectations. 

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Learning how to practice will also be an integral part of the lessons. It is important that students have an adequate keyboard or piano at home to practice on between lessons. The following article does a great job recommending what kind of piano to have at home and why: https://www.hoffmanacademy.com/blog/choosing-a-piano-or-keyboard-for-the-beginning-student/ . I'm happy to give recommendations about what type of keyboard or piano to buy as well. Regular daily practice for shorter lengths of time is much more beneficial than lengthy practice times separated by many days. For students just starting out practice times should be around 5-10 minutes. After about three months of lessons 15 minutes will be an adequate practice time. As the student advances practice time will naturally go up. Late beginners to early intermediate should find themselves practicing more in the the 20-25 minute range and late intermediate to early advanced should be practicing 30 minutes plus if they wish to keep improving. While you won't have to practice the above listed amount of time everyday below is a table of what to realistically expect in terms of growth with weekly practice for the above listed time put in.

• 1 day of practice a week outside of lesson day: Expect not to improve, lessons will be frustrating for both you and me.

• 2 days of practice a week outside of lesson day: Expect to stay at the same level, just enough to maintain the level you currently are without decreasing in skill, okay if this amount of practice happens occasionally, but if it's the norm expect lessons to be frustrating and improvement to be extremely slow or non-existent.

• 3 days of practice outside of lesson day: a good minimum standard, expect to improve very little each week. Improvement will feel like a snail's pace and lessons may feel difficult, but at least you will be improving.

• 4 days of practice outside of lesson day:  Expect to improve at a moderate pace, lessons will likely be enjoyable as new material will be able to be added every week.

• 5-6 days of practice outside of lesson: Expect to improve weekly, lessons will likely be enjoyable as new material will be added every week, and there may also be extra time in lessons to gain extra insight as you will feel very prepared when you're lesson arrives. 

Knowing that every week can look different I advise 3-5 practice days a week outside your lesson day for about 15-30 minutes a day varying based on your skill level. I understand burnout is a real thing so I actually advise against practicing every day of the week outside of your lesson day. If you don't find yourself improving like you should based on the practice day expectations above make sure to discuss that with your teacher, and it may mean we need to work on your practice strategy at home and make sure you are practicing properly.