Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy is incorporated into everything that we do here at the studio. I believe that it is my job as a teacher to understand and accommodate each one of my students individual learning needs in order for them to be successful musicians. I am a life-long learner and will always be trying new ways to engage and excite students while studying the piano. It is also my job to instill confidence and joy into my students. This requires sensitivity to each one’s separate personalities. To do this, I aim to create a supportive community for students while they study the piano throughout their childhood and adolescence. I have learned that students are more successful and more joyful in their study if they have support from their family, their teacher, and their music community to explore music in all different ways.In addition, I believe it is extremely important to allow my students to express themselves in their own creative ways. I do this by incorporating group classes, giving students many performance opportunities including recitals with various themes like Halloween, ensemble recitals with student performances on up to six pianos at a time, small performances at different nursing homes and/or medical centers, studio field trips, participation in state competitions and festivals, and student led assessments with parents. Students can choose among these performance opportunities depending on their individual needs. While studying an instrument is incredibly difficult, it has many benefits and rewards including better self-esteem, an outlet for students to express themselves, learning how to discipline oneself, strengthening memory and reading skills, helping to process multiple things at once, developing creative thinking, increasing coordination, and many other things. I believe that being able to explore music is critical to a child’s education and development.