Teaching Philosophy

I believe that humans need music. We need its rhythmic impulse, its expressive power, its emotional release, its opportunities for intellectual and creative growth. Music provides a kind of sustenance for our brains, our souls and our bodies that we cannot get otherwise. As a piano teacher, my over-arching goal is to help my students find joy and satisfaction in music-making, even as they journey along the long, sometimes arduous path to becoming a pianist.

My approach to teaching is based on the following goals:

Developing a healthy, functional piano technique

I strive to develop in my students an approach to the piano which minimizes tension and maximizes a full, tonally-rich sound. In addition to finding ways to reduce tension in the hand and arm, I often remind my students to feel the surface of the key before they play it. This tends to develop an efficiency of motion, increased security, and allows more tonal and dynamic control of the movement from key to key. In addition, I want my students to have a basic understanding of their own body’s structures as related to piano playing. I want them to learn to use the whole structure of their arm up to the shoulder in a synchronous way and to feel that piano playing is an activity of their whole body.

Developing an array of artistic and expressive performance skills

Artistic and expressive playing depends to a great degree upon the attention paid to issues of melodic shape, rhythmic structure, flexible & expressive pedaling, balance, and the creation of long musical phrases.

Acquiring proficient and practical musical skills

Having a basic understanding of music theory (scales, triads and their inversions, cadences, chord function and formal structure) helps immensely with learning and understanding music. I strive to teach these skills not as an end in themselves, but as a means to a more fully-realized performance of a piece. My students enjoy learning music theory by learning to improvise and by arranging familiar tunes. These skills, combined with learning to use thoughtful and efficient practice habits and a systematic approach to memorizing, help the student develop an independent, problem-solving approach to his or her playing.

Learning to take ownership of the musical decision-making process

I encourage my students to create their own editions. We often consult several editions to see others’ suggestions as to dynamics, fingering and articulation and listen to various performances to appreciate the range of possibilities. Ultimately, I want my students to make educated, stylistically appropriate decisions for each piece they learn.

Playing music you love

The piano repertoire is enormous! There are so many pieces in every style period and every level that there is no need for someone to play a piece they don’t enjoy. I always give multiple options for repertoire.

Development of a positive work ethic

Learning to master a musical instrument, students gain a very important life lesson: Consistent, daily practice over a period of years will lead to a high level of accomplishment. This is true even for those who bring no special talent or natural aptitude to the task.

Modeling life-long learning and involvement in the community of musicians

Though I am a teacher, I am also a student. I attend monthly master classes and take regular lessons myself. I attend workshops and conferences. For the past seven years, I have served as the festival chairperson for my local National Federation of Music Clubs group. I collaborate with other piano teachers in the Musical Arts Recital Club. In addition, I enjoy the many concert and recital series available here in Portland and I encourage my students to do the same.