in teaching, learning, and performance
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Dedicated to the
integration of heart, mind, body, music, and piano in teaching, learning, and performance |
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Piano TeacherTeaching in Suffolk County (Long Island), Manhattan, Chicago, and Denver, and all over the world over webcam! Each student's journey is unique. My goal is to give each student the tools necessary to attain his or her highest musical and pianistic potential. How we work depends on where the student is coming from -- if the student is injured, a beginner, or needs to work on interpretation, sound, speed and facility, memory, performance anxiety, rhythm, or sightreading. Of course, most pianists work on all these areas. I do my best to work with each student's learning style. If you don't live somewhere near where I teach but you're interested in working together, you can try lessons through webcam. I was so worried at first that webcam lessons would be ineffective that I put off trying them for a long time after I already had the equipment. However, they surprised me! Sometimes it's even better than in-person lessons, although I prefer to augment them with occasional in-person lessons if possible. You can also read How to Find and Select a Piano Teacher, which includes tips on how to choose a teacher for your college degree. |
| "Today I
don't even consider myself someone who has dystonia. It is a thing of the
past." — Dr. Mary Ellen Haupert, Assistant Professor of Music, Viterbo University Click for more statements from students |
I enjoy teaching many different kinds of students. In my studio are young people in elementary, middle, and high school, pianists who concertize regularly, private piano teachers, college students in jazz and classical performance degrees, college teachers, and adult amateurs. I bring all my expertise to each student, doing my best to give each what he or she needs to be a complete musician and pianist.
Here are just a few things you may experience in lessons with me:
| If you are injured, I show you how to attain a healthy, aligned balance on each note. Most people can work through a combination of rudiments and repertoire in the genre of your choice. This work is based on the precepts of Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique. |
From La Crosse Tribune, October 1, 1997,
page C-1 |
| "My
technique and tone production have improved dramatically." — Dr. Richard Lange, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, Northwestern College Click for more statements from students |
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If you are a Classical pianist
searching for a deeper connection to the music, I work with you on all aspects
of interpretation. My goal is to enhance your understanding
of how each composer heard his or her music, and then to help you bring it to
life in your unique way. If you are preparing an audition or recital, I help
you prepare for all aspects of it, from sightreading, interpretation, and
memory, to successful performance. Read about my classical
training in my bio.
If you want to improve your sound quality and variety, I give you the tools to connect your forearm, palm, and finger to each key, using fundamentals of Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique. If you need to have steadier and more alive rhythm, I work to give you a living pulse encompassing the beat, the measure, the phrase, the section, and the whole piece. We take our cues from movement and musical styles. |
| "In passing
on her incredible insights on piano technique, she has taught me how to work
past creative boundaries." — Jason Smukler, jazz pianist Click for more statements from students |
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If you are beginning
your piano journey, you have a wonderful adventure before you! You will learn
about rhythm, pulse, healthy alignment and movement, music-reading, and
problem-solving in music. You will learn a lot about yourself, and develop a
world of self-knowledge and self-expression that only music can
give.
If you have problems with memory, I strive to build upon your strengths and lessen your weaknesses. We'll work to enhance your emotional, intellectual, aural, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic memory. We might work on theory and analysis, or sing, or engage in other activities which might not seem to have any relationship to memory, but you will improve. All of learning is memorizing -- you just have to learn how to apply it efficiently. If you choose, you can participate in a learning styles project I am doing with education expert Sarah Church. I am working to apply the Dunn & Dunn learning styles system to teaching and learning the piano. The Dunn & Dunn system measures what kind of situations and cues help you learn your best, using the Dunn & Dunn learning styles model. |
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| "Her
expertise and knowledge of technical matters were invaluable as she led me
through an intense and rewarding transformation" — Tanya Bertram, Ph.D. student, University of California, Los Angeles Click for more statements from students |
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If you want to improve your speed and facility, I show you how to take advantage of your body's natural perfect alignment to balance on each key, and keep that alignment and balance by using efficient movement in every pianistic situation you encounter. This work, based on Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique, is always at the service of bringing you closer to expessing the music at your fullest potential -- fast playing is never an end in itself. If you wish to improve your sightreading, I work to fill in gaps which may be holding you back, and start you reading music with strategies guaranteed to give you success. If you experience performance anxiety, I'll help you search for the underlying reasons and look for safe opportunities to move toward overcoming it. |
 My portrait, by Sarah H. |
