There are a lot of piano teachers out there with varying degrees of experience, skill, education, and success. My personal experience was that finding the right teacher for me made all the difference and was absolutely worth it. It was about finding someone with the right combination of knowledge, skills, personality, and who connected with me. My “right teacher” took me past playing the correct notes on the page and getting the rhythm right, to catching the vision of what the song could sound like and actually learning to play the music with feeling. It was about discovering the joy in music! If I had stayed with my previous teacher, I would have never experienced that! (She was actually my 3rd piano teacher!)

So how do you find the right teacher? It is good to periodically evaluate whether what you are doing now is working well for you. If there seems to be a struggle to catch the vision with piano, or enjoy it, it’s probably time to consider a change and try something different. I have taught plenty of beginner students…and where my greatest strength lies is helping those who have the basics down to catch the vision and discover the joy of playing the piano. I love being able to pay forward what my wonderful teacher did for me and I am so grateful that my mom kept looking to find that right fit for me and was willing to pay a little more and drive a little further because that has been such a gift throughout my life!

Other important skills I teach:

• An often overlooked skill that many never learn to do well and that holds them back is sight-reading - to be able to sit down with a new piece of music and play through it and learn it quickly and easily. It makes music a lot more fun to be able to do that. 

• Learning to play the piano with others is very different than just being able to play a song alone, and can open up a whole new world of being able to collaborate with others musically. This is definitely valuable.

• I am amazed at how many pianists play the correct notes, but it starts to sound like mush because they haven’t learned proper pedaling techniques. It’s actually pretty simple to learn, but it’s surprising how often I hear people struggle with this.

• I am not a fan of music competitions, but I do know how important it is to learn to feel comfortable playing in front of other people, which can be awkward and hard at first. So I plan regular recitals where students can get used to playing for others in a supportive, low stress environment to overcome that. And it also gives them something to be working towards. It definitely gets easier!!!

Am I the right teacher for you or your child? It could definitely be worth finding out! I try to assess where each student is at with their ability and personalize the way I work with them. There are basics to be learned, but like most things, a one-size-fits all is not the best approach for everyone.

I have had several adults who took lessons as children and then gave up - it was “too much work”. But over time, it nagged at them and they really wished they had kept going. One student was a grandma that decided to “go for it” because, why not? She had the maturity, the desire, the work ethic and made time - so she was able to progress quickly. And found she really enjoyed it!

Piano lessons and practice offer many benefits you might not expect. In addition to boosting memory, attention, and brain processing speeds, it also enhances fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination by requiring both hands to move independently. My favorite thing is that playing the piano is an excellent stress reliever, helping to reduce cortisol levels in the brain. Mastering a new piece builds immense confidence and gives players of all ages a strong sense of purpose and achievement. For younger students, piano education also correlates with better linguistic, mathematical, and spatial-temporal reasoning skills. For younger students, piano education correlates with better linguistic, mathematical, and spatial-temporal reasoning skills. For all ages, it teaches patience, discipline, and efficiency.