I began teaching in the fall of 1998.  In the years since, I have developed an approach to teaching that completely centers around the student.  

 

My philosophy is that it is my job to meet students where they are and to bring them towards their goals.  I believe that the path is different for each student as their goals and learning styles are different.  It is important to study the student to know how they learn the best and what will bring them to their goals in the most efficient way.

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Early on in my teaching career I read, "It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it." ~Jacob Bronowski. This largely influenced my approach to teaching.  

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Erudite?  That doesn't sound like a ragamuffin word!  

Erudite [air-oh-dite] - learned, scholarly, educated, knowledgeable, well read, well informed.  What I like about this word is that it is the result of questioning what we learn and know.  Questioning is a result of curiosity.  To satisfy that curiosity, we must study.  Sometimes this study requires research, other times it requires experiments.  In any event, it requires that we continue to learn.  

 

Lessons are more than just learning notes!  It is important that we understand where the music comes from, how it affects us and how it is created. In addition to learning the notes and music theory, my students learn about music's place in history.  We learn about the lives of the composers to gain better insight into their music but more importantly, to understand the composers' humanity.  We also talk about the science behind sound and explore simple acoustics.  

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All of this leads to a well-rounded approach to the study of piano and music.