My Piano Teaching Philosophy
When we study piano, we are expected to undertake the seemingly impossible -
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We have to know the music theory, how the music is put together, which structures are used and how they are cobbled together to create a masterpiece. The goal: look at a complicated piece, not as “a lot of notes”, but as a logical, meaningful, cohesive, artistic thought.
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We learn how to make each practice session structured with clear goals, so we aren’t throwing paint at a wall, but painting evenly with long controlled brush strokes. (It’s hard to know where to paint, how to make the stroke even, and how to make it long instead of short). We learn how to cover all ground.
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We have to have a sense of our musical history, placing each composer in the proper time period and stylistic category, so we know how to make their specific pieces shine and communicate.
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We must have a well-trained ear, so we understand what we hear. And so our ear will guide our hands during a scary performance. (The ear is our best friend on stage, and gives us great confidence if we have done the training well.)
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We must become good solid readers, so that we recognize structures and patterns instantly, so we don’t get tired before we can even begin learning our new pieces.
You may be wondering...
How can one hope to achieve all of the above?
You study under a teacher with experience both teaching and performing.
I have instructed 3,000 pupils so far, ages 4 to 90. I have completed four music degrees, including a post-graduate performance diploma at the prestigious conservatory, “The Manhattan School of Music” in NYC. This program was highly rigorous, and students are expected to have mastered everything mentioned above before they are accepted. My teacher there, Phillip Kawin, charged me $300 per lesson between semesters. It might sound crazy expensive, but his guidance was worth every red cent.
I have extensive training on the grand church pipe organs - having studied with Janet Loman at NMSU, Michael Burkhardt at Carthage College, and Pamela Decker at the University of Arizona. I have held posts as principal church organist at multiple churches in El Paso, Tucson, and Austin as well as substituting in NYC on occasion. This training gave me further insight into the piano in particular, as the approach is quite different. Many of the skills needed to play the organ transfer to the piano and strengthen the technical understanding of that instrument.
I have also sought lessons from famous active concert artists whenever I could: I played privately for Jonathan Biss, Arbo Valdma, Gustavo Romero, Olga Kern, Stanislav Ioudenitch, John Steele Ritter, Frank Levy, Rita Sloan, Ann Schein, and others. Additionally, I attended summer music festivals including the Aspen Festival for three summers 2003-2005, Vladimir Feltsman’s Piano Summer in New Paltz NY in 2006, where you receive a lesson every day from a world famous pedagogue (intense), and Beijing International Music Festival in 2008.
Additionally, I worked with my brother for several years in a band, and created a handful of sophisticated songs with ornate accompaniments. My Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition helped me quite a bit in that endeavor - where my main mission statement I set for myself was, “What makes a good melody?” Alan Menken was my main guide- although I did not meet with him in person, I studied his exceptional tunes in detail.
