Piano Lessons for Beginners

Let me start by telling you that being totally new to the piano may not necessarily be a disadvantage. All it tells me is that you have not been “musically traumatized”, and that you hold no rigid misconceptions or anxieties about taking piano lessons. (I’m joking, of course, but you’d be surprised by some of the stories I’ve been told by my adult students about their childhood lessons memories: having their fingers smacked by a ruler or a pencil, for one, keeps coming up with alarming frequency)

For Students With Previous Piano Background

If you are reading this, I presume you have some prior experience as a music student. Positive, negative or something in between – all of it is valuable to us, as we begin to build on and expand your previous knowledge.

As a first step, I suggest that you visit my  What's your piano skill level? page to assess your proficiency at the piano, and then proceed to New Student Information to add any pertinent details about your musical background.

Music is a field of extreme subjectivity: listening to it, playing it, teaching it – even tuning a piano can result in highly divergent or even conflicting opinions.* All too often the new teacher begins by criticizing the previous one’s methods: it is a handy way to establish your own superiority as an “expert.”

 There’s an old joke that asks: What profession has shown the fastest rate of evolution of human intelligence? The answer: Plumbing, because every time you need a plumber, the first question he asks when he shows up is: “Who's the idiot that put this thing together for you?”

Having studied with several distinguished piano teachers throughout my academic years, and having taught for many more, I can point out only one indisputable constant – I continue learning from my piano students daily. I believe that the success or failure of a music student/teacher  connection is not all that different from that of all other personal interactions in our lives, where our willingness to be open-minded, attentive, unselfish and flexible helps us form a lasting and mutually satisfying relationship.

*True fact. If you own a piano, try this experiment: call a tuner, and after he’s finished, call another one – I guarantee you that, after testing your piano briefly, he’ll whip out his wrench and proceed to make adjustments. (There is actually a valid reason for this: piano tuning intervals by definition are imperfect, and when it comes to piano voicing and the desired tonal quality the choice becomes very personal– what sounds good to one pair of ears will be less pleasing to another.)

Please take a look at my Opportunities to Share page: I encourage all my students to perform together (duets) and for each other (informal monthly piano recitals), but this is strictly at your discretion. You will be invited to attend our musical gatherings whether you choose to play or just listen – you’ll find a definite benefit in both.