Learn Piano With Understanding, Creativity, and Confidence

My lessons help students build those connections—developing the skills to read, play, create, and enjoy music throughout their lives.

We Move, Listen, and Sing

Musical learning involves the whole person. Movement helps students feel a steady beat and coordinate rhythm. Singing and listening help them recognize patterns and understand how musical sounds relate.

Many lessons include time away from the bench for these activities. That learning comes back to the piano in the way students listen, move, and play.

We Explore and Play

At the keyboard, students develop healthy technique, learn pieces, play together, and try their own musical ideas.

A familiar piece might become the starting point for a new rhythm, a different ending, or an accompaniment. These small discoveries help students understand what they’re playing and become more independent musicians.

The balance of activities changes with each student’s age, experience, and needs.

Lessons develop connected musical skills:

• Rhythm and coordination: Feeling the beat and playing with flow.
• Listening and understanding: Recognizing patterns and anticipating how music moves.
• Keyboard technique: Developing comfortable, coordinated movement.
• Reading: Connecting notation with sound and musical meaning.
• Creativity: Improvising, composing, and making variations.
• Expression and ensemble: Shaping a musical phrase and playing with others.

As students progress, we explore a growing range of repertoire, including classical music and modern composers, with their interests helping guide our choices.

Reading is an important part of becoming an independent musician.

Students encounter notation from the beginning, noticing shapes and patterns and connecting them with sounds they know. As their musical vocabulary develops, they move toward formal reading with a stronger understanding of what the symbols represent.

It’s similar to the way children experience language and books before reading independently: listening and understanding provide a foundation for making sense of the page.

For young beginners, practice often includes daily listening and short, frequent visits to the piano. Students might explore a keyboard pattern, play a familiar piece, or experiment with something we tried in a lesson.

As skills develop, practice becomes more structured. I help students understand what to work on and how to approach it, often using shorter segments to keep the work manageable.

The goal is a sustainable habit that builds both ability and enjoyment.

Music Learning Theory

My approach draws on Music Learning Theory, developed by Dr. Edwin Gordon.

At its heart is audiation: hearing and understanding music internally, including when no sound is present. You might imagine a familiar melody and sense where it is going. Students develop this understanding through listening, singing, moving, and playing.

Music Moves for Piano

I use Music Moves for Piano, developed by Marilyn Lowe and based on Music Learning Theory.

Its beginning materials, Keyboard Games, introduce musical patterns and keyboard pieces through guided exploration. Students learn pieces, experiment with them, and begin creating music of their own.

My ongoing study includes workshops, reading, learning from other teachers, and online courses through Music Learning Academy.

Progress shows up in many ways: keeping a steady beat, playing a phrase expressively, inventing a variation, reading a familiar pattern, or finding your place while playing with someone else.

Each achievement gives students more freedom to make music.

My goal is to help them develop both the ability and the desire to keep making music throughout their lives.