Teaching Philosophy

One of the common parents’ delusions is that musical talents are rare.  And of course they “exist mainly inside the TV screen, and not in their own family”.  This is totally false.  Every human being is born with a desire and ability to make music and everyone deserves to use it!  Naturally, it is not a child’s fault if their gift was overlooked and not treated the proper way; however, in spite of everyone’s busy schedule there is still time.  Bring your child to my studio and come yourself, if you are in love with music and want to enrich your skills or just simply to try out what might happen if your ears, heart and hands get connected to the piano keys. Playing the piano is an inspiring, relaxing, improving, and rewarding experience that helps you express feelings, emotions, dreams, and fantasies at any age.  I pay the utmost attention to the careful treatment of every child or adult who enters my studio.  Our common goal together is to learn, develop, and have a lot of fun making music.  I am also happy to assist your child in organizing a personal way and schedule of practice in order to gain visible results even during the very first months of studying.

The sense of personal satisfaction and pleasure that comes from piano playing just gets better as your musical technique develops with time. Even if playing the piano is not the ultimate goal you have for your child or yourself, the basic skills and techniques learned from piano lessons will develop useful experiences in many areas of life.  With piano lessons children acquire new skills and open a new world of options and opportunities that enhance their lives, fulfill their hearts and souls. Learning to play piano develops the abstract thinking, problem-solving, time management, creative and listening skills as well as increases the child’s confidence and self-esteem. Students enjoy the learning process by understanding music, experiencing success in music, being exposed to good music of different styles and genres, and receiving instruction from a teacher who is enthusiastic and encouraging. It is my goal to provide all of these opportunities for my students. Encouragement and respect are the main principles of my teaching philosophy no matter how much of experience the student has, if any at all!

Over the course of many years of teaching I came to the conclusion that the piano playing is best learned through a disciplined but enjoyable and low stress practice process.  This does not mean that dry exercises and scales do not help the pianist build the coordination; there is no doubt that some players enjoy drier material just solely for the technique-improving purposes. However, why not make an emphasis on learning through actual beautiful pieces and etudes that teach the same material in a musical and enjoyable way, where in between of gaining finger independence and control the student and the teacher also have many opportunities to discuss images, colors, phrasing, balance and dynamics?

Another important aim of my teaching approach is reading music. Although sometimes I introduce the very first song or two just by showing them directly on the keyboard, I teach and encourage all my students to start reading notes from the very beginning.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to study a piece of music when you are struggling with the basics of musical notation.  Reading music is another example of teaching one’s self more about music and becoming independent. When a student has spent a certain amount of time to learn to sight read well, hundreds of beautiful pieces from early renaissance to nowadays become available for the immediate study.

With respect to a personal preference of scheduling lessons, musical style and choice of the repertoire I am happy to establish a friendly relationship ‘teacher-student-parent’ and we become a happy and working team.  Our annual recitals consistently prove one wise verity: “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it”.