Piano Lessons
I cultivate students’ musicianship by teaching understanding, mindful practice, and authentic creativity.
Excellent musicianship on the piano is made up of foundational skills: the myriad techniques and pieces of knowledge that enable pianists to play in a beautiful, healthy, and creative manner. My main teaching repertoire is Western classical music, and I also have extensive experience in jazz, pop, musical theater, film music, video game music, and religious music.
My students fall into four main categories:
Students grades 4-12 at any level of musical ability who are excited about the piano, composing, and music in general
Adults at any level of musical ability, including beginners or those returning to the piano after many years away
Student of any age on the professional track, such as preparing for music careers or conservatory auditions
Highly advanced adult students, such as piano teachers or non-professional musicians who may already have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in piano
I create an individually tailored education in piano lessons for each of my students depending on their goals and their experience. There are some basic principles, however, that guide how I teach all of my piano students:
Healthy technique: making use of the entire body, from the fingers through the wrists, shoulders, back, and torso, to play the piano with ease, confidence, and power
Musical literacy: learning to read scores and to discover how music works under the hood so that students can truly be creative and expressive with piano performance
A strong brain-body connection: learning to make full use of our neural capacity, including maximizing our senses of hearing, sight, touch, and proprioception to build an assured technique
Historical and cultural context: learning about the places and historical eras that music comes from, focusing on what it meant to people then and what it means to us now
Excellent learning and practicing habits: students learn excellent short-, medium-, and long-term project planning as they advance to more and more demanding music, which is an extremely useful transferable life skill that, more and more, average schools and even colleges no longer teach well
Emphasizing the power and meaning of music in our lives: humans have likely been making music since even before we were speaking words, and students in my studio are the recipients of an unbroken chain of human experience going back over 100,000 years; being a direct part of this tradition fosters a sense of deep connection both in our own time and throughout all of history
If you are interested in studying with me or learning more, please sign up for an initial trial lesson.
For students in grades 4-12, lessons are weekly at the same day and time and last for 60, 75, or 90 minutes depending on the needs of the student. I do not teach 30 or 45 minute lessons.
For adults, lessons can be either weekly or every-other-week, also for 60, 75, or 90 minutes at the same day and time.
I do not teach every-other-week lessons to piano students in grades 4-12 because it does not support the necessary muscular and cognitive growth in piano technique for this age group.
Please see my Studio Details for more information, including tuition rates.
If you have further questions, please email me at chopinois@gmail.com or visit my FAQs page. I look forward to hearing from you!
Location
Lessons can be all in person, all online, or some of both.
If you have questions about the efficacy of online piano lessons, please email me at chopinois@gmail.com or sign up for an initial trial lesson where you can ask me more!
In-person lessons take place at my home studio. Online lessons take place via Zoom.
My home studio is located at 14418 SE Ellis St, Portland, OR 97236.
Performances by my students
Sarah Merten performs a full recital including music by Chopin, Beethoven, Couperin, Debussy, and Nikolai Kapustin.
Payton Bogatin performs “Notturno” from Mikorkosmos by Béla Bartók in my online Spring 2021 studio recital.
Reese Nachbur (piano, composition, and improvisation student) creates some lo-fi sounds on the keyboard with his brother on drums and friend on guitar.