Learn to express yourself with music! Piano offers lifelong enjoyment as an artistic outlet and a boost to self-esteem.
Study in an artistic setting in Lincoln, NE and take advantage of multiple performance opportunities for all skill-levels as well as summer festivals in Europe.
Everyone is different, and a custom repertoire list is chosen for each student. Personal attention is given at each lesson in the areas of technique, performance and theory to ensure solid basics for beginners.
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Piano playing offers life-long enjoyment, an artistic outlet of self-expression and boosts self-esteem. It refines discipline, patience and teaches delayed gratification. Not only that, it's most valuable asset may be in the cognitive challenge that no other instrument offers. The physical and mental challenge is very beneficial for seniors, and piano playing has also shown to improve academic skills. Pianists tend to have higher test scores in math overall, and one recent MIT study determined that the cerebral cortex of a concert pianist is enlarged by 30% on average compared to people that are considered intellectuals but did not have music education. So sign up for those lessons ..... piano playing makes you smarter!
As a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Lincoln Music Teachers Assocation and the National Guild of Piano Teachers, my students have the opportunity to participate in annual festivals, recitals, competitions and also non-competitive adjudication. For the more advanced student, there are opportunities to take part in annual summer festivals in places like Italy, Austria, and Greece! Performing is an important asset to develop in the early stages, even if it only involves playing for family. Those who participate in these events often display more focus, discipline and find piano playing more rewarding. However, it is very much a personal endeavor and the student can decide how much or how little they'd like to do.
In 1994, I developed tendonitis in my thumb, wrists and forearms as a result of repetitive-motion injury from piano-playing. I was sent to study with Elizabeth Mueller Grace of Kansas City and Shirley Harrison of Lincoln, NE where I was taught the techniques of renowned pedagogues Dorothy Taubman and Tobias Matthay. I now instruct my own students in this manner, specializing in the technique of reducing injury and tension in piano playing through proper use of arm weight.
Even if you have no intention of becoming a concert pianist, the first steps you take at the piano are extremely important. Proper technique begins at the first lesson and must be nurtured and developed over time. Pianists are unique in the sense that we use eyes, ears, arms, legs, feet, hands and all ten fingers simultaneously and yet independently! It is also the only instrument that uses bass and treble clefs simultaneously. Every key-stroke and muscle movement we make at the piano affects the sound we hear. It is important for beginners to develop an ear to hear these sounds and adjust their technique accordingly. After all, we want to produce music and not noise! Therefore, it is critical for beginners to develop the proper physical technique of playing this marvelous musical instrument from the very start!
