I began teaching group piano lessons in 1999 at Oak Park's Steckman Studio of Music where I also taught early childhood classes until 2008, then grade school music classes at Hephzibah Home's "Colorful Days" summer camp from 2011-2013. When I began giving private piano lessons at the Steckman Studio in 2000, Dr. Harry Steckman encouraged me to enter my students in the National Federation of Music
Club's Junior Fest where they always obtained high marks and some even chosen for the honors recital. My students still have the opportunity to enter the Junior Fest--a thoroughly positive experience--and I also encourage them to perform in my biannual recitals. Throughout the year I try to foster within each student the following skills: sight reading, finger strength, technique, musicality, memorization, and, when the interest is there, composition. Composing music is a fabulous way to foster creativity, and it also increases music literacy at any level of piano study. Instead of always learning from the musical staff to the keys, during composition sessions, I take the students in the opposite direction: from the keys to the staff, as they record their original melodies in a blank staff book. More advanced students can use this opportunity to learn chord progressions as they seek accompaniments to their melodies. Since 2023, I've held a low-pressure and completely optional composition competition as part of the spring recital. All those willing to share their handwritten finished pieces with the rest of the students can have them transformed into something a bit more professional looking via my notation software (for free!). I have composed an etude for every key of the scale, major and minor, for my early intermediate students, and this year will be attempting a similar but simpler series for late beginners. While I try and prepare each student for lessons with a more advanced teacher, I realize that not all of them will continue to that level. So while they are under my instruction, I do all I can to instill in them a love of music, a sense of accomplishment, and a desire to share that accomplishment with others. Lessons are $35.00 per half hour in your home or $30.00 in mine.
