Q: Why should I take lessons from you when I can have a Juilliard graduate student come to my home?
A: The Juilliard School does not offer classes in piano pedagogy OR vocal pedagogy, according to their website. It is therefore a near certainty that a Juilliard graduate has never formally studied teaching techniques, does not remember being at the same level as your child, and has never taught officially under any supervision or mentoring.
By all means, if you are a booker for classical performances, hire a Juilliard graduate if you can. They will probably sound wonderful. And a teacher should certainly be able to tackle concert repertoire with some degree of proficiency. But when choosing a teacher, the most important considerations are:
- Teaching experience
- Solid background in piano or vocal pedagogy
- Professional attitude towards lessons (rarely, if ever, canceling and rescheduling around gigs and auditions)
- Membership in a reputable professional association (MTNA, NATS, NYSTA, NYSSMA, MENC, NGPT)
- Continuing professional development (does your teacher still take lessons, attend conferences, etc.?)
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Q: Shouldn't your lessons be cheaper because you are in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan?
A: No, the location of the studio has no bearing on my abilities, experience, or cost of living. In fact, students in Manhattan travel to Brooklyn to take lessons from me. There is nothing about renting a studio in Manhattan, living on the Upper West Side, etc., that causes a person to be a better instructor, and there is no minimum skill level required in order to set up shop there as opposed to Brooklyn.
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Q: You're too far away. Can you come to my house?
A: No, sorry. I did this when I first started and did not have a piano, or many students, but now the demand to take lessons from me does not leave any spaces large enough to accommodate travel time. My students travel to see me from all over New York City. My Cobble Hill location is very convenient to Manhattan.
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Q: How old does my child have to be for piano lessons?
A: In general, there is no more significant indicator of lesson readiness than a desire on the part of the child to take lessons. I normally work with students 8 and older, but will consider younger students on an individual basis.
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Q: Can you teach me to play by ear?
A: No. I can teach you the scales and chords, which will be very valuable to you in learning to play by ear. I can also help you to train your ear to listen for intervals and chord qualities. But things like improvising and playing by ear, in my opinion, are best taught by someone who specializes in jazz, which has a very "aural" tradition. Classical music has much more of a written tradition, and so my emphasis is on the ability to read music. I am thorough in my approach to theory, however, and I have had students successfully transition to jazz, as well as continue their classical studies but branch out on their own to composing in other styles.
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Q: Can you teach me how to write songs?
A: I can't have musical ideas for you. I can give you the technical tools you need to be able to play and/or sing your songs so someone else can get a good impression of them. I can also teach you the "theory" so you can write down what is in your head. But keep in mind that the "greats", from Billy Joel to Alicia Keys learned classical piano first! Up to a certain point, classical piano is actually easier...if you can't play the easier classics, you can't play Billy Joel or Alicia Keys.
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Q: Why can't I just learn to play piano from the internet, a TV show , or a DVD?
A: You can certainly get some basic ideas or supplemental instruction through these methods. In fact, if you're serious, have a lot of time to devote to study, and can't afford more than a 30-minute lesson, I suggest you sample what's out there and try it, too! However, these are one-way communication channels. They can't tell you that you are holding your thumb in a way that is going to make it impossible to advance to the next level. They can't tell you that you are putting an extra beat into all the 3/4 measures and playing things in 4/4. They can't tell you that you missed half the F-sharps. They also can't tell you when a certain skill is coming to you so easily that you can skip it and go onto the next thing. You really need a teacher for that.
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Q: How old does my child have to be for voice lessons?
A: In the dark ages of voice science (about 20 years ago), it was the conventional wisdom that voice lessons should occur after puberty, at about age 13 at the earliest. Good singers who are mainly performers who fell into teaching should still probably stick with training more mature voices. However, people who study Somatic Voicework®, like me, or other forms of voice science, are able to work in a healthy, productive way with anyone who is old enough to follow directions and wants to learn to sing better. I have also had graduate-level training in working with children, and actually prefer younger starts.
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Q: Am I too old for piano or voice lessons?
A: If you have found this website and are capable of navigating it and reading it, then no, not by a long shot. One of my most outstanding pupils was in her 70's, a lovely woman in a continuing education piano class in Texas. Everyone else, from a high school student who played saxophone in honor band, up through students in their 50s and 60s, was left in her dust. If I hadn't moved, she might have surpassed me -- hey, maybe she took over teaching the class!
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Q: What's with the 24-hour notice? Why should I pay for a lesson we don't attend?
A: The 30 (or 45 or 60) minutes of the lessons represent only a small portion of the time I devote to teaching. The time I devote to creating a website that is useful to families, the time (and money) I spend on continuing education, time planning annual goals, time setting up physically for lessons, time I spend mentally reviewing what we will work on, time researching additional performance opportunities and competitions, time (and money again!) I spend presenting recitals, communications and other administrative time, time responding to cancellations and rescheduling requests, and time spent following up on no-shows, takes up at least as much time as the actual teaching. Much of it is fairly static, regardless of how many lessons I teach in a given week. With true advance notice, I can sometimes plan ahead to either use the lesson time for personal business, or some of the aforementioned activities. However, if I begin the day anticipating a certain lesson, it is rarely possible for me to use that time in a way that is useful either for me personally or to take care of studio business. In order for me to provide better and better lessons, a dog-free environment on certain days (doggie daycare requires 24 hours cancellation notice or I have to pay), and an overall commitment to excellence, I must be strict regarding a 24-hour cancellation policy.
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Q: For voice lessons, do I need a piano or keyboard?
A: No. You need to be able to play a cassette tape. I do not, as of yet, have the ability to record a CD. I CAN create an mp3 file. If you can only use an mp3 file, let me know, because I do have an mp3 recorder and can upload mp3s for you to download (I think).
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Q: For piano lessons, do I need a keyboard?
A: You at least need a digital piano with 88 full-size, touch-sensitive, weighted keys, and a sustaining pedal. Piano is not just about understanding the concepts. It requires daily physical rehearsal to train the fingers to function reflexively in response to visual and auditory stimulation. See my resources page for recommendations on specific instruments.
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Q: Should I wait to get a real piano until my child (or me) either becomes very advanced or totally dedicated?
A: Neither of these is likely to happen in the absence of a quality instrument, although getting a better piano can be a good reward for an intermediate-level milestone, such as finishing a Clementi Sonatina or Bach Invention. High-quality digital pianos can cost as much, or more, than a good quality upright piano. All the music I assign was written to be played on an acoustic piano, and most of the technical and musical elements I teach can best be developed on an acoustic piano. Although a high quality digital piano is superior to a cruddy, out-of-tune acoustic piano, my "OK - pretty good" students who have converted to "WOW" students have WITHOUT EXCEPTION already had a good acoustic piano at the time of their conversion.
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Q: So, what do you get out of recommending the more expensive acoustic pianos over a keyboard?
A: Nothing. I get a kick-back from Amazon if you buy a keyboard through a link on my website. I get nothing if you buy an acoustic piano. I'd still rather you have a high quality piano than the commission.
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Q: You only list after-school lesson time openings. I need to come earlier in the day. Don't you have any earlier times?
A: Yes. I list the after-school times because they are in peak demand, and I don't want to spend a lot of time (and waste others' time) regarding lesson times that are booked up. However, I am quite eager and willing to teach anytime from 10am-3:30 pm on weekdays.
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