Piano Tuition

When coming to me as a beginner, we have a few lessons to get to know each other and I also work to get an understanding of what you want to gain from your lessons.

My piano lessons are structured around my student’s preferences for learning. To start with, we work on the basics along with some technique as this is very important. I teach technique right from the beginning including scales, arpeggios and broken chords which will help you to play the more demanding pieces and helps with finger dexterity. This technical work will help you to familiarise yourself with the piano. I also use Czerny exercises which help my students to play the more difficult passages in the more advanced pieces. This music sometimes includes passages which have semiquaver scale and arpeggio patterns that need to be played at a very quick speed.

I teach piano to children as young as four years old and have adult pupils in their seventies who are having lessons with me. I work with students of all abilities and have a lot of experience of working with students with special educational needs. I generally use the ‘Me and My Piano’ series with my younger beginners and ‘Piano Time 1’ with my adult pupils, however there are a lot of books to choose from in terms of learning but I have worked with the ‘Me and My Piano’ series since starting teaching but I have used John Thompson’s books on occasions which I also very much enjoy working with.

I am currently enjoying working with a paraplegic piano student and am in the process of arranging for them to have a specially adapated piano from a German company who I am communicating with on a regular basis.

I teach mostly in the Norwich area but I also cover Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft and my lessons vary in length from 30 minutes to an hour. For more information or to book a lesson with with me call 07967 023 568 or email [email protected].

Advice For Buying A Piano

I am often asked for guidance when new students wish to purchase a new instrument. Depending on budget, my preference would be to buy an acoustic piano, however, if budget won’t allow, an electric piano is a very acceptable alternative. An acoustic piano is better due to the range of dynamic contrast and the touch sensitivity of the keys and they all come with pedals which is incorporated into pieces from Grade 3 upwards. The electric piano is also touch sensitive and most models have pedals, but they are sometimes a lot harder to play.

Whichever instrument you choose, I would always advise trying the instrument before buying. This is especially important if buying an acoustic piano as every instrument is different. A lot of the music shops also have a large variety of secondhand instruments available to purchase and would welcome you to try the instrument before buying it. A secondhand acoustic piano generally has a more mellow tone than a brand new instrument (in most cases). If you purchase a brand new piano, it will take a while to adjust to its new surroundings and it is better to let a new piano have around six weeks to settle before its first tuning. Tuning should then be carried out at six to twelve month intervals, depending on how much the instrument is used and the room where it is played.

I can also help you to secure funding towards the purchase of a new instrument as I have had a number of students who have been successful in being awarded bursaries towards their new instruments.

Preparing For Performances

I try to provide performance opportunities for all my students and always encourage performance opportunities when they arise.

This includes performing at The Norfolk County Music Festival and Beccles Young Musician competition and I often prepare my students for performances at school or for school music scholarships. When preparing for a competition or school performance, we spend around six to eight weeks before the performance preparing one or two pieces and then a couple of weeks before the performance, we can record the performance for me to mark, and for us to watch back together in lessons.

This is an excellent way of learning as it enables students to listen to their playing and learn how they could get a really polished performance. My students always enjoy performing at external competitions as it enables them to get honest feedback on their performance from a professional musician.

Performance Anxiety

I have pupils who suffer from performance anxiety and I help them through this by offering guidance to help them to perform to their best ability. I learned a number of different techniques for coping with performance anxiety whilst at university, which I have been able to pass on to my students throughout my years as a teacher