When you’re searching for a music teacher for your child, you want to get a feel for the teacher. What is a lesson like? What’s their philosophy? What can I expect? We have taught hundreds of kids in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn over the last decade. The secret to our success is in […]
Our music lessons are fun! We not only want our students to learn how to play songs. We also want them to understand the concepts of music theory which make it easier to transfer to other instruments. Many of our students have started at the keyboard and then added other instruments like ukulele, guitar, recorder, […]
Update Jan 2017. THIS SERVICE IS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED AS OUR CALENDAR IS FULLY BOOKED. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. You can now book a private lesson with me via SKYPE or FACETIME or GOOGLE HANGOUTS from anywhere in the world. I can work with you and/or your child on piano, guitar, ukulele, songwriting, or […]
This is very popular with my guitar students. It’s funny, I have recently acquired a bunch of young girl rockers who have switched or added guitar to their musical instrument repertoire and this is one of those songs that resonates with everyone. It seems the new style of songwriting is to use the same harmonic […]
Teaching young kids to read music is quite a challenge. I approach through a long process of micro-steps. It’s the reverse of peeling an onion. It’s a layering technique of building up from tiny kernels of understanding, expanding outwards. The first lessons are always performance focused – get them excited about playing a song! It’s […]
I’ve started making videos of songs I’m teaching my students as so many of them are visual learners and have the technology to view this at home. This video is not meant to be a step by step instruction but a reinforcement/memory aid for after the lesson when practicing at home.
As many of you know, I’ve been working hard on an interactive iPad iBook for quite some time. Today Play Piano For Kids, Volume 1 (Penguins Don’t Play Piano, But You Can!) is officially live in 32 countries around the world in the Apple iTunes Bookstore. It’s on sale for the next week for only […]
Many of you are struggling with playing cleanly and smoothly. This simple technique can help you to relax your fingers to pay more fluidly. Developed by Glenn Gould’s mentor and longtime teacher Chilean pianist Alberto Guerrero, it aims to retain a relaxed muscle memory. You can learn more about this in the wonderful documentary Genius […]
The Fall semester is fast coming to an end with the last lesson on Saturday November 20, 2010. We’ll have a break for Thanksgiving with the new Winter session starting Tuesday November 30, 2010 and running until Saturday February 19, 2010. The cost for the new semester is $550 with an early bird discount of […]
When teaching to read traditional music notation, I separate the 2 parts of pitch and rhythm. Rhythm is easy to teach using stick notation. [update-12-3-12] Stick notation is taking traditional notes and removing the note-head. The note-head is the round dot at the bottom of the stick. The dot is placed on the 5 lines […]
This is from a concert at Madison Square Garden in 1972. Essential listening for anyone! Imagine there’s no Heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And […]
Many of my students have been forgetting some of the basics around technique. Here’s a handy chart that you can post by the piano or on the first page of your music notebook. Probably the most important one I’m finding is sitting the proper distance away from the piano. Many kids like to sit almost […]
Let It Be By Lennon & McCartney When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let […]
One of the greatest songs of all time by probably my favorite songwriter of all time, Bill Withers. Lean On Me Words & Music By Bill Withers Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there’s always tomorrow Chorus Lean on me, when […]
We’ll be having our next recital on Saturday June 12, 2010 at 2pm at the Pacific branch of the Brooklyn Public Library – downstairs. Please save the date! It’s a great chance to showcase our talents and I look forward to seeing you all there. View Larger Map
I’ve been teaching how to count rhythm to most of my students using Michiko Yurko’s genius method of naming note values with easy and fun to say words. I highly recommend her book Music Mind Games for all music teachers and home-schoolers and interested parents.. For example, a one beat (quarter note) is called BLUE. […]
We’ve been doing some great explorations of the roots of rock and roll which began with the basic form of the 12 bar blues. These 12 measures are like a pattern, a recipe that hundreds if not thousands or hundreds of thousands of songs have been based. Once you know the “recipe” you can cook […]
If you are currently taking lessons with me, you will know this as the Peanut Butter Sandwich or the Mississippi Hot Dog. It’s a great first lesson for anyone studying the piano, regardless of age, as it builds finger strength, independence and gets your hands in the proper position. So much of music is based […]
[flv:/flvs/TuningGuitar.flv 450 337] Here’s a little video that can help you tune your guitar.