How I became a piano teacher
I grew up in a musical household. My father is a concert pianist and professor, my sister an opera singer and my mom a lover of music. My father had piano student’s day and night. As a kid, I would come home from school and my father would be teaching. Sometimes there would be yelling at the lack of practice but most always, there was laughter and enjoyment at both ends. I’d go to the backyard and play with the kids in my neighborhood and I’d hear the piano from outside. I’d go inside for dinner and hear the piano being played upstairs while another student would be practicing in the studio downstairs. As I’d go to sleep, I’d hear his professional students passionately playing Liszt, Brahms or whichever repertoire they were preparing in that moment. It was the soundtrack to my youth.
One of my father’s piano students was and is the owner of a successful music conservatory in Queens, NY. I clearly remember the moment she asked me to start teaching. I was 16. She told me I should begin right away, which I followed with a “ME?! TEACH?! HOW?! I don’t think I can!” She had a giant smile on her face and affirmed that I definitely could teach.
The day she asked me to teach was one of the most life changing moments for me. I’ve been teaching piano ever since that moment. I love teaching! It’s amazing to see how music becomes a part of people’s lives. I love when my students volunteer to play at talent shows or come into class wanting to learn a song they heard and like and even tell me that they want to audition for music and art high schools. It shows me they enjoy piano. And that’s all I want for them; to enjoy making music.
Her advice for my first day teaching at the school was to wear a lot of makeup and big heals so that I looked older. I definitely didn’t do that! I was pretty nervous on my first day but she walked me through it. She told me to remember how my father taught me, and by teaching, I would learn so much. This is absolutely true!
I quickly got the hang of it. I started the lessons with finger warm ups and began to teach from books I had used as a kid and books she recommended. With time, I learned which books had more success with students and which were easiest for them to comprehend. I started the class with a “Hi! How has your day been? Had a good week? Can’t wait to hear you play!’’. The kids loved me! Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a smiley person or maybe it’s because I took the time to get to know them and to listen to them or maybe it was the stickers I'd give them at the end of the class. I would figure out solutions for any trouble they were having with their pieces. If they couldn’t play legato, I’d tell them to “Think about how we walk.” I’d use my fingers and walk them across the keys as if they were legs. I would drag my fingers down the keys and ask “Do we walk like this? Dragging our feet?’” Usually I’d get a chuckle. I then would float my fingers over the keys. “Do we fly? I wish we did! But unfortunately, I don’t know how to fly. Do YOU?!” Nope. I then walked my fingers across the keys and explained, when we walk, first one foot steps down while the other moves forward and steps down. We connect our feet one at a time. That visualization would help them understand what legato means and right away, they were connecting their fingers as they played.
My favorite part about teaching, is that with time, you form a bond with the student. I think that is one of the most important parts of the lesson. There’s something about music lessons; it becomes a place of trust and can be therapeutic. My students confide and open up to me. In a way, we are like a family. That’s something I learned from my dad. For him, his students are like his children. When he teaches, he shares all his knowledge on music but also listens to their stories. Music isn’t just about playing the right notes and rhythm; it’s about telling a story. I think that’s why people start to open up, actually. Music makes them feel something and it makes them want to express it.
It’s a pretty neat job.
Stay tuned for my next post!
