Students That Warm The Heart

I love teaching piano and ADORE my darling students!!!  Dedicated families make my job so rewarding.  I would like you to meet an amazing Suzuki family.  In the photo above is Lucas.  He is 4 years old, and doing a fine job in his beginning stage of learning what it means to have beautiful tone and technique in playing the piano.  Here, we are playing a fun game.  Lucas has to balance a small die on his wrist for a few seconds.  Most of the time, I like using a tiny toy car.  We imagine that the arm and wrist area is a bridge.  The arm and wrist has to stay "above" the keyboard.....not collapsing so that the cars will not fall off of the bridge.  Lucas is doing amazingly well with his posture, keeping his arms/wrist above the keyboard, and distinguishing the difference between playing in a gentle circular motion instead of poking at the keys....which can be rough on the fingers as well as the keyboard.  Keep up the excellent work, Lucas!

Next, we have his brother Nolan.  He is 8 years old, and is taking on to piano with a vengeance! *smile*  I am very excited about how quickly he catches on, and his sensitivity towards touch and tone.  Music certainly is in the blood of this young man.  Below is a clip of his second lesson.  He is taking his time.....working slowly to strengthen each individual finger.  It takes patience and a LOT of focus to do what he is doing at the beginning stage.  He is very detailed, so I know that each week his technique is going to get better and better!  From time to time, you will see Nolan looking to his right.  There is a television/recorder combo and video camera that I have placed by him so that he can take a peek from time to time to check his posture and technique.  Lessons are recorded so that students can review them at home.

Keep up the fine work, you adorable budding artists!  Hats off to their awesome mom, Renee!!!  She diligently attends their lessons, take notes, and gives her all in helping them with their home practice!