Piano with Maddy M.

I am lucky enough to have lived all over the world. I come from England, but grew up in South Africa. Recently I spent a number of winter seasons living and skiing in New Zealand before I came to the States. I have 15 years performing experience and 10 years teaching experience. Currently I am playing keys and singing in a band, but in the past I have conducted and played in many different musical groups, including choirs, orchestras, jazz bands and musicals. I can play piano, bass guitar , flute and sing. I once sang in a choir for Miss Universe! I love to teach! My teaching experience ranges from school classrooms to private pupils and everything in between. These experiences, plus learning music in other countries, have given me versatility, which I consider an essential quality of a music teacher. I started learning my first instrument when I was 6, but it wasn't until my early teens that I started tinkering on the piano. The first piece I ever learned was a ragtime no: 'The Entertainer" from the movie "The Sting'. Not only was it upbeat and fun to play, but gave me a great sense of achievement. After that I was hooked. I learned piano all the way through to University level, where I studied music history, theory (written music) and performance. Here I was taught to play and accompany others at a high level. I then went on to study music education at postgraduate level, where I learned about music education techniques and different learning styles. *** Lesson Details *** There is a lot to be said for teaching music to help develop great musicians, but there's more than that. Creating music is fun, it's therapeutic and lets you tap into tons of different emotions. All in all it lets you connect with the world and make you a better person!! Music lessons are about you, not me. They should be fun. Your musical experience, your likes, and your goals will all be mixed together to create a lesson that is right for you. I am interested in teaching you what you like to learn every step of the way, whether it is Pop, Classical, Ragtime, Blues and/or Jazz. Lessons will be energizing and packed with information. You will be working from a main method book which will introduce musical concepts, learning pieces that apply these concepts, and a theory book, which teaches you about music as a language. I can also bring a fresh and unique perspective to the lesson, drawing upon learning practices from the UK and South Africa. Whether you are 5 or 65, you can start building your skills and start playing all types of music. *** Studio Equipment *** I primarily visit homes to teach lessons. I carry my digital recorder, my handy tablet with music apps and my stored music, relevant music books for lessons and my flashcard resources I have made. I also made a cute composition board out of felt, with felt notes to stick on so composing can be easy and fun!! *** Travel Equipment *** I bring my teaching materials and handy tablet with me to lessons. I have flashcards with everything from reading notes to identifying chord sequences. I have a compendium of sheet music at my home to choose from. I also bring my felt board so we can get creative with felt notes and compose some cool music. *** Specialties *** I predominantly use a traditional piano teaching method although I am familiar with both the Suzuki method and the Kodaly singing method. I am classically trained but I can teach most styles/genres, particularly jazz, blues, ragtime and pop. I can also teach keyboard.