Piano with Pamela A.

Hi my name is Pam. I am a Sonoma County Music Teacher with TakeLessons.com and currently have openings for private piano lessons in my home studio or yours. I have taught piano in Sonoma County for over 10 years and spent 1 year teaching at the Napa School of Music. While at the school I not only taught private piano lessons but performed in the faculty band and formed a choir with the vocal teacher as well. I teach all styles of music, all ages, and all levels of students. I started taking lessons when I was 6 years old and have been playing the piano ever since. I was classically trained from age 12 through 18 and went on to study music while attending Sonoma State University in the late 80's. In addition to teaching lessons, I also perform at weddings, private parties, etc. and accompany various musicians on gigs and at Music Festivals around Sonoma County. Music is not just my job it's my passion, and I am so fortunate and grateful that I get to share this with people through performing and teaching piano lessons. *** Lesson Details *** More than anything, I love to teach. My lessons are not only informative and well structured but fun and motivating. If you don't like learning the piano then I'm not doing my job! My approach to teaching is to encourage each student to have fun learning the piano and have fun playing the piano. My personality is laid back and comfortable. As a teacher I like to inspire and motivate my students, not intimidate or overwhelm. I teach the basic foundation of music: note-reading, theory, technique, performance, etc. But I also include and encourage students to learn music that they find most interesting. I have experience teaching all styles of music from classical to blues and jazz, and pop songs. As far as method books go I have used them all. Currently I prefer to use the Hal Leonard and Faber books for students under the age of 15 and Alfred's Adult course for students ages 15 and up. If you already have method books and would like to remain using them, that's fine too. I also teach music appreciation with "Composer of The Month". Students get to choose which musicians/composers they'd like to learn about each month. I research and provide interesting facts and info about each composer and students learn a song or two written by this musician. This is a fun way to gain exposure to many different styles of music and learn about composers from Chopin to John Lennon and anyone in between. I hold two recitals each year. One in the Fall and one in the Spring. I have two sections - duets and solo performances. *** Studio Equipment *** In my home studio I have Yamaha Baby Grand piano that has been with me for 27 years. I hope that you enjoy playing on it as much as I do! *** Travel Equipment *** At this time I do not have a quality keyboard that I can transport to lessons. For this reason it is important that each student have their own instrument for lessons and practicing in their home. Keyboards are acceptable. *** Specialties *** I teach all styles/genres of music.