Piano with Brenda R.

I am a professional pianist and vocalist. I started my career out at 6 years of age. So, practically my whole life has been music! I studied under a marvelous teacher from the University of Kansas City Missouri for 12 years. She grounded in the classics, and if it hadn't been for that, I would never have had the technic to branch out into all of the other different genres of music; Broadway, jazz, rags, popular, Christian worship music, and folk music. I have played with bands, done accompaniment background for CD's, played with the Kansas City Youth Symphony, traveled extensively and performed for all kinds of organizations including many churches. I have also been a music director at 5+ churches over that past 30 years, and have taught hundreds of students, many which went on in their music careers in some form, including public school music teachers, band directors, Disney and opera. I considered myself as a "people" person. I thoroughly enjoy teaching children, especially the beginners, and always want to help the parents help their children's practice time at home by making suggestions and answering questions. Sometimes, the parents actually pick up some of the note reading themselves by supervising their practicing! Making lesson time fun is paramount. Children WANT to practice, they WANT to come to their lessons, and they learn much quicker that with a strict, old fashioned teacher with no humor! According to the study published in an issue of The Journal of Educational Psychology, children who study music have a higher IQ, and have much higher grades. I have 1 major recital a year, and take my students that are past the beginner stage to Stare Federation. The student is critiqued and graded on several scales, chords, and classical compositions. I look forward to speaking with you about your child taking piano lessons and your aspirations for them. Give them a gift that they will enjoy for their entire life!