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Piano

Essay Writing

Music Theory

ACT Reading

ACT English

Beginner

I enjoy the creative challenge of teaching to each individual student’s wants and needs. I take an integrated approach to technical development, ear training, theory and songwriting/composition, giving students ways to play as well as understand the music they love. 

I work with both children and adults, primarily those who are at the beginning or early intermediate stages of their musical development. In my own practice, I focus chiefly on jazz, and have found that many of the skill sets used in jazz (learning by ear, improvising), when coupled with more conventional teaching methods, can accelerate the process of learning piano, making it more fun and creatively rewarding for students. 

Although people tend to perceive piano as a “classical” or “jazz” instrument, some of the most compelling pianists today are drawing from hip hop, rock, and every other genre of music, each with their own set of skills to teach. Though I offer a firm grounding in the classical tradition, I seek to incorporate other genres that may be of interest to the student whenever possible.

Shoot me a message if you’re interested in learning more and we can discuss any further details. I look forward to helping you unlock the magic that is music.

I studied music and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a city with a thriving music scene. Shortly thereafter, I left for another city with a thriving music scene: Chicago. I play primarily within jazz and improvised music contexts, but have also performed “new music” (or contemporary classical), rock and all manner of popular musics at such venues as the Triple Rock in Minneapolis, Elastic Arts in Chicago, and Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn, Illinois. When I am not teaching or at the piano, I run live sound for a local venue and write for a number of publications on music and aesthetics.

I love breaking a complex process like writing or music-making apart into its constituent parts and working together with the student to put the pieces back together again.

Mark is such a great teacher! He really is patient and works through music with you.

Piano with Mark M.

About Mark M.

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