Teaching

Teaching

I have over 30 years of teaching experience in New York and Berlin. My aim is to offer professional, individually focused instruction that builds a solid foundation and encourages imagination and expressive range at the piano. As the great pianist Artur Schnabel put it: playing should become like a “free walk on solid ground.” Lessons are for all levels—advanced pianists as well as children from age 7 and adult beginners are welcome!

Further information available on request.

What I teach:

• Developing a fluid, body-aware technique
• Strategies for effective practice
• Applied harmony and form
• Sight-reading and transposition
• Techniques of free improvisation, Baroque-style improvisation, and partimento (see below)
• Performance preparation
• Preparing for auditions and entrance exams
• Accompanying and coaching
• Regular open group lessons in small groups, to gradually get used to performing in front of others

What is the group lesson?

The idea of an open piano lesson with several participants is similar to the practice in conservatoires and music colleges of holding “masterclasses” with open performance. Here the setting is more relaxed, but the concept is similar: each student plays a piece they are currently working on (it doesn’t have to be performance-ready!) and receives teaching in a small circle of fellow students.

The aim of this format is to benefit musically from the heightened focus of a performance situation in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. For some students it is a good way to reduce stage fright; for others it is a chance to set themselves deadlines. For everyone it is an opportunity to meet and hear other pianists. Beginners can gain from it too, just as advanced players can learn from hearing less experienced students play.

The group session takes place on the last Sunday of each month at 7 p.m., with three to eight participants, and lasts about 90 minutes.

What is Baroque improvisation? What is partimento?

I have enjoyed improvising at the piano since I was a child. Improvisation once had a central place in the tradition of “classical” music but gradually died out over the 19th century, so that a sharp divide between playing and composing became the norm. Only in the last roughly 20 years has a movement emerged worldwide that aims to revive both the practice and the teaching of “free fantasising” on keyboard instruments. This movement draws on 17th- and 18th-century traditions (for example in the style of Bach or Mozart) that grew out of continuo playing and thoroughbass practice. At its core is the study of “partimenti” or bass patterns, which serve as templates for short exercises as well as extended compositions. For anyone who plays the piano, this can deepen and broaden musical understanding; it can also become a rewarding, creative way to make appealing and interesting music at the keyboard. Basic music theory is a necessary prerequisite; you don’t need to be very advanced. This can also be taught effectively online via Zoom when in-person lessons are not possible.