Preston, Victoria | Australia
Helen Eager |
I have over 35 years experience teaching piano to children and adults. I believe it’s important to develop all round musicianship, not just the ability to play a few piano pieces. Ear-training, theory, improvisation, chord reading and sight-reading are all skills that I like to work on during piano lessons. I find students need 45 or 60 minute lessons to have a chance of covering these topics in a way that is fun and empowering. (I only offer 30 minute lessons to very young students: 4-6yo).
With beginners we always start with a non-legato (ie detached) touch. Playing non-legato with an arm bounce on each note is the best way for beginners to play with a good sound and maintain their piano hand shape. Introducing legato too early can cause the hand bridge or knuckles to collapse and the hand and arm to become tense. With beginning students we usually work through ‘Piano Safari’ – with lots of extra supplemental material and duets to suit individual circumstances and tastes.