Q: What genres of piano do you teach?
A: What genre would you like to learn? The most popular choice among adults is a combination of classical and pop piano - classical technique, reading and writing music, a bit of music theory so you understand what’s going on; and on the popular side of things some chord theory, how to play popular songs on the piano etc. From Rachmaninoff to Red Hot Chilli Peppers and everything in between, no qualms when it comes to genre, feel free to ask.
Q: Do you teach jazz piano?
A: I have never trained as a jazz pianist but I have studied jazz harmony at university level and enjoy banging out jazz standards on the piano as well as ruining pop tunes by making them unnecessarily jazzy. I can teach you a bit beyond the basics and how to get things to sound a bit cooler than they actually are, but if you are looking to learn jazz piano primarily then unfortunately I am not your woman. In short, do you speak jazz? Conversational.
Q: What kind of singing do you teach?
A: I teach ‘popular’ singing. Again, no genre is too weird, don’t be shy and ask me! Pop, rock, musical theatre, anything but classical singing.
Q: What are your qualifications?
A: I have two Masters degrees, one in Piano Performance and one in Popular Music Performance in Voice - both with Distinction, both from specialist music schools (Trinity College of Music and Institute of Contemporary Music Performance).
I got my Bachelor’s degree in Music at Goldsmiths University of London with First Class Honours. I finished school with top marks, three Grade 8 qualifications in Voice, Piano and Music Theory and a Grade 5 in Flute (after only two years of playing it), as well as a bunch of awards for Music Theory, Music Analysis and Music Performance competitions.
Of course, I regularly attend masterclasses and professional development courses to broaden my knowledge base. There are always new ideas and concepts to incorporate in my work.
Q: Are you bragging?
A: Possibly… I am however trying to make two points: Firstly, that I am highly trained to an excellent standard and secondly, that I have consistently overachieved in all areas of music I have laid my little hands on since I was a child. So you are in very capable hands!
Q: I am sure you can play and sing really well yourself - but can you teach? What are your teaching methods?
A: I see each student as an individual and respond to their distinctive qualities to help them achieve their goals. The goals may seem common or even identical, but we all learn in different ways - it’s important to identify and follow our own learning pattern, play to our strengths, while also improving our weaknesses. I use a variety of teaching techniques to guide my students towards the direction they want to go, specific to their own learning pattern.
I believe that strong solid foundations are imperative to gaining any kind of momentum without uncovering huge gaps along the way. I value quality over quantity, working smarter over working harder and one of my main priorities is giving my students tools to make their practice more enjoyable and less frustrating. I could talk about this for ages, if you want to discuss this further and go into more detail please contact me!
Q: Where are you based?
A: I’m based in Bermondsey, London, a very short walk from Maltby Street market.
Q: Do you teach online?
A: Because of You-Know-What, I am exclusively teaching online until safe to do otherwise. In early March 2020, looking down the barrel of lockdown, I took it as a personal challenge to prepare as best as I can for online teaching and have invested in quality equipment to maintain the highest possible standard of delivery. I have prepared a how-to guide for all students and can offer practical advice if need be. If you have doubts about online teaching I encourage you to give it a chance; you may find yourself very pleasantly surprised.
Q: Do you have a cancellation policy?
A: Cancellations really hurt my business and unfortunately they are like buses, not one in sight and then all of them arrive together… This is my income - rent, bills and expenses do not allow flexibility in how I pay them, so please be respectful and cover your cancellation cost without asking for exceptions.
Single lesson cancellations: If for whatever reason you cannot make your lesson, please notify me in the morning of the previous business day, otherwise please pay the lesson in full.
If you are cancelling more than one lesson, please give me four weeks notice.
If you are paying in blocks, the policy will be specific for the block you are paying for.
This may seem a bit strict, but please understand that the nature of my business means I can’t book “walk-ins” to cover cancellation costs and I do not want to price out students by raising my fees to absorb potential cancellations, as that would be unfair. Your employer would not cut a huge chunk of your income for a month without ample notice, so please do not ask me to accept it as the norm.
Q: How do I go about contacting you for lessons? What is a consultation session?
A: Email (through my contact form) is best. You can tell me in short who you are and what brings you to me. Then, we can set up a consultation session. A consultation session is a fancy way of saying that we are having a lesson-related chat. I find it’s a waste of time and money (not to mention painfully awkward) meeting someone for the first time during their lesson. How is either of us supposed to prepare for that?!
Establishing a solid line of communication is imperative to understand each other on a human level as well as mapping out the practicalities of lessons. So get in touch!
A: What genre would you like to learn? The most popular choice among adults is a combination of classical and pop piano - classical technique, reading and writing music, a bit of music theory so you understand what’s going on; and on the popular side of things some chord theory, how to play popular songs on the piano etc. From Rachmaninoff to Red Hot Chilli Peppers and everything in between, no qualms when it comes to genre, feel free to ask.
Q: Do you teach jazz piano?
A: I have never trained as a jazz pianist but I have studied jazz harmony at university level and enjoy banging out jazz standards on the piano as well as ruining pop tunes by making them unnecessarily jazzy. I can teach you a bit beyond the basics and how to get things to sound a bit cooler than they actually are, but if you are looking to learn jazz piano primarily then unfortunately I am not your woman. In short, do you speak jazz? Conversational.
Q: What kind of singing do you teach?
A: I teach ‘popular’ singing. Again, no genre is too weird, don’t be shy and ask me! Pop, rock, musical theatre, anything but classical singing.
Q: What are your qualifications?
A: I have two Masters degrees, one in Piano Performance and one in Popular Music Performance in Voice - both with Distinction, both from specialist music schools (Trinity College of Music and Institute of Contemporary Music Performance).
I got my Bachelor’s degree in Music at Goldsmiths University of London with First Class Honours. I finished school with top marks, three Grade 8 qualifications in Voice, Piano and Music Theory and a Grade 5 in Flute (after only two years of playing it), as well as a bunch of awards for Music Theory, Music Analysis and Music Performance competitions.
Of course, I regularly attend masterclasses and professional development courses to broaden my knowledge base. There are always new ideas and concepts to incorporate in my work.
Q: Are you bragging?
A: Possibly… I am however trying to make two points: Firstly, that I am highly trained to an excellent standard and secondly, that I have consistently overachieved in all areas of music I have laid my little hands on since I was a child. So you are in very capable hands!
Q: I am sure you can play and sing really well yourself - but can you teach? What are your teaching methods?
A: I see each student as an individual and respond to their distinctive qualities to help them achieve their goals. The goals may seem common or even identical, but we all learn in different ways - it’s important to identify and follow our own learning pattern, play to our strengths, while also improving our weaknesses. I use a variety of teaching techniques to guide my students towards the direction they want to go, specific to their own learning pattern.
I believe that strong solid foundations are imperative to gaining any kind of momentum without uncovering huge gaps along the way. I value quality over quantity, working smarter over working harder and one of my main priorities is giving my students tools to make their practice more enjoyable and less frustrating. I could talk about this for ages, if you want to discuss this further and go into more detail please contact me!
Q: Where are you based?
A: I’m based in Bermondsey, London, a very short walk from Maltby Street market.
Q: Do you teach online?
A: Because of You-Know-What, I am exclusively teaching online until safe to do otherwise. In early March 2020, looking down the barrel of lockdown, I took it as a personal challenge to prepare as best as I can for online teaching and have invested in quality equipment to maintain the highest possible standard of delivery. I have prepared a how-to guide for all students and can offer practical advice if need be. If you have doubts about online teaching I encourage you to give it a chance; you may find yourself very pleasantly surprised.
Q: Do you have a cancellation policy?
A: Cancellations really hurt my business and unfortunately they are like buses, not one in sight and then all of them arrive together… This is my income - rent, bills and expenses do not allow flexibility in how I pay them, so please be respectful and cover your cancellation cost without asking for exceptions.
Single lesson cancellations: If for whatever reason you cannot make your lesson, please notify me in the morning of the previous business day, otherwise please pay the lesson in full.
If you are cancelling more than one lesson, please give me four weeks notice.
If you are paying in blocks, the policy will be specific for the block you are paying for.
This may seem a bit strict, but please understand that the nature of my business means I can’t book “walk-ins” to cover cancellation costs and I do not want to price out students by raising my fees to absorb potential cancellations, as that would be unfair. Your employer would not cut a huge chunk of your income for a month without ample notice, so please do not ask me to accept it as the norm.
Q: How do I go about contacting you for lessons? What is a consultation session?
A: Email (through my contact form) is best. You can tell me in short who you are and what brings you to me. Then, we can set up a consultation session. A consultation session is a fancy way of saying that we are having a lesson-related chat. I find it’s a waste of time and money (not to mention painfully awkward) meeting someone for the first time during their lesson. How is either of us supposed to prepare for that?!
Establishing a solid line of communication is imperative to understand each other on a human level as well as mapping out the practicalities of lessons. So get in touch!