Royal College of Music DMus Pianist-Researcher offering piano lessons for serious students

I really enjoy working with Gwen-Sofia. She is really receptive to my instruction and advice. She always approaches piano with a critical mind - tries something and then realises it sounds better, and then does whatever is necessary to achieve it. She is also tolerant of some of the more frustrating methods I use to help my students (like counting out loud and practicing slowly...) and I'm awfully grateful for her trust! She will go far if she continues like this. It's always a joy to teach students like Gwen who genuinely want to improve and push themselves to be better.

Sam has been a pleasure to teach so far. He has been studying with me since end October, and has been very much consistent with practice, as well as taking my teaching to heart. Every week he comes to lesson with the intention to work on specific things, and this attitude combined with his open-mindedness, receptiveness, and appreciation of detail, I think makes it very enjoyable to work together for the both of us. I would recommend him to temper his high expectations / demands on himself with patience, as learning the piano is a long road with its up and downs. He is doing very well and not "late" for anything, so I would tell him to just enjoy the process as much you can, and celebrate and enjoy all of your achievements which are already significant.

Eeshaan is very attentive to detail and receptive to my constructive criticism. He's improved very much and in a fast pace since we've started lessons - and has already gained some independence as a beginner. He always does his homework which I appreciate. I'm excited to see how he continues and how he will play in a year from now, and I hope he doesn't give up when it gets tough!

I very much enjoy my lessons with Nathan. He is already a very advanced pianist but came to me to further refine technique. I've found that he is very receptive to my suggestions and constructive criticism. Some of the things I ask of him are quite demanding; I make him play in slow motion, to enable him to analyse physical movements and consequently to introduce some changes. Because Nathan is so observant, he is able to achieve this and also make note of when he does things incorrectly. This is impressive and I would encourage him not to be frustrated with this kind of slow work - it is very valuable, but patience and consistency is key. I encourage him to dedicate at least 10 minutes daily to this kind of focused movement analysis (not more, that would drive anyone crazy) before moving on to other tasks / other pieces in the same practice session. If he patiently maintains this consistent and disciplined approach, he will undoubtedly go far.
As a person, Nathan is considerate, thoughtful, and responsible - he understands that I juggle various activities as a professional musician and so has very helpfully scheduled lessons with me a few months in advance, and is very consistent with his attendance. Very happy to have you as a student Nathan, and I hope that we will continue to work well together.

I very much enjoy teaching an advanced student like Daniel, who is receptive to my constructive criticism, enthusiastic about classical music, and works in a way that seems quite consistent. He will go far if he keeps up with what I've suggested - working closer with the text, slowing down the practice, having a routine that includes some technical warm-up exercises as well as sight-reading, and a smaller rotation of pieces (in order so that we can go through a wide repertoire more efficiently).

Piyush has been studying with me since September. I find that it is more challenging sometimes to teach students who come to me every two weeks, because they will have gone for a longer period of time exacerbating their bad habits without correction. However Piyush pays close attention to my recommendations and has been very receptive so far. He just had his fourth lesson and he's already able to sight-read initial-level pieces in a reasonable tempo, without stopping - with the right notes, right rhythm, counting, good articulation, good physical movements. He doesn't have to be frustrated or hard on himself because he is doing well - just have to trust the process. He is also a very gentle person. I enjoy teaching him very much.

Lisa is such a lovely, kind, considerate, empathetic and responsible person and I’m really enjoying teaching her. She is very appreciative of the things I tell her to do- even the difficult things, but she recognises and hears the difference it makes on her playing and her face lights up. It is a joy to teach someone who loves the piano so much.

I really enjoyed the first lesson with Andrea, he is kind and serious about the piano, and tries to change immediately the things I say to change. He has a receptive and generous spirit. I'm looking forward to supporting him in preparing for his LRSM exam.

Maeva's enthusiasm about the piano is really infectious and I've really enjoyed teaching her for the first time. I'm super excited to be a part of her journey in becoming musically fluent and I'm looking forward to supporting her in any way I can in her goals.

Oliver is a very bright student who could go far if he puts his mind to it. I really appreciate that he is so ambitious and has the work ethic to match. One thing that he can improve on is to be kinder to himself :-) and not be so self-derogatory because he is doing better than he imagines.

Stephen did a wonderful job teaching himself, and it’s great to see such passion for music. He is really receptive to my ideas and advice and manages to act on these right away. It would be my pleasure to continue teaching him.

Justin is a very curious boy who seems to enjoy piano. It will largely benefit him to incorporate sight reading as part of his daily practice routine.

Thank you for your kind comment, Sam. I really enjoyed teaching Violeta and Carolina, they are such sweet girls. They have a lot of curiosity and desire to get things right and this is such a great quality - they will go far if they keep at it. Looking forward to teaching them weekly.

Bohan is a very good kid, who is receptive to my ideas and proposals and responsive even when I ask him to do something unexpected or uncomfortable. He was attentive during the whole lesson which is a very good quality. I look forward to developing a good teacher-student relationship, for him to feel more relaxed during lesson, and to help him build a solid foundation in piano playing in all areas of musicianship.

Veronica, you did very well by yourself this whole time without a teacher and I am very impressed by your independence and dedication. You even use the metronome willingly, which is rare for students. I would be happy to continue building for you a solid foundation for piano playing- if you keep it up, you will go far.