Knowing how to play the piano does not automatically tell you how to teach it.
You may understand exactly what is wrong with a passage, yet find that your explanation makes perfect sense to you - and no difference to the student.
That gap is where most of the real skill of teaching happens.
I offer piano teachers somewhere to bring the questions that arise when musical knowledge meets an actual person at the piano. I provide guidance for newer teachers and an informed outside perspective for experienced teachers working through a particular challenge or reconsidering an approach.
The first years of teaching involve a great deal of learning that does not appear in the score.
You may be an advanced student, graduate, performer or musician beginning to teach privately. You know a considerable amount about music, but now someone is waiting for you to decide what they should learn next and how to explain it.
Skills that feel automatic to an experienced pianist may involve several separate decisions for a beginner. Teaching asks you to slow the process down, observe what the student is attempting and work out where the difficulty actually begins.
Experience does not remove every teaching question. Sometimes it gives you more interesting ones.
You may have a student whose progress has stalled, a technical problem that is resisting your usual approaches or an examination program that would benefit from another pair of eyes.
Mentoring gives us space to examine the situation together. The aim is not to turn you into a copy of me. It is to help you become clearer and more deliberate in your own teaching.
Teacher mentoring begins with the question or situation you bring.
Depending on your experience, students and goals, we may explore:
We don’t need to cover everything at once. One well-chosen question is often more useful than a general plan to “become a better teacher” by next Thursday.
Adults are not larger versions of child students.
They come to piano by choice and bring motivation, curiosity and life experience. They may also bring limited practice time, high expectations, physical tension, self-consciousness and memories of lessons that did not go particularly well the first time.
They often want to understand why something works. Some will question an instruction, compare their progress with an imagined standard or apologise for their playing before reaching the second bar.
My specialty is teaching adult learners, from complete beginners and returning players to advanced students preparing for examinations and performances.
I can help you consider what may be happening beneath an adult student’s questions, how to distinguish between different causes of the same mistake and how to offer encouragement without avoiding honest correction.
I gave my first piano lesson when I was 18 and later taught at the Conservatorium in Košice, Slovakia.
After moving to Sydney, I established Eastern Suburbs Piano Tuition. The school grew to serve several hundred students and involved more than 30 professional teachers.
This gave me experience beyond my own lessons. I worked with different teaching styles and personalities while considering teaching standards, student-teacher relationships, professional expectations and the practical decisions involved in managing a substantial teaching organisation.
Through Piano Promise, I now specialise in teaching adults and support fellow piano teachers at different stages of their work.
I bring conservatorium training, a teaching degree, decades of experience - and a feedback that’s direct.
If something's working, we should know why. If it's not, admiring the problem for six months won't fix it.
I wrote Do Re Mi To You to answer many of the questions adult music students ask.
The book explores technique, practice, music theory, aural skills, sight-reading, repertoire, performance and examination preparation. It also addresses the self-doubt, frustration and very human habits that can appear while someone is learning.
Although I wrote it for students, teachers can use it too. It shows how musical ideas land, and where they don't.
Is mentoring only for new piano teachers?
No, it isn’t. I draw on my experience as a pianist and piano teacher, but the book addresses musical skills and learning experiences shared across many instruments.
Can we discuss a particular student or teaching problem?
Yes, provided the student’s privacy is protected.
You can describe the teaching or musical issue without sharing identifying information. Bring any relevant repertoire, exercises or notes.
Can you help with AMEB examination preparation?
Yes. I have extensive experience preparing students for AMEB examinations, auditions and performances.
We can consider repertoire, supporting skills, preparation strategy and whether the proposed goal is appropriate for the student and the time available.
You may be preparing to teach your first student; or you may have taught for years and encountered one situation that has made you reconsider your usual approach.
Both are good reasons to seek another perspective.
Tell me about your teaching experience, the students you work with and the questions you want to examine. From there, we will decide whether my experience is the right match for what you need.
