Playing the piano is something that I have loved for as long as I can remember.  According to my mom, I played my first songs on the piano when I was three years old. My mom noticed that I was given a gift to play music by ear, so she enrolled me in piano lessons at the age of eight.  I took lessons for about 7 years.  Although I learned a lot during those 7 years, I was able to use my ear for music to fake my way through many of my lessons.  All I had to do was to hear a song and although I was reading most of the music, I could figure out how to play a lot of it on the piano without reading all of the intricate details of the music. I was about to learn how I did myself a disservice.

When I decided to study music at the University of Kansas, I quickly discovered that I was not prepared to study music at a University level.  My transition my freshman year was quite challenging and I had a huge wakeup call as to what it takes to learn and perform the instrument of piano for a University degree.   My persistence and love for music pushed me to work like I have never worked before and I soon discovered what it takes to play music as the composers intended. This insight is now benefitting my students. I now make sure that they understand all of the details on their pages of music.   

I studied piano from many University professors. Also included in my studies was Music Theory, Music Harmony and Dictation, Music History, Music Therapy, Choir, Education classes and many other courses to develop a well-rounded education in music. 

After I graduated with a Bachelors degree in music education, I taught piano lessons for five years and loved it.  I decided to postpone teaching once I had children.  Now that my children are adults, I decided to reenter the teaching profession and I love it more than ever.  I have had students ages six to over 70 years old. 

My teaching style emphasizes Music Theory and Analysis and that reinforce the Theory as well as note study papers, scales, chord progressions, circle of 5ths and key signatures. While I love teaching the timeless classics of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart etc, I also believe in teaching many genres of music to broaden the horizons of my students musical experience. Lastly, I teach my students songs that they love. This helps guarantee that they will practice. 

My students do at least two recitals a year and because I am a member of NFMC - National Federation Of Music Clubs, I am able to enter my students into Festival competitions.

This creates opportunities for my students to learn to do the work to polish pieces of music and have performing experience.  Families of students really enjoy watching their loved ones perform in a formal setting. During my recitals my students do solo performances as well as group ensembles. I occasionally offer music workshops which include games and activities to reinforce note recognition, rhythm activities, ear and interval training as well as performing experience in a casual setting. Occasionally, I also try to incorporate other performing experience such as performing Christmas music at different facilities.

Teaching piano lessons never feels like work to me because I love it so much.  I feel energized and rewarded with every student.