Testimonials
Melody Zimmerman is an outstanding piano teacher. She began teaching my daughter, Sarah, when she was 8 years old, and after 4 years of lessons, I am extremely pleased with how well Sarah both plays the piano and loves making music. Melody makes learning piano fun and interesting for children, gives gentle correction and encouragement, and develops a sense of accomplishment. Her teaching style is the perfect balance of friendly and fun, yet very professional. She sets high expectations and inspires her students through her own love of music. I would highly recommend Melody to any student fortunate enough to work with her.
Melody has been a wonderful piano teacher for our son over the last two years. She’s talented, dedicated and enthusiastic. We feel that our son is receiving a strong musical foundation thanks to Melody.
She employed different teaching techniques, customized to each of my children, encouraging them to challenge themselves and develop good habits.
Recent Blog Posts
Technique with a Purpose
I’m pretty passionate about this fourth key point of my teaching philosophy. 4. I firmly believe in technique with a purpose: more convincing musical communication (and injury prevention). Technique is an important part of a piano education. However, it is the means to an end. It’s always problematic when the means become the end. When it becomes all about playing something as fast as possible and perfectly cleanly, something is seriously wrong. Again, piano playing is about making music, not being perfect! Technique needs to be about making music too. Each technical adjustment should have a musical purpose. Each technical
Learning Requires Taking Risks
Below is the third key element of my teaching philosophy. 3. I aim to combine high expectations with a friendly, encouraging atmosphere in order to motivate students to ask questions and take risks. Did you ever notice that some of the most effective learning happens when we fail? This is why it is so incredibly important for a teacher to create an atmosphere where this can happen. Teachers need to expect high quality work. Tolerating sloppiness invalidates any attempts to motivate students to pursue excellence. However, if students always perform virtually perfectly, they likely aren’t learning much. Part of high
Effort Outweighs Natural Ability
The second key element of my teaching philosophy is simple. 2. Commitment, effort, and diligent practice, in combination with quality guidance, far outweigh intrinsic “talent.” Many parents feel it isn’t worth investing in their children’s music education unless they show signs of special talent. However, I like to think of it this way: Imagine each child as an empty glass. Natural ability might allow a child to begin with a tiny bit of water already in the glass. Each hour of effective practice and each pearl of on-target feedback pours more water into the glass. Ultimately, the natural ability makes