| Piano Lessons | |
| Contact | Click here to go to Contact page. |
| Rate | Payment each month is the same flat amount, based on 46 lessons per year. Please contact for actual rate. |
| Location | Northwest Reno, very near McQueen High School. |
| Ages & Levels | Ages 6 through 155 accepted (age 5 on rare occasions). Beginning through very advanced students accepted. |
| Student Recitals | Chad puts on three recitals per year for students. There is no additional charge for these recitals. Recital performances are recorded digitally, and students get immediate feedback by listening to their own performances in the lesson following the recital. When students accumulate 50-60 minutes of recorded recital time, they get their own CD chronologically detailing their progress over the years. Chad uses his experience and training in audio engineering and graphic design to produce the CD professionally (including the removal of performance mistakes). Click here to see and hear these student CDs. Click here to see past programs of all of Chad's past student recitals. If you would like to attend a recital, information on the next upcoming recital will be found here. |
| Piano Classes | Held six times per year, piano classes serve as a less formal way of getting performance experience in a fun group setting of 4-8 students. |
| Special Events | Chad spends a great deal of outside lesson time enabling students to participate in events such as additional outside recitals, festivals, competitions, master classes and workshops, all of which are made possible by the Northern Nevada Music Teachers Association. More importantly, he ensures his students enter such events with a very healthy mental attitude: win or lose, high rating or low rating, these events are learning experiences and primarily for fun - there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. |
| Technology | Students are encouraged to spend 15 minutes per week before or after their normally-scheduled lesson using ear training and theory software on the studio computer. Chad uses ear-training software to accomodate all ages and levels of music. When students advance beyond basic theory/ear training software, they move on to collegiate-level software that would normally constitute a two-year program for college music majors. |
| History | Chad gives regular assignments to research composers. There are a total of 40 composer portraits that are framed on the studio walls (five at a time), and a new composer is introduced every month. The research assignments are very small and quick, and the focus of each assignment is for students to simply develop their own general opinions about composers and their music. |
| Adults | Chad is very accomodating for adult students. Although he encourages all students to play in recitals, often adults do not want to play in recitals because of the excess "nerve baggage" they carry when compared to younger students. That is why adults especially enjoy the 3 adult-only recital/potlucks held each year (each time held at a different adult's house). Chad usually has between 10-15 adult students. |
| NCTM | Chad is an NCTM (Nationally Certified Teacher of Music) member of the Music Teachers National Association. He engages in further pedagogical and professional training by reading MTNA's American Music Teacher magazine cover to cover and by attending workshops and conventions. MTNA certification is the closest a teacher can come in the U.S. to having an official "license" to teach. The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't require a license to teach music to you or your child. National certification through the MTNA is not as academically rigorous as what one goes through to get a music degree, but NCTM status does show one thing that academic degrees cannot show: devotion to teaching. Teachers must renew their certification every year for 10 years to become permanently certified, and this can only be done by accumulating "points" that result from the teacher and students being musically active. Chad is proud to be part of a system that not only encourages teachers to continue their training, but also reaches out to make the public more aware that having a good teacher makes a big difference. |
| Education / Honors / Experience |
Masters in Piano Performance, University of Nevada, Reno (2001) Bachelors in Piano Performance, University of Nevada, Reno (1999) Bachelors in Mathematics, University of Nevada, Reno (1999) Minor in Computer Information Systems, University of Nevada, Reno (1999) Recipient of the 2005 Nevada Arts Council Fellowship Grant in music composition, given to three artists in the state of Nevada each year Recipient of the 1999 UNR Excellence Fellowship, the most competitive fellowship given to graduate students at UNR Accompanied the University of Nevada, Reno Symphonic Chorus for two years, playing orchestral reductions to works such as the Brahms Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Mass in D minor, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, etc. Pianist at South Reno United Methodist Church since 1994, playing for two services and accompanying the choir every week in all styles of music. |
| Teaching Philosophy |
Musicianship: I strive to turn my students into musicians, not just pianists. My students undergo collegiate rhythmic training and collegiate
theory after three years of lessons since there is no good reason that this curriculum should wait until college. I don’t just teach my students good musical values,
I teach them to experiment and to be inventive in their music making; I show students how to make good musical decisions themselves instead of merely commanding them with good
musical instruction. My biggest goal for students is to become lifelong independent music learners, and developing independence in students is only possible when
the teacher generously shares the "why" (not just the "what") of all musical decisions with the student.
Flexibility: I adapt my teaching to the student. While I give all my students a core curriculum, I also strongly encourage every student to bring
in their favorite music, whether it be music from Harry Potter, Strauss waltzes, or video game music (all of which - and much more - has been featured in my studio
recitals).
Gentle Honesty: I seek to be both positive and honest in my interactions with students. There is always a nice way to speak honest criticism, and it is
my goal to always find these words so that students will not only like me, but will also always seek and trust my professional opinion. My honesty is not limited to what
I know: it also includes what I don’t know. No teacher knows everything, and students trust my opinion even more when they see that I make no attempt to cloak my ignorance
in pompous or vague language.
Transparency: I keep parents and students well-informed. I welcome parents to observe lessons. Parents are one of the best facilitators for productive practice
each week if they know what is going on in each lesson, even if they don’t know anything about music. I send out six newsletters each year, often with informative articles
that I write on subjects ranging from the psychology of practicing to the science of sound.
Serious Levity: I am a serious teacher who loves to joke around. When students complete pieces, I fasten stickers on their music ranging from broccoli to school
buses because I find gold stars to be boring. I love it when students scoot across the bench playing scales, because then I get to write “butt” in their notebook (“no scooting
butt”) after telling them that my piano bench doesn’t need additional polishing. When students hit wrong notes or write wrong notes in their theory books, I compliment them
on discovering revolutionary new chords and scales. While seriousness is important, I seriously believe that a certain amount of levity is critical in a healthy learning
environment.
Slogan: I repeat my slogan to every one of my students whenever it seems relevant to their practicing (which is many times each year!): "There is no
such thing as too hard. There is only too fast or too much." This slogan is literally true, and while it's a very simple principle, the vast majority of
students fall prey to very inefficient practicing techniques if not addressed. |
| Testimonials | "I'm really grateful that you are my piano teacher - that's probably one of the best things that's happened to me. You're a great mentor!" - Former student who is now a piano teacher herself "Thank you for showing so much effort as my teacher, especially when you are so busy preparing for your recital. By seeing the way you play, it really helps me to see the possibilities." - Inspired student "If I never thanked you for 'encouraging' me to play in a recital, I would like to now. What I thought would be one of the worst evenings of my life turned out to be one of the BEST." - Adult student "I want you to know how much I appreciate what you are doing for both of my children. Not only are you teaching them so well but you are inspiring them about classical music. In my view, that is the very best a parent can hope for, that their children find their passions and become inspired - keep up the good work." - Appreciative parent |
| Contact | Click here to go to Contact page. |