Piano Instructor
Piano Lessons In Your Home                    
Call Alex at 862-221-6621 or write me on the Contact page, No Texts Please.
The benefits of playing piano
Besides personal fulfillment, taking piano lessons and learning to play an instrument improves concentration and helps develop patience, creativity, confidence, and reasoning skills. It enhances academic achievement, increases performance on tests like the SAT & NJASK, and helps with conditions like ADD and dyslexia. For more info see articles from The Mozart Effect, New York Times and the BBC News Magazine.
I am a professional musician with a masters degree in Music Education and a concentration in Jazz Theory. I am a composer, studio musician, and church organist. I am primarily a piano teacher and I also give music theory lessons. I specialize in children's beginner and intermediate piano lessons and music theory lessons from classical to jazz. My piano instruction employs classical technique combined with the innovative use of technology like Mp3 recording of student repertoire, ear training software, and improvisation drills. My overall musical teaching philosophy is based on the Thompson, Bastien, & Suzuki Method. 

                                       Thompson Method
All my students play beside me doing improvisation, perform melody and chord identification, sight reading, and basic music theory. My beginners use John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers to Play because it illustrates and the notes needed for each piece and uses large typeface. Bastien introduces students to great musical works arranged for easy piano. I then use my own knowledge of music theory to accompany students as they play because I believe that true musicianship involves learning to play music with other people.
 
   Bastien Method                       No play-by-finger books
Although easier to play initially, play-by-finger books make learning to play sheet music more difficult in the long run. Using flash cards, music training sites like Theta Music Trainer, and some help from an adult, even a five-year-old can start reading sheet music from the first few lessons.    
For smaller children electronic pianos and keyboards work well.
For younger children the lighter touch is easier. Electronic pianos can also be lowered and raised to accommodate children's smaller body sizes so they are not having to reach up to the keys while their feet are unable to touch the floor. Children can change to piano latersince the technique for each is the same.
If you need to buy a keyboard I can help!
Picture
For parents interested in buying a keyboard I recommend the Casio WK-225 (pictured above) for $149-199 at Musicians Friend; I can lend you a similar one Casio WK-200 or a Yamaha Portable Grand DGX-205 at a very reasonable rate until you decide if playing the piano is for you. The models you will need have 76 instead of 61 keys (essential for playing duets and improvisation); they are also "velocity" or "touch" sensitive (meaning that the harder you hit the keys the louder they strike. They are also nice and heavy and won't slide around as they are played. It includes a metronome and recorder for capturing the right or the left hand separately. Students can practice learning pieces one hand at a time. I give free advice on buying used equipment on Craigslist and Ebay (just call me). There are often very good deals available, so you can see if a child truly enjoys playing before committing major sums of money to the process.   
Towns I can teach in
Depending on the day of the week and time of day I can reach the following locations: Alpine, Belleville, Bloomfield, Bogota, Boonton, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Clark, Clifton, Cliffside Park, Cranford, Demarest, Denville, East Hanover, East Hanover, East Orange, East Rutherford, Elmwood Park, Englewood, Essex Fells, Fair Lawn, Fairfield, Fairview, Garfield, Glen Ridge, Hasbrouck Heights, Hackensack, Haledon, Hawthorne, Kearny, Kenilworth, Lodi, Lincoln Park, Linden, Little Falls, Little Ferry, Lincoln Park, Livingston, Lyndhurst, Maywood, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, Morristown, Moonachie, Mountain View, New Millford, Newark, Nutley, North Arlington, North Caldwell, Oradell, Oradell, Orange, Paquannock, Paramus, Parsipanny, Passaic, Paterson, Pine Brook, Rochelle Park, Roseland, River Edge, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield, Rutherford, Saddle Brook, Saddle River, Seacuacus, Teaneck, Tenafly, Totowa, Towaco, Upper Montclair, Upper Saddle River, Verona, Wallington, Washington Township, Wayne, West Caldwell, Westfield, West Orange, West Paterson, Whippany, Wood-Ridge, Woodland Park.