Private Lessons ~ Ensemble Lessons ~ Chamber Music ~ Competition Preparations & etc.
Online Lessons
Quality of the Piano
Policy
Study Aid
Events
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*** Due to pandemic, only ONLINE LESSONS are available. *** In person lesson will resume when I am comfortable doing so.
Palatine Studio is located just a few minutes away from Harper College in Palatine Illinois. Lessons can be done in either English or Japanese. However, since Music do not have language barriers, if a student can understand Piano Language, we can just communicate via Music.
Pianos in my Studio:
Kawai Grand Piano
Roland Digital Piano
Steinway Grand Piano
Weinbach Upright Piano
Cocoa the Assistant & the Judge
This is my lovely assistant, Cocoa. She loves piano & she often judges your playing. Cocoa is a very well behaved four-legged person and her freedom comes first. Therefore, if you consider coming to my studio for your lessons, be sure that you are:
A dog lover
Do not have any allergies to animals, dust, and etc.
Quality of the Piano required: Student must own a proper instrument for me to teach music. The lowest grade instrument accepted must have:
full 88 keys
weighted keys which gives dynamic contrast
Digital Pianos are preferred over "keyboards" which is a toy, not an instrument.
The younger the students are, more delicate their senses are. It is important to invest in a good instrument in order to help develop musical senses no matter how young or old the student is.
StudioPolicy
Lessons are given on weekly basis. Every week on the same day & time will be set aside just for you. Weekly lessons are very important to make progress. Please be on time and do not miss a lesson unless it is emergency.
In case you need to be absent, please send me a text message and notify me ASAP (at least 2 hours before the lesson start time.)
Payments Monthly tuition is due at the first lesson of the month. In case of an absence, a make up lesson will be given. Methods of Payments: Cash, Check, Zelle
Practice Every Day! I understand that children now a days are very busy but I expect them to practice every day. Playing an instrument is similar to doing athletic sports. We need to keep our body in shape in order to perform. Each session does not have to be a long one. Daily warm ups and exercises are very important. Therefore, try to at least do something (especially a new or a difficult phrase) approx. 5 minutes EVERY DAY.
Keep in mind that skipping one day of practice is more like missing a week of practice. All the hard work you previously have done gets washed down the drain and must be re-done again. Believe it or not, trying to resume something you already began (unfinished) followed by a time gap is 10 times more difficult than starting something brand new from stage zero!! The best time to practice is right AFTER the lesson, the day after, and the following day. Let's NOT wait until the day before the lesson to practice!
Pinpoint Practice Everybody wishes to ignore the difficult spots and only play where they can perform well. The students think they "practiced" the whole week, but actually that was not "practice" if they did not work on fixing the trouble spots. At every lesson I pinpoint the difficult spots and plan out a focused practicing menu so that problem spots get practiced first and gets resolved. Please always have a notebook ready and available for lesson.
Practice on Your Own Although parent's support is important I expect my students to practice individually, on their own, based on the practice menu I provide them. Creating Music should be very personal. By practicing without someone else's influence, the musicians can explore whole a lot more! Since they come to me once a week to get influenced by me, I would like the students to enjoy their freedom to explore the music the way they wish during their practice sessions. I ask the parents only to supervise or interfere with the practicing if the student cannot motivate himself or herself to practice. (I usually make the request to the parents to do so when necessary.) Just to let you know, no one is too young to practice individually. If my 3-year old students can practice on their own, you can too!