Piano Lessons in the Upper East Side
For All Ages
Lessons in your home in the Upper East Side or in our studio.
Piano Lessons in the Upper East Side
Degreed, Highly Experienced Piano Teachers
Our teachers have obtained advanced degrees in music, mastered playing the piano at a professional level, and taught countless lessons to all ages. You will be able to learn from watching your teacher demonstrate passages of music, not just by listening to them.
As far as your development is concerned, we strongly believe that the quality of your piano teacher is second only to the quality of your individual practice sessions. And the truth is the better your teacher is, the better you will be prepared to practice on your own during the week. Your teacher will guide you through new concepts each week, and you will leave your lesson with a detailed plan for how you can improve before your next lesson.
Personally Tailored Piano Instruction on the Upper East Side
Young Professionals Taking Piano Lessons
According to the latest US Census, the median age for Upper East Side dwellers is 40 years old, with nearly 100% of those being white collar workers. As you would imagine, we teach many young professionals. Many of these students are looking to enrich their social and artistic life with piano lessons, and they come with a diverse set of goals. Many students want to learn piano-friendly pop songs, like the music of Adele or John Legend. Many others want to enjoy the sophistication of classical composers like Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and more. We will listen to your goals, create lesson and practice plans just for you, and structure your goals around your lifestyle and practice time.
Young Children Starting Lessons For the First Time
While fewer than 18% of households in the Upper East Side have children, we do teach many kids how to play the piano (very often in a family’s home). We start with fundamental concepts like hand position, posture, and arm weight. We then start to learn steps and skips, high and low notes, and concepts like quiet and loud on the piano. As far as note reading is concerned, we recommend learning landmark notes (like C, F, and G) first, then expanding into five finger patterns. We also mix in fun activities and the music your child loves – we won’t force them to play particular repertoire or practice pieces if they have a genuine love for something else.
Retired Adults Enjoying More Free Time
Many adults look for a new hobby when they retire, and we’ve often heard that students have been waiting for 10-20 years to be able to jump into the piano. It’s never too late to reach an advanced level on the piano! We will help you form reasonable goals – for instance, you probably won’t be able to perform Chopin Nocturnes in your first year. However, if you practice every day, you can reach this goal within 2-3 years. We will also focus on the music of your favorite composers if you would like, and we would love to hear about your specific desires and preferences.
Holistic, Fundamentally Sound Piano Education
Learn Perfect Technique on the Piano
The first aspect to playing the piano at a high level is technique. Without it, you could develop pain in your wrists, tension, physical ailments like carpal tunnel, and you won’t be able to play with speed or dynamic contrast. We will work on a natural and comfortable hand position, naturally curved finger work, and wrist rotation for when you play arpeggios or passages with skips and leaps. We will also dig into the concept of arm weight so you can develop a rich, warm tone on the piano. As you improve, we will discuss the specific technical considerations of playing rapid scales and other advanced passages.
Learn Foundational Music Theory
To be a proficient sight reader, or if you want to learn how to write your own music, you’ll need to learn the basics of music theory. This will also help you interpret your music and enjoy listening to music on your own. We can start with the foundational scale positions, like tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant, and grow into five-of-five chords, sevenths, and more. This will also help you learn how to improvise blues and jazz, and you will enjoy being a well-rounded musician, not just a robot who can play some piano music. Don’t worry, this isn’t as complicated as it sounds — we will build your music theory knowledge naturally and one step at a time. After a year of lessons, you’ll be amazed at what you have learned.
Learn How To Practice and Learn Music on Your Own
Our ultimate goal for you is to become independent as a pianist. Each week in your lesson, your teacher will equip you with valuable drills, exercises and concepts to practice at home. Then you will bring your lesson material back to your lesson and review. Over time, you will gain the skills and confidence to pick out your own pieces of music, break them down into actionable steps, and perfect them fully on your own. Your lesson time will become even more valuable at that point, since you’ll be able to discuss more advanced concepts with your teacher rather than talking about notes, rhythms, and dynamics.
Start Learning the Piano in the Upper East Side This Week
If you’d like to start taking piano lessons at NY Piano School, we would love to hear from you. Whether you live on Park Ave or near Central Park, you’ll find that our studio is easily accessible to you. We are also happy work with you on your home keyboard setup if you want in-home piano lessons. We can find an available time slot for you as soon as possible, and we can accommodate lessons in our studio or in your home. Start achieving your dream of playing the piano now – get in touch.