It’s been fantastic to welcome students back to piano, to a new year with our regular lesson schedule. For those who were able to make it for lessons in the summer, it was delightful to continue our work!

To any new students signing up for lessons this year, as a promotion I am offering 25% off your first month’s tuition, from now through the end of October.

The calendar is filling up, but there are still a few afternoon slots left and quite a few mornings still available for those whose work schedules can accommodate lessons.

I look forward to being with old and new faces at the piano bar. 🙂

This week a third grade student at our neighborhood school died from longterm illness. While many in our community knew of this child’s condition, the news left the kids stunned and sad.

I had three alerts to what happened – two expected (a principal’s phone call and my son’s report of their classroom discussion with teachers), and one surprise communication from my student Isra later that afternoon. As Isra walked into my living room for her lesson, she held two pieces of paper in her hand. They were covered in words she’d written that day in honor of her classmate. Immediately, I knew we would not be opening her regular piano books that day.

Isra strode to the bench with her characteristic sachet, not making eye contact but rather looking directly at the keys. She sat down, unfolded the papers carefully, and stood them side by side. Her actions revealed two verses and a chorus in two different ink colors which together declared: “You were the queen of the ball…” and, “So be free to be, to be, to be…me.”

We spent our half hour together writing down the music, with me choking back tears of pride. Isra patiently sang the song phrase by phrase, and I scribbled a basic line to reflect what I was hearing. She knew when the notes should go up more than I’d captured, and she had an idea of deepening one of the base chords to better support the melodic line. We agreed that I’d made a mistake in repeating “to be” one less time than was meant to be. We’d fix and finish it the following week.

As Isra left her lesson, I found I was a bit stunned myself. Music was allowing this young student to process her loss, life’s vulnerability, and the beauty of the person she knew. She was clearly mystified and still in some quiet shock. And being nine years old, my guess is she might have gone home and still asked for ice cream or screen time after dinner like any other kid on a regular day.  But she and I were both changed by her initiative, and I incredibly grateful for it.

The last line of her chorus has especially stayed with me. While the song was dedicated to her classmate, its words concluded “So be free to be…me.” So perhaps her song was unwittingly or even knowingly charging herself, and all whom she loves, to live more fully in light of what had just happened.

I’ve spent the last few days at the keys far more, as a result.

Ah, yes…that strange “global warming guilty t-shirt weather” hits me today as I think about summer.

This summer we will have a two-month hiatus from regular lesson schedules, again matching the Boston Public School calendar. But we won’t be without opportunities to meet and make music at the Piano Bar! I encourage you to consider music training as something more akin to keeping up reading during summer weeks, rather than a seasonal event which stops cold until fall. I am completely biased as their music teacher who wants to engage their potential, of course. I recommend we try to keep up lessons as much as summer travel or family events allow.

In the mid-spring, I’ll open up first-come, first-served lesson slots for July and August. Most likely they will fall the weeks of July 11, July 18, August 1, August 8, and August 15. This will allow your family to pick and choose whatever specific dates your son or daughter can have lessons. They’ll be pay-by-lesson, and kept open all summer for you to sign up.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled winter. Or, our global-warming scheduled t-shirt day.

I learned something last year from my oldest son’s band teacher. Mr. Eisenman took a group of students, most of whom were brand new to their instrument, and taught them immediately how to perform for their families and friends. Just a few months after picking up the French horn, my son was given the opportunity to play in front of hundreds of people. He was proud to be part of something worthy, and I was so glad and proud as well.

This continues the pattern of music exposure and performance my kids have received in school. Their theater arts and dance teacher Ms. Taylor-Knight also puts kids in front of people constantly, even if it’s with the instructions of “hey, walk from this side of the stage to the other side, while I play this CD.” That can seem perhaps silly, but what it’s birthed in her students is a comfort level getting up in front of others to express themselves, to share a feeling, even to exist confidently.

Research shows that the fear of public speaking (and by proximity, perhaps performing in general as well) rivals the fear of death as adults’ top fear in life. That means, adults apparently would rather die than get up in front of others to speak or perform.

Can we come in the opposite spirit, and make some music (however brilliant or basic) in order to enjoy the moment together?

I think we can! Please save the date to hear your children and their fellow musicians play for you.

Sunday, January 24, 2016 2:00 pm and 3:30 pm

We will share in bringing light refreshments to enjoy their success afterwards.

I’ve just completed my first week of lessons with an awesome crew! What a thrill to see eyes light up when peering into the innards of the piano – hammers which look just a bit like bones, and taut strings which masterfully handle all the force we can give them. A shout out to Pixar/Disney’s “Inside Out” for providing great characters – Joy, Disgust, Fear, Anger, and Sadness – to illustrate the myriad of emotions pianos can convey.

Yes, Piano Bar with Val is now a real thing. Whether you or your loved one is brand new to music and keys, or you’d like to dust off some Arthur Rubinstein-like ambition…feel free to try some lessons! Speaking of Arthur Rubinstein, I was a kid when my amazing piano teacher Mrs. Kim took me to see someone very famous and old play in Los Angeles. I thought it was the aged legend Rubinstein, but since he died at 95 in 1982, maybe it was one of his protege. I (being said kid) dozed off somewhere between Super Awesome Piece Seven and Totally Incredible Piece Eight. But I distinctly remember having a lasting impression of that night, which still informs why I think piano is so great. It was this strange detail of the old player’s performance: he missed a lot of notes. Why is that a clue to what makes piano great, you ask? Well, I was mesmerized at how perfectly rich the keys sounded under the fingers that pressed them, despite the fact those fingers left a gap now and then. It was as if the piano itself was filling in for its honorable partner, knowing that great partner was fading. And what resulted was full-fledged magic.

From kerplunking we eventually get to that magic. So come on, let’s make some music!

Welcome to Piano Bar with Val!

Thanks for your interest in private piano lessons with Val! In 1990 I got to visit Amsterdam and encountered the cutest little car, painted on its hood with a little grand piano. It was labeled “Piano Bar.” That memory came to mind this summer as I imagined a joyful and connecting experience of music for people of all ages.

I am offering a variety of days and times for weekly lessons – hoping to serve our kids in all varieties of schooling experiences, as well as adults.  

I look forward to working with many of you soon! – Val