During the last twelve years, I have taught students of many different ages and levels. While my primary goals of providing a strong foundation and fostering enthusiasm remain the same, I have learned how much I need to be flexible in choosing the path to achieve those goals. I apply different methods for each of my students as I figure out their learning styles, so that I can tailor lessons to their needs. I am also aware and encouraging of the student’s own learning goals, showing them how their goals and mine together will make them a well-rounded music student.
I believe that music lessons should be enjoyable and self-driven by the student’s curiosity. I consider myself a mentor and a guide for my students, so they can learn fundamental skills and confidence in those skills along the way.
If you are interested in lessons please contact me at Laura@MoylanMusic.com
Laura Moylan’s Teaching Philosophy
One day I received a nice email from the father of a former student. I had taught the student while he was in high school, but he had moved away for college a few months earlier. The student was a talented musician, learning Beethoven Sonatas and a Chopin etude during his last year of studying with me, but had decided to pursue an engineering degree in college. The school he chose to attend is small and did not have piano lessons or other musical outlets available to him. The email explained how he was creating his own opportunities by purchasing a keyboard and getting friends together to form a jazz improvisation group (a new genre for him).
This email meant so much to me, because my goal in teaching is to provide students a strong foundation and an enthusiasm for music that will continue beyond our lessons. This student had enough confidence in his skills that he felt qualified to continue his own music education and enjoyment, even without access to a teacher. He had worked hard and had grown into a self-sufficient musician, so now he could play music for enjoyment and therefore allow it to be a source of stress-relief while studying for a difficult degree.
During the last twelve years, I have taught students of many different ages and levels. While my primary goals of providing a strong foundation and fostering enthusiasm remain the same, I have learned how much I need to be flexible in choosing the path to achieve those goals. I apply different methods for each of my students as I figure out their learning styles, so that I can tailor lessons to their needs. I am also aware and encouraging of the student’s own learning goals, showing them how their goals and mine together will make them a well-rounded music student.
I take an interest in my students’ lives outside of the piano studio with the goal of fostering a welcoming learning environment for them. I want them to know that I see and respond to each of them as individuals. Getting a peek into their other interests and commitments helps me to give them what they need out of their lesson. For example, some weeks a student might simply need encouragement, while other lessons it might be better remind them of their capabilities.
I find it is important to ask leading questions so that they can come to conclusions on their own. I have found that individuals remember more information from lessons when they are doing as much talking as I am. This also allows them have more control over the pace and scope of their own lessons. When my student can take my suggestions and come up with their own conclusions, they will make music in a way that allows their individual voice to come through. I want them to feel proud and connected to the music, which is why I always encourage them to listen to themselves. When a student asks me how their playing sounds, I often turn the question back to them so I can get an idea of what they are listening to and what it is that they are questioning about their interpretation. I find that I can give better comments after hearing their thoughts, and that the student learns how to discover answers to their own questions this way.
I believe that it is important to share many practice tools that can be used for a wide variety of repertoire. I like to give my student several options of repertoire that have difficult passages similar to a piece that we have already worked on together. My hope is that the students remember to use the same practice techniques that they have already learned. Offering tools that can be applied to other music helps to provide them with confidence while they are practicing. I want my students to learn why we use specific tools, so that they can be utilized to their benefit later. Also, I believe that any aspect that is familiar in a new piece, even if it’s just a passage that they know how to approach in the practice room, can give a student confidence and enjoyment in what they are doing.
I believe that music lessons should be enjoyable and self-driven by the student’s curiosity. I consider myself a mentor and a guide for my students, so they can learn fundamental skills and confidence in those skills along the way.