in teaching, learning, and performance
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dedicated to the
integration of heart, mind, body, music, and piano in teaching, learning, and performance |
||
Piano TeacherTeaching in Suffolk County (Long Island), New York City, Chicago, and Denver, and all over the world over webcam! Each student's journey is unique. My goal is to give each student the tools necessary to attain his or her highest musical and pianistic potential. How we work depends on where the student is coming from -- if the student is injured, beginning, or needs to work on interpretation, sound, speed and facility, memory, performance anxiety, rhythm, or sightreading. Of course, most pianists work on all these areas. I do my best to work with each student's learning style. If you don't live somewhere near where I teach but you're interested in working together, you can try lessons through webcam. If you have a hard time believing that lessons over webcam can be effective, then you're like me! I was so worried at first that I put off trying them for a long time after I already had the equipment. However, webcam lessons surprised me. Sometimes they're even better than in-person lessons, although I prefer to augment them with occasional in-person lessons if possible. You can also read How to Find and Select a Piano Teacher, which includes tips on how to choose a teacher for your college degree. |
| "Teresa's
expertise and knowledge of technical matters were invaluable as she led me
through an intense and rewarding transformation" — Tanya Bertram, Ph.D. student, University of California, Los Angeles Click for more statements from students |
Are you wondering if I
would accept you into my studio?
I enjoy teaching many different
kinds of students. At this time, I teach high school students, pianists
who concertize regularly, church musicians, jazz performers, private piano
teachers, college and graduate students in performance degrees, college
teachers, and adult amateurs. Some come to me because they are injured and want
to play without discomfort, and others start because they want to learn how to
become a good musician, or play with greater facility and a more beautiful
sound.
I'm happy to work with you if you're a middle school or high school student who already knows you love to play the piano, and want to learn how to reach your full potential as a musician and pianist. At this time, I am not accepting children who are beginning to learn the piano.
I am also happy to help you prepare for college auditions, which are becoming more and more competitive. It's best if we start this preparation before your junior year in high school. If you are looking for a teacher to help you prepare for a competition or adjudication for the sake of adding to your file, I'm probably not the teacher for you. I prefer to work on goals that are grounded in a student's needs and pianistic goals.
All my students have one thing in common: they are eager to work deeply. They may not be professional pianists, but still they want to be the best pianists, and the best musicians they can be. They're willing to explore musical and technical issues intensively, revisiting them until the music comes fully to life, and their playing is skillful and flowing. Those who perform work on their performance skills as well, using up-to-date resources to achieve optimal performance mindset.
In return, I bring all my expertise to each student. I do my best to give each what he or she needs to be a complete musician and pianist.
| "My
technique and tone production have improved dramatically." — Dr. Richard Lange, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, Northwestern College Click for more statements from students |
Here are just a few things you may experience in our lessons:
 |
If you are a Classical pianist
searching for a deeper connection to the music, I work with you on all aspects
of interpretation. My goal is to enhance your understanding
of how each composer heard his or her music, and then to help you bring it to
life in your unique way. If you are preparing an audition or recital, I help
you prepare for all aspects of it, from sightreading, interpretation, and
memory, to successful performance. Read about my classical
training in my bio.
If you want to improve your sound quality and variety, I give you the tools to connect your forearm, palm, and finger to each key, using fundamental concepts of Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique. If you need to have steadier and more alive rhythm, I work to give you a living pulse encompassing the beat, the measure, the phrase, the section, and the whole piece. We take our cues from movement disciplines such as Dalcroze and O Passo, and musical styles. |
| "Today I
don't even consider myself someone who has dystonia. It is a thing of the
past." — Dr. Mary Ellen Haupert, Assistant Professor of Music, Viterbo University Click for more statements from students |
| If you are injured, I show you how to attain a healthy, aligned balance on each note. Most people can work through a combination of rudiments and repertoire in the genre of your choice. This work is based on the precepts of Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique. |
From La Crosse Tribune, October 1, 1997,
page C-1 |
| "In passing
on her incredible insights on piano technique, she has taught me how to work
past creative boundaries." — Jason Smukler, jazz pianist Click for more statements from students |
|
If you are beginning
your piano journey, you have a wonderful adventure before you! You will learn
about rhythm, pulse, healthy alignment and movement, music-reading, and
problem-solving in music. You will learn a lot about yourself, and develop a
world of self-knowledge and self-expression that only music can give. (Please
note that at this time I am not accepting children who are beginning the
piano).
If you have problems with memory, I strive to build upon your strengths and lessen your weaknesses. We'll work to enhance your emotional, intellectual, aural, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic memory. We might work on theory and analysis, or sing, or engage in other activities which might not seem to have any relationship to memory, but you will improve. All of learning is memorizing -- you just have to learn how to apply it efficiently. If you choose, you can participate in a learning styles project I am doing with education expert Sarah Church. I am working to apply the Dunn & Dunn learning styles system to teaching and learning the piano. The Dunn & Dunn system measures what kind of situations and cues help you learn your best, using the Dunn & Dunn learning styles model. |
 |
| "To say
that Teresa Dybvig has made an impact on my life is inadequate. It is not
excessive to say that Terry changed my life. She gives me the tools to make
healthy movements and beautiful music, and she helps me find the courage to
have a positive and happy mindset." -- Anna Reiser, Master's student in piano, University of Wisconsin at Madison Madison, Wisconsin Click for more statements from students |
|
If you want to improve your speed and facility, I show you how to take advantage of your body's natural perfect alignment to balance on each key, and keep that alignment and balance by using efficient movement in every pianistic situation you encounter. This work, based on Dorothy Taubman's approach to piano technique, is always at the service of bringing you closer to expessing the music at your fullest potential -- fast playing is never an end in itself. If you wish to improve your sightreading, I work to fill in gaps which may be holding you back, and start you reading music with strategies guaranteed to give you success. If you experience performance anxiety, I'll help you search for the underlying reasons and look for safe opportunities to move toward overcoming it. |
 My portrait, by Sarah H. |
