The Life of a Piano Teacher........part 1, Judith Shaltanis

When I started this blog, I reached out to a few of my piano teacher friends and of course one of my former piano teachers, to be a guest blogger-which is our first guest blogger, Judith Shaltanis. I'm not sure if I can call her a former teacher, because she is still teaching me-teaching me about new piano methods and ideas for students who need special help. She will call or I will call and we'll trade stories about our teaching life and performing life. When I decided to open my own piano studio in Brooklyn in 1984, I traveled back to Iowa to be trained by her in the Lo Kno Pla method-which I still use today. Judith was one of the first piano teachers to be trained by the author of that method-Ruth Stevenson Alling. It's now taught all over the country and in Canada. I feel very fortunate to have learned that method-because it gives such joy to all of my beginning students-regardless of their age-and that I still have a wonderful and evolving relationship with "my teacher" who is also now my friend and colleague. Here's her story........

In my life, the day usually starts at 3:15. No, that is not when I roll out of bed, but when I must be ready, dressed and excited to meet the first after school piano student. Most days that student can walk from the nearby elementary school, which means a part of the lesson is telling me about their school day before we can get much piano teaching done.

After almost 50 years of this routine, it is difficult to imagine any other life. I know, 50 years ago I didn’t have to worry about 401k’s, health insurance and retirement portfolios, that was to be the concern of my husband. Those were the days when very few women worked outside the home, and teaching piano was not outside the home. The first years of my teaching career were in a small Nebraska town. At that time I thought 20 students was a full load. Little did I know how I would change that perception!

After two short stays in small towns, our family settled in suburban Des Moines. I have three sons; two were born shortly after moving to a new town; so I wasn’t teaching yet in that location. However, the third one was born after a day of teaching 10 kids. I had made arrangements to have substitute teachers for the youngest students for a “maternity leave”, but I can remember teaching high school girls with a nursing baby. Yes, babies can sleep through piano lessons. I would schedule daytime adult lessons during nap time. During the after school hours I always had a babysitter. The sitters could be younger, after all I was still in the house, and my boys enjoyed the variety of sitters. I just closed the door to the studio, and the rest of the house was theirs.

The biggest change in my teaching came after I learned how to teach the LoKnoPla method. This unique approach allowed me to teach two students at the same time, one on each piano. This also allowed me to expand my studio, and eventually I taught as many as 60 students per week. LoKnoPla is a wonderful way to begin students. The student plays recognizable music with two hands all over the keyboard from the first lessons. It also allows the teacher time to decide which traditional method would be the best fit for the learning style of each student.
I no longer teach two students simultaneously. You need to stand to be efficient at that, and my old bones can’t manage standing for long periods without pain. But, here lies the beauty of being a private piano teacher. I can sit alongside some of the neatest young people in Iowa and watch them develop musically. I can keep somewhat current by listening to their vocabulary and their personal musical preferences. I can introduce students to others who share their love for the piano, and nurture those friendships through group piano activities. I can feel the love of a child for their teacher, and the gratitude of their parents that they are learning a long cherished art. Being self-employed, I can schedule, and afford, built in vacations. I can maintain long-term relationships with families. Yes, I have taught children of former students, and most of the kids I teach now are the age of my grandchildren. Who needs a retirement check in the mail when you can get all these perks and earn that retirement check weekly? It is probably a good thing that my husband of almost 50 years still seems to provide me with those other retirement benefits. I cannot imagine a more fulfilling life.

Piano Recitals and their other lessons.......

Student piano recitals-some quiver at the thought-others revel in the memories. I am happy to report that our piano recital was a huge success and a wonderful evening shared by students, families and friends-and-this lovely piano cake made by a mother of a student! And it was scrumptious!

I'm very proud of all of my students, for they have practiced countless hours, worked on their music, come to their lessons and re-worked their music and then had the courage to get up in front of their fellow students, countless family members and friends to present their music.

This year we had a wonderful array of music, everything from folk songs, to rock, blues, boogie woogie, classical, romantic, contemporary, broadway, pop and jazz. There were pieces of music that everyone knew, to surprising arrangements of familiar works, to new pieces of contemporary music. As I peeked at the audience (while keeping one eye on the student's music), I saw parents nodding their heads and tapping their feet to not just their own child's performance, but for all the other students. I think that speaks volumes to how music really does touch the soul, and to the wonderfully compassionate group of people that are a part of my studio.
It is every teachers dream to see the dreams of others fulfilled and for their dreams to be acknowledged by their family and community.

Psychologists say that when young people express themselves through the arts it instills confidence and makes them feel better about themselves. I totally agree with that assessment. But I think there's a lot more involved. I believe that studying music and performing music puts you in touch with your humanity and the humanity of others. It instills compassion for the one who is performing, because we know how nerve racking that experience can be. It instills a sense of community, because we have all come together to witness the courage of others to share their musical endeavors. It instills a yearning for learning as you listen to a new piece of music that you might like to try for yourself, which in turn opens your mind to new experiences.

And finally,it instills acceptance. Even though we may have dropped a note here or there-the applause is just as loud and we can accept ourselves and others for who we really are.

Thank you students and parents for a wonderful year of teaching. I learned a lot from all of you. And as I always say to the parents, it is a privilege to be a piano teacher and to be part of the growth of your children.
With deep gratitude,
Diane

Music for the Soul Concert Series/Sat Feb 5th/ Jean Rohe and Rogerio Boccato

I am thrilled to be producing a concert for one of my former piano students-Jean Rohe and her friend Rogerio Boccato who is a wonderful Brazilian percussionist on Sat Feb 5th 8PM at Allwood Community Church in Clifton, NJ.
Jean is an amazing young woman who is not only a brilliant songwriter and wonderful vocalist, but she also plays many instruments, French Horn, mandolin/guitars and of course the piano.

Jean started piano lessons with me when she was in the fifth grade and continued on through her junior year in high school. Her brother also studied with me and is a very fine vocalist as well.

I remember that with Jean we did the usual piano repertory and then one day she brought in a lead sheet for the song "Orange Colored Sky" and told me she was working on it (as a vocalist) but would like to be able to play and accompany herself. I told her that she would have to switch gears and learn about chord symbols and how to build them, how to play them and sing at the same time-and she said yes-that's what she wanted to learn. Somewhere in her sophomore or junior year of high school she wrote the music, recorded and released her first cd with another vocalist friend of hers. After that, it was Smith College,then the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts-where she graduated with degrees from both and was chosen as the speaker for the graduating class for all of the schools that year-some of you may remember her speech which was nationally covered by Keith Olberman, The Huffington Post, to the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival Shure Vocal Competition 2nd place and audience choice awards, to a 2009 Blue Mountain Center Artist in Residency, to traveling around the world and being an activist for human rights and the environment.

I always tell my piano studio parents that being a piano teacher is a privilege. I am usually the only teacher they have for so many years continuously, and I get to watch them grow up. From the adorable cute elementary school age, to the hormonally charged junior high years, to the "I'm ready to learn about the world" high school years and if I'm really lucky onto young adulthood.

It all starts with "these are the white keys and the black keys and can you tell me how the black keys are grouped?" Or maybe, "this is the bass clef and this is the treble clef, your left hand plays the bottom staff and your right hand plays the top staff and middle C is right in the middle-just like it is on the piano"-and away we go. Through all the different styles of music and the readiness and maturity to learn different styles of music. No matter how everything ends up, as long as they can read the music, play the piano and express themselves through the music of their choice, I am happy, I feel as though I have done my job. It is the proverbial "icing on the cake" when I get to pay back that privilege by doing something like this-producing a concert-life is good!

And I just want to add a shout out of thanks to her parents Ann and Jimmy who are also wonderful singers, who faithfully brought her and her brother to the lessons and to the recitals. Wonderful things happen when parents are dedicated and supportive-we piano teachers can't do it without you!
To learn more about both of these wonderful performers you can go to Jean Rohe and to Rogerio Boccato

Music for the Soul Concert Series presents:
Vocalist Jean Rohe and Brazilian Percussionist Rogerio Boccato
Sat Feb 5th 8PM
Allwood Community Church
100 Chelsea Rd
Clifton, NJ 07012
973.777.6360
$10 donation
Meet the artists after the concert and light refreshments
http://www.allwoodcommunitychurch.com/