Each student is unique and therefore has different learning needs and certainly an individual learning tempo. I teach at the student’s own pace and knowing their motivation behind learning the instrument is what I follow in my teaching of the person. Private lessons have the advantage of no compulsory exams or assessments, which reduces the stress in my learning environment.
I hold music performance degrees from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, a post-graduate instrumental teaching diploma (main subject: Recorder) from the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Music Physiology from the same institution. I completed my Feldenkrais Practitioner training at the Feldenkrais Institut here in Vienna, Austria, and I am a certified Sounder Sleep System (R) trainer.
Working in the teaching industry for nearly twenty years, in four different countries, I have seen a lot in terms of what students require of me. That isn’t to say that I don’t get surprised regularly, but I do feel comfortable as a teacher and performer and know how to do my job. If I ever feel out of my depth with a student, I know how to deal with this and have built a network of colleagues to whom I can refer my students, as necessary.
Learning a subject is never just about the content. It is about what aspects one can draw from this content, integrate it and apply this learning to one’s present and future. I like to know what my student’s dreams are, what they want to do, what they do outside of the music or Feldenkrais classes, so that I can have a picture of the whole person and understand what they need from my class.
