Ethan H. — Piano Teacher — Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal

I started on piano at age four and grew up improvising accompaniments to little scenes I imagined, along with learning the usual pieces by Mozart and Beethoven and the music from my favorite video games and movies. At twelve years old I picked up the saxophone and developed an obsession with jazz that carried me to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I spent three years studying improvisation before falling in love with songwriting and production. I've been teaching informally since high school, and full-time since 2018. Music has been a refuge and a vehicle for me and my students.

I have one thing to teach: deep practice. Every student of music needs it, but only some are ready to learn. If you're ready, and you learn it well, you'll get ten times more from every lesson you take after you leave my studio. It could take as little as two lessons, or as many as a dozen. But once you know it, you will be able to grow by leaps and bounds. Most students I have met simply do not understand how to practice. They approach their instruments overeager, and try to "fix" their playing with tension and effort. They try to "understand" music: to get a grasp on it with their minds, when their bodies are miles behind. They cram practice into busy lives and do not understand how to center themselves before, during and after practice sessions to make use of the little time they have for music. They may keep practice logs or lists, but they never really master their music. They wander, they struggle, and they miss out on the deepest joy of music-making. This is not the way to learn. It doesn't matter how many songs, pieces, tunes, or patterns you practice if you're only skimming the surface. Deep practice is the only way to make contact with your music. We can learn how to do this practice with an intricate piece of repertoire, or with the C major scale. Once you understand it, you will have the most important tool you need to pursue any style or tradition, and to learn deeply from anyone with something to teach. I have had the good fortune to be in rooms and on stages with some absolute masters of music. Every single one practiced and played with profound joy, ease, and boundless energy. No tension, no effort, no strain, no stress. These players didn't relax once they became great: they started becoming great as they relaxed. For some of them, it was just an accident that they learned this way, but it doesn't have to be. There are techniques and methods for approaching practice as an experience of relaxed, slowly expanding mastery. That's what we work on, and if you're reading this, that's probably what you need. Get in touch, and I will be happy to help.