Piano teacher for 7 year old girl?
Hi! We are seeking a piano teacher for our 7 year old daughter who loves music. We are ideally seeking someone who could come to our home (North Berkeley). Any recommendations?
Oct 18, 2023
Hi! We are seeking a piano teacher for our 7 year old daughter who loves music. We are ideally seeking someone who could come to our home (North Berkeley). Any recommendations?
Parent Replies
I don't know if Jacqueline Divenyi would be willing to come to your house but she lives in N. Berkeley and was an amazing teacher and mentor for my 10 year old daughter, who was basically ready to give up piano at the time we found Jacqueline. Jacqueline not only got my daughter playing and practicing regularly again, she instilled a true joy in music and helped her find her own musical style. She is somehow fun, firm, reliable, inspirational and empathetic all at once! My daughter now plays voluntarily in her free time, spends time figuring out how to play taylor swift songs by ear, and is trying to get a small band together with her friends. We are taking a break from classical piano after ~2 years with Jacqueline because of scheduling constraints but we stay in touch with Jacqueline nonetheless. Please reach out to me if you need her contact information.
I know Jon Swann (https://www.jonswann.com/) teaches music classes in house. I haven't done private lessons with him, but my son and I have watched him teach a number of kids in our club house and have attended preK music classes with him. He's energetic, patient, and very supportive. He seems to teach a broad range of music and uses the child's preferred music as a mode of teaching. He uses traditional practice books, mixed with the student's favorite music that he's transcribed so that it's accessible. I've even heard kids learning to play songs from Zelda.
I know Jon Swann (https://www.jonswann.com/) goes up there. I haven't done 1:1 with him, but my son and I have done community parent-toddler classes and we always see him teaching students in our club house. The kids and parents in our class love him, he just lives and breaths music embedding music and play into everything. He energetic, patient, and uses the student's interests as a vehicle for learning. I've seen him use traditional practice books at the start of a lesson and then at the end work with students to learn how to play some of their favorite songs by ear (or he's transcribed their favorite music so that it's accessible to them). He's got a degree in music ed, training in Music Together, and has worked teaching in PreK-Elementary schools so I think this would be right up his ally.