About Me
My Background
I am a piano teacher who has lived in or around the New Forest for 40 years. I currently live in Hordle, near Lymington (in Hampshire) and teach the piano from my home. Although I have spent around 10 years as a class teacher in Primary schools, I have consistently taught the piano ever since I was in the 6th form at school, and have always loved it. It doesn’t matter if pupils are pre-school newbies, more experienced advanced players, or retirees starting up a new hobby at the piano – all are welcome. If pupils are keen to learn, I am keen to help them!
Performing
Performing in front of others, however, has been an entirely different story! My childhood experiences of negativity and nervousness lead me to avoid performing whenever I could. I just did the ‘essentials’ – all my piano grades growing up, exams and concerts at college, a couple of diplomas in my 20s. Then, with great relief, I left exams behind and just put all my focus into piano teaching – no more performing necessary!
However, in recent years I started to become aware of an aspect of piano playing that seems inextricably linked to who I am as a developing person, and not just a ‘means to an end’ which it had been before. So I started a Meet Up group which I ran for a number of years, and appreciated the opportunity afforded by these, and other small groups and workshops I’ve attended, to explore a more personal aspect of ‘putting myself out there’!
Playing the piano in front of others is now becoming a more holistic experience – more about the joy to be found in self-expression, communication and sharing, and less about trying to ‘get through’ a piece with minimal damage! Hence my decision to start the New Forest Piano Club, where I can provide opportunities for small, informal piano playing experiences, both for myself and for other like-minded souls.
Because of my own struggles on my journey, I feel passionate about supporting people on their path to increasing their confidence and finding joy in piano playing. Given the right sort of experience and encouragement, performing can be satisfying and enriching, providing us with a sense of achievement and a vital learning experience about ourselves. We need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones bit by bit, accept our fallibility as artists, allowing mistakes to be all part of the experience, and give ourselves a pat on the back for just ‘having a go’!
I hope you will join me on this journey, where we will all be supporting each other, and we can take things at our own pace.