Inspiration

As a teacher, I aim to enable pupils to unlock the power of the intuitive logical sides of the brain working together. I have twenty-five years experience of teaching piano and composition both privately and in schools and colleges. My approach is tailored to people's different skills, needs and learning styles with an emphasis on drawing out and developing people's innate creativity.

Teaching

July 2020 UPDATE

I am now happy to resume one to one lessons at home in Leominster. However I do understand that not everyone will feel confident to return to lessons in this way so I am happy to give lessons over Skype, FaceTime or ZOOM to those who want to continue in this way.

March 2020

In the current lockdown situation I am very happy to give lessons over Skype. Please contact me to arrange this.

Also I have started a FB page called Exploring Piano Repertoire where I am posting some videos exploring various pieces of piano music and also some reflections about practical music theory. Search for Exploring Piano Repertoire by AndrewMorrisMusicalRemedies.

I work with both classical and jazz repertoire, and stress the importance of understanding music theory in a practical way at the piano. I have a lot of experience in building people's confidence in improvisation and in giving 'classical' players the confidence to explore the world of jazz. I have successfully entered many pupils for both classical and jazz piano exams, with many of my Grade 8 students achieving distinctions.

I have successfully got three adult students through the Grade 8 examination in the past couple of years.

Day Schools

I have taught many day schools for the WEA.

Some of these have been on the works of a particular composer, e.g. Chopin or Mahler.

Sometimes they have been on a particular set of musical works, e.g. Schubert Piano Music; Bach Preludes and Fugues; Beethoven Piano Sonatas.

Sometimes they have been on a particular work and included a live performance, e.g. Bach Goldberg Variations.

Enneagram and Music

BREAKING NEWS

I have just finsihed composing a set of nine pieces based on the nine Enneagram types. This set of pieces is socred for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, the same instrumentation as Messiaen's famous Quartet for the End of Time. Watch this space for news of possible performances.

I led a day school on the Enneagram and music in May 2016 for a group called Anam Cara. Here is some feedback :

Reflections on Teaching Piano

As a starting thought on this page, it is my view that we learn in three very different but obviously interconnected ways :

1) SOUND We learn by having a clear intention of the sound that we want to produce. If we don't have this clear intention then we are not going to produce a clear sound. This is not so obvious on piano as it is on most other instruments but it is just as if not even more important.