BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS

"What? It's time to go already? That (hour) felt more like 20 minutes!"

"Oooh, I could have TWO lessons in each week? Hmmm!"

“That was the BEST Piano [Party] ever!!”

"You should have heard them (piano trio students) on their very first time together, they were so natural! She is so excited about playing with the trio and for making new friends!"

“Are we already done? That was fast!"

“Hi Peggy, Today we heard the Good Deed Recital (April). The residents loved it! They enjoyed the children as they got older and progressed in abilities.Thanks so much for caring, and keep us in mind if you do any more of these.Please let the students know how much they were appreciated too.” [a local nursing homeemployee]

Thanks for a fun and informative lesson today!  Every time I leave your studio I am reassured that I haven't "simply visited this world".  I feel amazement, sometimes wonderment, and occasionally a bit of befuddlement, and certainly the laughter resonates for the rest of the day. [an adult student]

“I love my new piano! I named her Katie Kawai!”

“Always practice more than 5 minutes”.

“If you miss a day of practice, practice two times the next day”.

Music feeds the soul. Playing an instrument and reading music is a gift.  Musical talent is rare. Cherish this opportunity.

Where words fail, music speaks!

Never give up learning the language of music! You will be able to speak to anyone in the world!

Be kind and eat your vegetables.

You don’t have to be the best at something to enjoy doing it.

The journey is more important than the end point.

Remember to smile and have fun while playing!

Dear Piano,
This is my Valentine’s Day love letter to YOU!  It wasn’t love at first sight when we met some 16 years ago, though you have served me well since the very beginning. Early on in our relationship when I sat down to play, I would think, “I’m here to do battle with my piano.”   That changed radically four years ago, when I signed up with my new teacher, Peggy Johnson.  I committed to spending at least one hour a day to nurture our relationship, which, since that moment, has become ever more intimate and devoted.
Dear Piano, I can hardly wait to sit down with you each day to make music together. We explore so many aspects of expressive playing—dynamics, articulation, rhythms, and range.  You and I are a team, joined by our coach, Peggy, and the composers.  Bach, Bartok, Copeland, Schumann, Satie, and many others (along with scales, of course!), come together every day to make music up and down your keyboard. You were my anchor of support, keeping me grounded through the challenges of 2020.  When I sit at your keyboard, I think only of what we are trying to create—everything else falls away.
I love you, dear Piano.  And to honor you, I have named you Amanda, after our new, vibrant, uplifting Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman.
Thank you, Amanda Kawai, and let’s play on!
[adult student]

Dear Mrs. Johnson,
I would like to comment on taking online lessons.  Ok, sorry, I don’t really like them.  BUT, I really want to improve my piano skills, and I love having you as my teacher.  At my last lesson, when you held up a piece of paper with the word YET on it (meaning “you are not ready to play that piece yet”), I wrote back,
“How can I make YET happen sooner?  Practice, Practice, Practice.  Lessons, lessons, lessons”.  
Mrs. Johnson is very skilled at using her cameras to demonstrate techniques for us.  She has become very clever with technology for our online lessons.  I CAN learn almost as much as I would in person, and with the added, rather unwelcome benefit of learning to play through distractions, like horrible audio feedback or my dog barking.  
Thanks for offering summer online lessons so that we can continue to learn.
AH, Adult piano student