music, interdisciplinary creative practices, body and movement
Piano Lessons
You are welcome to my piano lessons as you are. My goal as a teacher is to support your musical journey in a way that suits your personal interests, personality and way of learning. I like to think as a musician and as a teacher that the main goal of playing piano is not to become a perfect piano player, but to become able to use piano as as one way of making music. I think it’s a bit different to think that “I play piano, well or not well”, than “I am making music with piano, with the ability I have today”. I see making music a bit like painting the air with soundwaves, connecting the touch of the player, the instrument, the space, the sound and the receiver. Music is a bit like choreographing the motion of sound in time and space.
We start the musical journey together by getting to know each other a bit, as I am curious to know what are your musical interests, background, possible goals. What would you like to learn or explore, or what are you curious about in music? Then we start the actual lessons. The lessons might include some basic piano technique, learning compositions and songs you like, improvising, creating songs, learning about basic musical elements such as rhythm, harmony, textures, sound, structure and melody in a very practical way. We might focus also on the embodied experience of making music or do some writing and drawing exercises, play together and share thoughts about music and art. We might also just simply listen music and talk about it. If you are curious we can also go outside to do some field recordings, or try to create our own soundtrack for a movie scene. If you feel exhausted we can do some relaxing listening exercises while resting on yoga mat. I will make plans/suggestions for each lesson, but we can always change the plans on the go.
The lessons I offer are not fixed on one specific style. I like to think that most music share the same common principles and different styles are a bit like different branches of the same tree, connected to their specific historical context, culture and aesthetics. As a musician and pedagogue, my special interest is on that musical soil that is underneath different styles and aesthetics. My own musical background is very much located in the connective tissue between different styles, traditions, aesthetics, studies and art forms. You are very welcome to my lessons whether you are interested in classical, jazz, pop, ambient, some experimental sound art or music in general.
The ground of my own pianism is in classical studies I grew up with as a kid, but as a teenager free improvisation and songwriting became my main focus. The theoretical knowledge I can share is rooted in the jazz theory that I’ve learned during my later studies, though I usually put it in use in different aesthetics. The knowledge I can provide about creative process is very much rooted in my work history and experience in interdisciplinary creative processess as composer, songwriter, dancer, improviser and performer. My studies in contemporary dance and other embodied practices have strongly influenced the way I see the act of making music also being deeply rooted within the body and to its surrounding environment that makes life, and therefor also music, even possible.
For Who?
For anyone interested in music, piano playing, creativity, music theory or other aspects of music. You can be complete beginner, intermediate player or someone with already some more knowledge of music. Also more advanced players with no experience on improvisation could maybe get something beneficial out of my lessons.
Where?
I teach in Pitäjänmäki in Helsinki on thursdays, fridays and weekends. Ask for availability in Kuopio and Tampere. I can also come to your home to teach, but it adds some cost to the price tag because of travelling.
Price?
The current pricing for the early fall is:
1x 45min / 40e
4x 45min / 149e
10x 45 min/ 360e
1x 45 min / Pay what you can (ask if available)
1x 45 min. / Suppot pay what you can lessons
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT: mikael.joonatan (at) gmail.com
with title: “Pianotunnille jee!/Piano Lessons Yeah!”
DANCE / MOVEMENT / PHYSICAL IMPROVISATION -lessons coming later.
Mikael Joonatan Kuosmanen 