Parrish Piano Studio

Like many folks in their 50s and 60s, I started playing piano when I was young (4 or 5), took lessons until I was a teenager, played in the school orchestra, and then abandoned studying music when other things became more important. I continued to play on occasion, and have always owned a piano, but it was growing stale for me, because I wasn’t learning new techniques or being challenged at all.
In my early 50s, I decided it was time for some lessons. Initially, I was looking just for some guidance with new pieces to learn and some technique tune ups. I took a beginning music theory class at a local college, taught by Susan Parrish, decided she would be a good person to try lessons with again, and started what I thought would be a short series of lessons.
Susan is what I call a «serious» teacher, someone not only a talented player, but well educated, devoted to teaching piano, and very professional in her approach. I enjoy working with her, and have gained an appreciation for how she works with young student. As I’ve said numerous times to Susan, I wish I’d had a teacher like her when I was young, because I would have grown up to be a much better musician than I am.
Susan is serious about teaching piano, but what works best for me is that she’s also committed to helping her student enjoy playing. She encourages me to select and tackle the pieces that I find interesting (and my tastes are all over the place, from Chopin to Pink Floyd), and then helps me to approach learning those pieces with patience and creative techniques. I’m now aware of entire layers of subtlety in playing that I never knew existed before, and how they enrich both my ability to play and my enjoyment of playing. I derive immense satisfaction from sitting down and playing, and look forward to having more time to play in the future.
I cannot thank Susan enough for reinvigorating my relationship to playing and enjoying music. I think students of all age will benefit from studying with someone who understands so much about music and is so willing to teach to the individual and being a sense of joy to the endeavor.