Piano Lessons for Adults in London & Online

Information Pages - Various Types of Piano Lessons for Different Ages & Levels:

🎹 PIANO LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS

🎹 ADVANCED PIANO LESSONS

🎹 PIANO LESSONS FOR CHILDREN

🎹 PIANO LESSONS FOR ADULTS

piano_teacher_london_natalia_loresch

☎️ +44 (0) 7454766539
📮 contact@pianolessons-london.co.uk

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LANGUAGES SPOKEN:
📚 English (fluent)
📚 German (fluent)
📚 Russian (fluent)
📚 French (a bit)

About The Teacher

Natalia Loresch is an award-winning concert pianist and passionate teacher with over 18 years of experience in piano education.

Qualifications:

Royal Academy of Music, MMus Solo Piano Performance and Research
Royal Academy of Music, LRAM Piano Teaching Licentiate
Royal Holloway University of London, MMus Musicology
Universität der Künste Berlin, Degree Solo Piano Performance (Hauptfach Klavier)

Experience:

Teaching piano in Berlin and London
Age of pupils: 3+
Levels of pupils: beginners, intermediate, advanced, grade exams, diplomas, degrees, professionals

Pupils' successes:
Distinctions, 1st prizes, gold medals as well as further top prizes and non-competitive festival performances in examinations, competitions and festivals such as:

ABRSM exams
Jugend musiziert (German national music competition)
Leigh-On-Sea Competitive Festival of Music & Drama
West London Pianoforte Festival
Maidstone Music Festival
Farnham Competitive Music Festival
Sevenoaks Three Arts Festival
Milton Keynes Music Festival
Ealing Festival of Music, Speech and Drama
Oxford Music Festival
Bromley (Kent) Festival of Music and Speech

Madame_Manet_au_piano
Madame Manet au piano by Édouard Manet

📝 PIANO LESSONS REVIEW:
“Natalia is an outstanding teacher. I came to her after playing casually for many years, and she is helping me to put my technique on solid foundations and gain a whole new tonal palette. She is an outstanding pianist and demonstrates extensively during lessons. She brings a deep knowledge of the various schools and traditions of piano teaching, and has a passion for placing the music in its historic and cultural context. It’s a rigorous and challenging process, but also richly rewarding.”
Marcus Cox

📝 PIANO LESSONS REVIEW:
"Natalia is a brilliant teacher. She is rigorous in her methods, while also being warm and friendly in her approach. She has immense talent as a pianist and is able to convey her passion for both playing the instrument and learning theory to her students. Natalia’s lessons are always enjoyable and it’s amazing to see how much you can improve each week, thanks to her training. I would highly recommend her as a tutor.
Result: A life-long love of the piano!"
Zeeya Merali

Read more and verify on the Reviews page.

📖 "For me, art, and especially music, exist to elevate us as far as possible above everyday existence."
Gabriel Fauré

📖 “Everything lies in knowing how to practice."
Felix Le Couppey Piano Teaching. Advice to Pupils and Young Teachers

📖 SONNET

I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling dinger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, .ear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!

There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
Toi the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.

Elizabeth Bishop

📖 POEM: TO MUSIC

Begin to charm, and, as thou strokest mine ears
With thy enchatntment, melt me into tears.
Then let thy active hand scud o'er thy lyre,
And make my spirits frantic with the fire.
That done, sink down into a slivery strain,
And make me smooth as balm and oil again.

Robert Herrick

📖 THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT TONE - AND FEELING
"So much is lost in the presentation of a work through lack of technique, imagination, and tonal variety. This applies to modern educational music, where … touch is so frequently neglected. A wrong sound is productive of a wrong impression, and atmosphere is at once destroyed. Bad sound is unsound. The modern pianoforte is capable of enormous variety and gradation of tone; witness the musical festivals, where perhaps fifty competitors play the same piece on the same instrument, each transforming that instrument into an individual, or giving it a separate character. Music reaches the mind through the ear. Therefore, play by ear."
Alec Rowley Do's and Don'ts for Musicians. A Handbook for Teachers and Performers

📖 "Music is a means of giving form to our inner feelings without attaching them to events ot objects in the world."
George Santayana

📖 "If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may poissibly ne injurous to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, buj enfeebling the emotional part of our nature."
Charles Darwin

📖 "To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music, view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

📖 "Un jour, j'ai démissionné de toutes les fonctions que j'exerçais alors, pour retrouver l'étude.
L'étude des notes, de toutes les clés, des lettres, des partitions, des manuscripts, du piano, du violon, de l'alto, du violoncelle, des gammes majeurs et relatives, des langues, des livres.
L'étude est à l'homme adulte ce que le jeu est à l'enfant. C'est la plus concentrée des passions. C'est la moins décevante des habitudes, ou des attentions, ou des accoutumances, ou des drogues. L'âme s'évade. Les maux du corps s'oublient. L'identité personelle se dissout. On ne voit pas le temps passer. On s'envole dans le ciel du temps. Seule la faim fait lever la tête et ramène au monde."
Pascal Quignard Leçons de Solfège et de Piano

📖 "Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend." Beethoven

📖 "If playing in the house is dying out, so also is music. What one produces oneself, for example on the piano, while trying to analyse and study a piece of music, is worth more than the hundreds of hours that one spends at the radio."
Sergei Bortkiewicz Recollections, Letters and Documents (1922)

Piano Lessons for Adults

Numerous adult pupils ranging from complete beginners to music professionals have come here for piano lessons. Some have prepared for various kinds of performances, have won competition prizes, passed exams with distinctions etc. And some have discovered the joy of playing piano or making music with others, improved their skills and developed their understanding of music without any performances. Everyone who has a genuine interest in learning piano is welcome.

“People usually complain that music is so ambiguous; that it is so doubtful what they ought to think when they hear it; whereas everyone understands words. With me it is entirely the converse. And not only with regard to an entire speech, but also with individual words; these, too, seem to me to be so ambiguous, so vague, and so easily misunderstood in comparison with genuine music, which fills the soul with a thousand things better than words. The thoughts which are expressed to me by a piece of music which I love are not too indefinite to be put into words, but on the contrary too definite. And so I find, in every attempt to express such thoughts, that something is right, but at the same time something is unsatisfying in all of them…”
Mendelssohn in a Letter to Marc André Souchay; Berlin, 5 October 1842

From a Piano Hour at Steinway Hall London in 2023:

2023.4.1 Piano Hour Collage

Components of Piano Lessons for Adults

🎵 All ages and levels from complete beginners to advanced pupils and professionals.

🎵 Adult beginners who start learning piano from scratch can get beyond grade 8 and play Diploma-level repertoire if they have enough patience and allocate time to piano practice regularly. Please read the page for beginners for more specific information.

🎵 Advanced pupils who are either preparing for diplomas as well as further professional opportunities or are learning for themselves can embark on systematic learning, gradually improving skills and mastering progressive levels of difficulty. Please read the page for beginners for more specific information.

🎵 In-person and online lessons.

🎵 Piano lessons are held in English, German and Russian.

🎵 Fulfilling hobby and enjoyment of music.

🎵 Embark on a road of musical discoveries and deepen your understanding of music and the connections with the arts, literature, history, philosophy, religion, poetry etc.

🎵 Develop music perception by learning to listen to music.

🎵 Discover that music theory can be fascinating and interesting.

🎵 Develop or improve sight-reading skills. It is absolutely possible to learn reading music with ease starting at any age and with a systematic approach this skill can be worked out within a reasonable period of time.

🎵 Lay the foundation for a healthy technique, solve existing technical problems, continue developing technical skills systematically and with versatility.

🎵 Learn to develop a rich, beautiful and varied sound through exercises and carefully constructed repertoire choices.

🎵 Build up or expand piano repertoire.

🎵 Learn to structure practice effectively and reach practice goals. As the famous French piano pedagogue and composer of many pieces for beginning as well as advanced learners wrote, "everything lies in knowing how to practise." (Felix Le Couppey Piano Teaching. Advice to Pupils and Young Teachers)

🎵 Develop confidence through functional practice planning, results and a positive attitude. Learn to be free from anxiety.

🎵 Benefit from video recordings regularly made in lessons for the purpose of practising performance (optional, of course).

🎵 Since the teacher is a practising professional concert pianist frequent demonstrations and improvised or existing accompaniments are frequently embedded in lessons for adults. Playing piano is something 'practical' and therefore not everything can be explained merely 'theoretically'; playing examples drastically speed up progress, direct pupils' focus, define sound possibilities as well as musical concepts, solve technical difficulties and develop artistry. Nothing can replace an example.

🎵 Learn to prepare for performance opportunities such as grade exams, diplomas, festivals, competitions, concerts, auditions etc. Get distinctions and win prices. Or prepare for further professional opportunities.

🎵 Be encouraged to participate in Piano Hours which provide a friendly non-competitive non-public performance environment in which pupils not only play themselves but also learn to formulate constructive critical feedback to help others. Try out playing new repertoire and practice before performances. Pupils often make friends with each other and tea/coffee/cake are always provided. In normal circumstances Piano Hours take place frequently and regularly. Competition among pupils is strongly discouraged and any kind of unpleasantness not welcomed. A friendly atmosphere permeated with kindness is the aim in human terms.

🎵 Have access to a lending library.

Please read the Ethos & Values page for an overall description. Also check the pages for Beginners and Advanced Pupils as well as the News for more information on lessons, events etc.

In addition, some articles may be of interest:
BBC: Adult Piano Lessons: Never Too Late to Learn?

From the latest Piano Pupils' Concert at Steinway Hall London:

2023.12.9 Piano Pupils Concert Steinway

Requirements for Starting Piano Lessons for Adults:

🎵 Pupils' own interest in music (and in this case particularly in learning piano) and willingness to practise.

🎵 Transfer pupils of any age and level might require an overhaul of technical/reading skills without which lessons would not make sense; for this to work pupils would need patience to fill existing technical gaps which takes time and cannot be done in a few weeks.

🎵 The orientation here is the individually best possible result; the aiming-at-the-minimum-quality (pass mark) approach with three pieces per grade is practised widely but does not really make much sense with regards to overall learning and performance experience; switching from this approach to a functional system may take time because it involves a redevelopment of understanding and skills at any level.

🎵 Willingness to behave appropriately is an absolute must. Any form of harassment or abusive behaviour will not be tolerated. Please check the Teaching Ethos page for further details.

🎵 Acceptance of students is subject to a selection process based on criteria such as willingness to practice, conscientious preparation for lessons and performances as well as a generally serious approach to learning.

📖 "Patience and exactitude are the main conditions for success…" Marie Prentner Leschetizky's Fundamental Principles of Piano Technique

Explore Further Reading

The variety and versatility of books adult learners could read about music is unlimited but here are a few suggestions which could hopefully serve as starting points leading in different directions.

Here are some classics about the piano, piano playing and pianists and some of the most recent publications in the field of music and piano playing:

📕 Dominic Gill Book of the Piano

📕 David Crombie Piano

📕 Cyril Ehrlich The Piano: A History

📕 Jane Magrath Pianist Guide To Standard Teaching and Performance Literature

📕 Harold C Schonberg The Great Pianists

📕 Reginald R. Gerig Famous Pianists and Their Technique

📕 James Francis Cooke Great Pianists On Piano Playing: Godowsky, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Paderewski and 24 Other Legendary Performers

📕 Josef Lhevinne Basic Principles In Pianoforte Playing

📕 Heinrich Neuhaus The Art of Piano Playing

📕 Walter Gieseking And Karl Leimer Piano Technique

📕 Andras Schiff Music Comes Out of Silence: A Memoir

📕 Evgeny Kissin Memoirs and Reflections

👉 Explore different types of books on music including classical music in general, music theory, musical instruments, the piano, music history, performance, analysis, form, harmony, counterpoint and books for children on the materials pages.

Adult Pupils Playing in Piano Lessons and Concerts:

Beginner / Grade 1:
Natalia at Steinway Hall, London Marylebone
Fred Kern Ribbons, from Hal Leonard's Adult Piano Method Book 2

Beginner / Grade 1:
Juan at Steinway Hall London, Marylebone
Ocean View, from Bastien's Piano For Adults Book 2

Grade 1:
Ruimin at Steinway Hall London, Marylebone
Robert Fuchs Banges Herzlein / Sad at Heart

Grade 3-4
Charlotte in Hither Green, South East London
Tchaikovsky Morning Prayer, from Children's Album Op. 39, No. 1

Intermediate / Grade 5:
Yvette in Hither Green
Kabalevsky Novelette Op. 27 No. 25

Intermediate / Grade 5:
Trang at Steinway Hall, London Marylebone
Goedicke Miniature

Intermediate / Grade 6:
Marina at Bluthner Piano Centre, London Mayfair
Grieg Melodie Op. 47 No. 3, from Lyric Pieces

Advanced / Grade 7-8
Marina in Hither Green, South East London
Wagner Ankunft bei den schwarzen Schwänen

Advanced / Grade 7-8
Marcus at Steinway Hall, London
Heinrich Hofmann's Aus schöner Zeit Op. 34/3

Advanced / Grade 8 or diploma
Ken & Marcus at Peregrine Pianos, London Bloomsbury
Piazzolla Libertango for piano duet

👉 Find many more pupils' recordings on the Media Pages

Book a Consultation Piano Lesson

Get in touch with a request by calling, sending a message or emailing:
☎️ +44 (0) 7454766539
📮 contact@pianolessons-london.co.uk