Testimonials from Former Students Who Began Lessons as Children
Ms. Emilie is an amazing piano teacher! I took lessons from her around the same time I started middle school (6th grade) until I graduated high school. She had lots of patience as she helped me discover what the piano really was. Her encouragement through a star and smiley face system made me look forward to coming to her lessons. The star practice system not only helped me practice throughout the week, it also developed my ability to be diligent and plan ahead. This type of awareness is crucial for anyone who wishes to improve in any skill. I saw it being applied throughout the following years of both piano and other extracurricular activities.
As I went into high school and became even more involved with music, Ms. Emilie supported me throughout many different evaluations. Her insight and guidance assisted the growth of my self-confidence in the years of high school, helping me succeed in many of the evaluations I went through.
I really appreciated all of her hard work and dedication to helping me learn piano. I will never forget all of her invaluable lessons and skills, and I look forward to using them in later years when I continue playing piano.
K. Gosbee (Olin College)
As I went into high school and became even more involved with music, Ms. Emilie supported me throughout many different evaluations. Her insight and guidance assisted the growth of my self-confidence in the years of high school, helping me succeed in many of the evaluations I went through.
I really appreciated all of her hard work and dedication to helping me learn piano. I will never forget all of her invaluable lessons and skills, and I look forward to using them in later years when I continue playing piano.
K. Gosbee (Olin College)
Ms. Emilie is wonderful!!
I took lessons from her for five years, and in that time was able to grow tremendously both as a pianist and as a person. I attribute this to her warm and caring personality (which she shows in every lesson) and her dedication to her students' progress in and passion for piano and music.
What I really liked about taking lessons from Ms. Emilie was that I felt that she really took into consideration my interests and input. For example, when it came time to pick out a new piece to begin working out, she would play for me an excerpt of several pieces and ask which one I wanted to work on and refine. As someone who was completely new to taking piano lessons, it was very comforting to know that my teacher cared what my preferences were.
While she continuously sought improvement in my practice each week, her comments were always positive and encouraging, never critical, and gave me clear direction as to how I could improve. When I first started out with her around age 10, she had a star system where I could pick how much I wanted to practice each week, and would receive a different color star for how many hours I practiced. At the end of the week I would receive a treat based on which color star I received. This incentive-based approach worked really well for me, because I was motivated to practice without the mandatory "x-hours a day" making it feel like a chore.
Ms. Emilie also provided me with a lot of guidance and support in piano activities in school and in the community, such as my high school's Solo & Ensemble festivals, as well as the Michigan Music Teachers Association's Student Achievement Testing for several years. To help me prepare for these state-wide programs, Ms. Emilie helped me learn additional theory, techniques, aural awareness, and sight-reading and transposition skills.
In addition to piano lessons, Ms. Emilie also incorporated music history lessons, which included listening to a collection of pieces and reading a brief bio of well-known composers from different musical eras. I didn't appreciate this as much until I went to college, when I'd hear in concerts, social events or even soundtrack in movies, bits and pieces of the music I had listened to during my study with Ms. Emilie and be able to recognize what I was hearing. Taking lessons from Ms. Emilie not only taught me technical piano skills, but also gave me a foundation for musical appreciation in all aspects of my life.
I absolutely recommend Ms. Emilie to anyone who wants to either be introduced to piano or to continue their practice!
L. Zhuang (a graduate of UM, currently a manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield)
I took lessons from her for five years, and in that time was able to grow tremendously both as a pianist and as a person. I attribute this to her warm and caring personality (which she shows in every lesson) and her dedication to her students' progress in and passion for piano and music.
What I really liked about taking lessons from Ms. Emilie was that I felt that she really took into consideration my interests and input. For example, when it came time to pick out a new piece to begin working out, she would play for me an excerpt of several pieces and ask which one I wanted to work on and refine. As someone who was completely new to taking piano lessons, it was very comforting to know that my teacher cared what my preferences were.
While she continuously sought improvement in my practice each week, her comments were always positive and encouraging, never critical, and gave me clear direction as to how I could improve. When I first started out with her around age 10, she had a star system where I could pick how much I wanted to practice each week, and would receive a different color star for how many hours I practiced. At the end of the week I would receive a treat based on which color star I received. This incentive-based approach worked really well for me, because I was motivated to practice without the mandatory "x-hours a day" making it feel like a chore.
Ms. Emilie also provided me with a lot of guidance and support in piano activities in school and in the community, such as my high school's Solo & Ensemble festivals, as well as the Michigan Music Teachers Association's Student Achievement Testing for several years. To help me prepare for these state-wide programs, Ms. Emilie helped me learn additional theory, techniques, aural awareness, and sight-reading and transposition skills.
In addition to piano lessons, Ms. Emilie also incorporated music history lessons, which included listening to a collection of pieces and reading a brief bio of well-known composers from different musical eras. I didn't appreciate this as much until I went to college, when I'd hear in concerts, social events or even soundtrack in movies, bits and pieces of the music I had listened to during my study with Ms. Emilie and be able to recognize what I was hearing. Taking lessons from Ms. Emilie not only taught me technical piano skills, but also gave me a foundation for musical appreciation in all aspects of my life.
I absolutely recommend Ms. Emilie to anyone who wants to either be introduced to piano or to continue their practice!
L. Zhuang (a graduate of UM, currently a manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield)
I first began my piano lessons under Ms. Emilie during my seventh grade summer. I had just moved into our neighborhood and was pretty ecstatic that my next door neighbor was also a piano teacher. At the time, my piano skills were pretty basic and although I knew that I could write “songs”, I didn’t know what I was exactly doing. What set Ms. Emilie apart from my old piano teachers was that she got right down to business in figuring where I was and where I wanted to go. Most teachers just gave me a book and made me learn basic pieces. Then they would comment and suggest how I could improve. But unlike the other teachers, on the first meeting she asked me what kind of pieces I wanted to play in the future. Her teaching style is also different. My old piano teachers instructed me in a very robotic, simple way without allowing any artistic input. But Ms. Emilie would challenge me to not only practice my pieces but to think about them and figure out how to portray the piece. She taught me that how a person played each note could change the whole entire piece’s mood and feeling. She was clear, precise, and straightforward but also encouraging and artistic. Looking back on the five years that she has taught me, I found that I’ve not only improved my piano skills technically, but I have also honed my piano skills musically.
Ms. Emilie also guided me in my composition skills as well. She even challenged me to record my first piano cd. I probably would never have done it if it weren’t for her continuous encouragement and teaching. Studying under Ms. Emilie was definitely something that changed my experiences with the piano for the better.
R. Choi (a graduate of UM currently working in the TV industry in S. Korea)
Ms. Emilie also guided me in my composition skills as well. She even challenged me to record my first piano cd. I probably would never have done it if it weren’t for her continuous encouragement and teaching. Studying under Ms. Emilie was definitely something that changed my experiences with the piano for the better.
R. Choi (a graduate of UM currently working in the TV industry in S. Korea)
Emilie gave me an excellent musical education that I carry with me to this day. Indeed, I'm still making time for piano classes for college credits in between working towards degrees in math and physics at U of M.
I started taking lessons with Emilie when I was seven, and I continued until graduating from high school. Emilie’s instruction kept me engaged in my lessons from this young age. For one, lessons were often multifaceted: We often covered topics such as composition, music theory, and pitch identification. Emilie’s bright attitude made these lessons a joy. She also kept me motivated by offering a small treat and a “star” on the “star chart” whenever I met my practicing goals for a given week. Students with enough stars on the chart would be awarded with a trophy at Emilie’s annual recital. Past a certain age, however, I was much more interested in the music I was playing than the trophies I was earning.
Emilie taught me a lot about piano music besides how to play it precisely and beautifully. She has a large library with biographies of composers including recordings of their pieces. She often encouraged me to make use of this library, and I’m glad that I did. Studying dozens of composers in this way gave me an understanding and appreciation of classical music. Further, studying music theory with Emilie has helped me understand and appreciate every piece of music I encounter.
In summary, Emilie gave me a musical education of great depth and breadth. This is confirmed by the consistently high marks I received on piano assessments given by the Michigan Music Teacher’s Association when I studied with her. I wholeheartedly recommend Emilie’s studio to anyone who hopes for themselves or their children to learn piano and enjoy doing so.
D. Smolkin (a graduate of UM currently in a PhD program in Mathematics)
I started taking lessons with Emilie when I was seven, and I continued until graduating from high school. Emilie’s instruction kept me engaged in my lessons from this young age. For one, lessons were often multifaceted: We often covered topics such as composition, music theory, and pitch identification. Emilie’s bright attitude made these lessons a joy. She also kept me motivated by offering a small treat and a “star” on the “star chart” whenever I met my practicing goals for a given week. Students with enough stars on the chart would be awarded with a trophy at Emilie’s annual recital. Past a certain age, however, I was much more interested in the music I was playing than the trophies I was earning.
Emilie taught me a lot about piano music besides how to play it precisely and beautifully. She has a large library with biographies of composers including recordings of their pieces. She often encouraged me to make use of this library, and I’m glad that I did. Studying dozens of composers in this way gave me an understanding and appreciation of classical music. Further, studying music theory with Emilie has helped me understand and appreciate every piece of music I encounter.
In summary, Emilie gave me a musical education of great depth and breadth. This is confirmed by the consistently high marks I received on piano assessments given by the Michigan Music Teacher’s Association when I studied with her. I wholeheartedly recommend Emilie’s studio to anyone who hopes for themselves or their children to learn piano and enjoy doing so.
D. Smolkin (a graduate of UM currently in a PhD program in Mathematics)
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