Grace I. — Piano Teacher — Brossard, Brossard

I am a piano and voice teacher based in Montreal. I received my Bachelor's of Music from McGill University where I studied classical voice. When I'm not teaching music, I am directing opera and musical theatre on both local and regional levels. Although my specialty is classical music, I teach all genres including musical theatre, pop, and rock. Over the past few years, I have taught dozens of students from ages 4 to 70! As a musician, I have always operated under a work hard, play hard mentality. The more one hones the fundamentals of music theory and playing/singing technique, the more possibilities there are to explore as a musician! I try to foster this work ethic and enthusiasm in my students as well. Ultimately I aim to provide fun, challenging, and engaging lessons to students in order to help them maintain motivation and meet their individual goals.

I teach piano from beginner's to upper-intermediate levels (around RCM level 7). For beginner students, lessons are typically comprised of technical exercises and songs from the Piano Adventures Book series. As students advance, I also incorporate piano pieces from outside of the lesson books. Working through the lesson books is essential for learning the fundamentals of piano and music as a whole, but having fun and exploring one's personal musical interests is equally important-- I am always happy to track down a piano version of a student's favorite song! I also teach voice lessons to all levels from beginner to pre-university! My specialty is classical voice (opera), but I have taught many genres including musical theatre, jazz, pop, and even rock. Lessons consist of warm-ups and technical exercises catered to a student's specific goals and needs followed by working on a song. I encourage students to pick their own songs, but provide guidance to ensure that the vocal range and difficulty level is appropriate. Typically I accompany students on the piano in lessons, however, if the student prefers and is able, they are welcome to accompany themselves on piano or guitar. Speaking of accompaniment-- I am also happy to provide combined lessons for both piano and voice! I often teach students 30 minutes of singing followed by 30 minutes of piano. I find that this format allows singers to better learn the fundamentals of music theory and grow to be stronger musicians. Once a student has learned some of the basics of piano, including chord progressions, I begin teaching students how to accompany themselves on the piano. Singing and playing at the same time is a challenging, but extremely rewarding skill!