HAIKE DIETRICH
Pianist Pedagogue Neurobiologist
It is important to work on all aspects of music in parallel from the beginning, including technical basics (sitting position, finger-, hand- and arm movements, etc.), learning notes and rhythms, musical interpretation (who has ever listened to a MIDI-generated sound file will know how boring and lifeless music sounds if it is not shaped), and theoretical backgrounds. My lessons are thus never one dimensional. Furthermore, it is my highest priority to adapt my teaching to the personality and individual strengths of my students and to create an inspiring, relaxed and joyful atmosphere in the lessons. I always aim to work very detailed and focused, but the joy of playing piano and the enthusiasm for music should always be most important.
The Covid-pandemic has shown that with some creativity and patience it is also possible to teach music online. Especially adult students can be successfully taught via webcam/phone.
Everyone can play the piano. From the first day on it is possible to express yourself through the music, to play known melodies or to improvise, independent of how old you are, if you can read notes or not, whether you like classical music or not, etc. If you are interested in taking piano lessons with me, feel free to contact me for more detailed information.
Feedback
„Haike is an excellent musician and piano teacher with the highest technical expertise and skillful didactics. I have both experienced her as a teacher myself as well as heard several of her students play and can thus recommend her without limitations.”
“Haike is a wonderful teacher. She has helped me so much and thanks to her my piano skills have improved really fast. She has always motivated me with her kindness, supported me with qualified feedback and I was looking forward to the lesson every time.”
“As a beginner, I feel very lucky to have Haike as a teacher. I learn a lot from her in every lesson. I was not sure if I could learn to play the piano at my age, but thanks to her I am now convinced that I can. Haike is a skilled piano teacher. She speaks English fluently and explains everything clearly and concisely.”
Playing the piano has always been liberating for me. To express yourself, your own thoughts and emotions through music however is just one part of it. The other is to experience that music can be greater and more beautiful than anything else in our lives. Music is timeless and immortal – centuries-old compositions are still as alive as they were back then, as soon as we recreate them with our voices, instruments or loudspeakers. Whenever we make music we can free us from ourselves and dive into a world that is “above us”.
“A piano should be a friend, that means, an intimate who accepts our anger.” – Félix Leclerc
In music there is no right or wrong, even if the classical education often suggests it. Conventions and Zeitgeist lead to more or less universal beliefs on how to play one or the other passage or piece, and these conventions can help to shape our own tastes and intuitions. However, in the end every musician at any time has to take his own musical decisions and it should be the highest priority of every pedagogue to teach his students how to do so both consciously and intuitively.
“As long as it’s about the piano, I trust my feelings. I mistrust them only in life.” – Oscar Wilde
Ever since I decided to change my career and become a musician, I have taught numerous private piano students of all ages and levels, from complete new beginners, unable to read a single note, to most advanced learners.
My teaching method is based on several years of experience with the most different types of students, as well as the didactical principles of piano teaching that I have learnt during my pedagogy studies.