I was born and raised in Pasadena, CA. I attended PCC for 2 yrs., then transferred to UCSB, where I earned my Bachelor of Music Degree in piano performance. I began working with young children in 1988, and have loved it ever since.
I was born and raised in Pasadena, CA. I attended PCC for 2 yrs., then transferred to UCSB, where I earned my Bachelor of Music Degree in piano performance. I began working with young children in 1988, and have loved it ever since.
hired 9 times on Thumbtack
I am a piano teacher specializing in young children. My students range in age from 3 1/2 to 78. I teach traditional piano as well as music theory, technique and emphasize performance. My students perform 3 to 4 recitals per year. We perform holiday music, classical repertoire, pop music, ragtime and Broadway show tunes.
I am a classically trained pianist with 28 years of experience in teaching. I have also taught the younger music courses in the Yamaha school in Arcadia for 21 years and taught Kindermusik for 13 years. I love working with young children and watching their musical skills develop. I have a very long retention rate. Some students have started at age 6 and stayed with me until they left for college.
I offer fun music, rewards for hard work, 3 or 4 digital recordings a year and a 5x7 portrait of your child at the piano at every recital. I try to be flexible with scheduling, offer make-up lessons and try to be very punctual with my time.
Pasadena, CA 91107
My daughter loves coming to piano. Ms. Francine is a great teacher. It is very apparent that she loves what she does. My daughter is not only learning how to play, but how to read and write music as well. They also do recitals, which is a great way to get them comfortable performing. We highly recommend Ms. Francine!!
Christina A.
I used thumbtack to find a piano teacher for my 4 year old daughter. Miss Francine reached out to my request and she answered all my questions in a timely and friendly manner. The price is very affordable and the times were flexible to include make-ups which is important to me since I do travel often. She is kind and patient . My 4 year old gets distracted even though the lesson is only 30 minutes. She’s been taking lessons for 3 months and has greatly improved. I would recommend Miss Francine to family and friends.
Lindsay S.
very nice and dedicated teacher.
Yu Z.
I am so happy we found Miss Francine through Thumbtack! I had been trying to find a local piano teacher for my daughter and have been so impressed with Miss Francine. She is very friendly and my daughter has learned so much in such a short time! I'm glad there was a photo on the website, because we noticed that one of her students was a classmate of my daughter. It turns out that several students from our school are taking lessons from Miss Francine, which made us even more confident in choosing her as an instructor. She also offers one of the most affordable prices I have found and her schedule has been flexible. My daughter is excited to practice piano (much more than when I tried to teach her) and she looks forward to each lesson. We can't wait for the first recital and I'm hoping my 4 year-old son will one day be one of her students as well!
Christine S.
After reviewing many resumes, we met with Miss Francine to go over our expectations, her training and her experience teaching children. Miss Francine was kind, polite, patient and professional, but the most important thing was that my Grandson was very comfortable with her from day one (his first experience with an instructor was terrible to say the least). After three months of weekly lessons I must say I am impressed with the progress my Grandson has made. I am looking forward to the first recital. The only thing I would have changed is the length of the lesson. We started with 1/2 hour but my Grandson very quickly asked for a longer lesson. We are now at 45 minutes. My Grandson is asking for still longer lessons. Other commitments on his end are preventing that right now. Would I recommend Miss Francine to friends and/or family? ABSOLUTELY!! She is wonderful with children and patient with Grandmas!
Suzanne D.
A. Always check their credentials, years of experience, and reputation!
A. How well a teacher relates to their students How well the teacher translates the information given to the student. Just because a teacher has a Doctorate degree doesn't mean that they can teach piano.
A. How much experience do you have? Do you enjoy your job? Do you have regular scheduled recitals? What is your emphasis-learning to read and write music, performing, technic? What is your teaching method?
A. The travel distance. Most people want to come for lessons between 3:00-6:00 p.m. Since I do not travel to students, they must come to my house in Pasadena during rush hour traffic. Please consider that anyone living in Culver City, Downey, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Irvine, Long Beach, even Burbank and Glendale will have a long distance to travel. It would be almost impossible to always be on time to a lesson so far away.
