**Note: -Our lessons will be ONLINE only
-Teaching serious students willing to practice at least more-or-less 4 times a week for 30 minutes
-This site charges teachers to talk with potential students (a one-time fee per student, around $30+) so please only select me if you are seriously considering taking lessons with me but just need to, for example, try a free trial lesson, or a few lessons, to be more certain
Thanks!**
Hi! My name is Mark Meronek, I am a jazz piano teacher who has been teaching for 15 years privately and I would love to help you learn jazz and how to improv if my teaching style is a good fit.
Here is some more about the lessons and myself. (what I wrote below is in a Q&A format as if you are asking questions)
******Question 1: What will I learn and what do you teach exactly? What is your background?
I will:
#1 Teach you how to improv, and play jazz chord progressions and songs, and do that from the START of lessons (or at least soon after starting), without you having to wait forever to play them.
#2 Explain in plain English to you how jazz works.
#3 Teach you only music theory that is absolutely necessary for you to be able to play what you want to play and not get you too bogged down in it.
I have been playing piano for 20 years and my playing experience includes that I played in a duo and as part of a trio for 4 years for bars, weddings, parties and music events in southern California playing mostly jazz chords and improv on modern (hip hop, funk) and jazz drum beats. I created a beginner jazz piano course in 2012, and 100+ Youtube and course videos where I teach piano have been viewed millions of times and helped hundreds, if not thousands of people learn and get better at playing piano (you can find performance videos taken from my Youtube channel in the videos section).
If you take lessons with me, you will learn how to improv (free improvisation, how to sit down at a piano and improvise), jazz chord progressions, and jazz songs if you are interested in them (such as Autumn Leaves, Misty, Fly Me to the Moon, and Days of Wine and Roses). Most of all, my goal is to guide you to that feeling of improvisation that you see when you see jazz pianists play. I will give you the tools to do that with chords, theory and techniques from scratch (or in addition to the ones you already know) and more so help bring out the ability to improvise that you already have.
If you are interested in other genres like pop, jazz hip hop, R&B, soul, and lo-fi I can also teach those too. For the styles bebop, blues, boogie woogie, or latin jazz, please be aware that I can only teach the basics and some soloing techniques and do not focus on them.
******Question 2: What is different about your lessons when compared to lessons that I have had before or seen (like online)?
Three things:
#1 I specialize in helping to make jazz accessible to people who are beginners or intermediate players, who otherwise would not be able to learn jazz because of confusion when trying to study it, and bringing them up to an intermediate or advanced leveI. To do this I explain things in simple and easy-to-understand ways and am relentless about focusing on this.
#2 I connect what I explain to practical, immediately usable things (chords, songs, soloing techniques) that you would want to play.
#3 Piano to me is about enjoyment and self-expression, and I teach with that as a focus.
To explain more on these points:
I don't overwhelm you with too in-depth or too fast explanations of things like theory for your current level.
What you are going to play is not going to be far-off, distant, and something that you will 'eventually' get to (for example, if you study music theory for 6 months to a year). You can have fun while you study theory, or other subjects. Of course there is a balance to this, and I can't always do this, but in the vast majority of cases while teaching, I can, and in my 15 years of experience, focusing on these three things (easy-to-understand explanations, things that are practical to use and play, and a focus on enjoyment and self-expression) can make the difference between a student hating and giving up piano, and continuing. I have heard this many times from students when they talk about their previous lessons, or experiences with learning on their own. This is part of why I teach. A student should never have to go that way, giving up if they love piano, and as a teacher I provide another way so they can continue and avoid unnecessary both difficulty and work.
As the student reviews here mention, and many more past students not on this page have told me, the focusing on these three things (being easy-to-understand, practicality, and enjoyment and self-expression) makes a huge difference and has had a huge positive impact on their piano enjoyment and learning. For example, here is a review from a past student:
"Mark is a very enthusiastic and supportive teacher. With me hardly having any musical background he rapidly managed to turn me into a musician. Without any boring exercise, or too much theory, he taught me how to connect to the musical side in me and express myself through the piano.
I highly recommend him, he is truly amazing."
Yoel G.
******Question 3: I'm worried about getting a boring teacher who talks over and doesn't listen to me. How do I know you won't? And also jazz and improv seem pretty intimidating. I'm not sure I can learn it at my level. Can I?
You might be afraid to get started and I know taking on jazz can seem intimidating, but as I mentioned above I focus (relentlessly) on easy-to-understand explanations as much as possible. I am also patient and when I see a student is getting overwhelmed even slightly I know not to go over that limit from about 15 years of teaching and you can expect to feel like you are learning jazz at your pace, where you are relaxed, when taking lessons with me. I have taught beginners, including people starting from scratch, and if you are one too I can teach you as well (or if you know more and have some experience, we can tackle more advanced topics faster).
Having a boring teacher or boring lessons and with a teacher who doesn't listen and talks over you sucks, and you can expect the opposite of that with me, someone who really listens to you and lessons focused on fun and the MUSIC. But better than me telling you that, here is a student's review to support that:
"...Mark always encourages me to play music I enjoy and, when I am having trouble wrapping my head around a certain chord or scale, he is a tremendous resource. I did not think any single instructor could strike this balance of practicality mixed with musical joy but Mark somehow managed it. This is a rare and welcomed trait.
I couldn't have asked for a more friendly and patient teacher. He is congenial, honest and has a passion for music that is downright infectious. I have such a supreme amount of satisfaction in not only being able to play these deep, elegant chords and musical arrangements but in working with someone that always gets me excited to play piano."
Jonathan F.
(I have reviews on websites other than Thumbtack in addition to the ones you see here for piano teaching, and have received many emails thanking me over the years, but have not used the Thumbtack platform as much)
Of course, you do have to practice. You might not feel you have that much time or it will be enough to learn jazz, but as long as you practice at least 30 minutes ~4 times a week, that should be good enough to continue making progress (if you are not looking to be a pro and are playing as a hobby), and of course the more you practice, the faster you will progress.
******Question 4: What are some other specific details about the lessons themselves like pricing? Do you offer a free trial?
The lessons are taught online and Skype is used with a clear overhead piano camera view in 1 hour lessons, with each one being $60.
I offer a 30 minute free trial for all new students.
Just to make sure that my lessons are right for your level, if you are already at an advanced level in jazz (like you understand what the chords G7b9b13, Galt, Gdim7, and G7sus4 are and know how to play them, use them organically while playing, and the scales associated with them) and are looking to go to a pro level, you will probably need to go with someone else and not me (likely someone who has been playing professionally for many (maybe 15+) years).
******Question 5: Ok, those are most of my questions. How do I contact you to schedule a free trial lesson?
If you have any other questions just let me know, and to try out a free trial lesson, I would be happy to schedule one. Simply click the "Message" button and submit ~2-3 ideal times in your schedule, and I will message and/or text you to get back to you about setting up a lesson. Once I do and it is scheduled, you will be taking lessons, learning jazz and how to improv, as early as this week!
Thank you for reading and looking forward to talking with you and teaching you jazz and improv!
Mark
