Linda Pritchett Studio

FAQs

• How did you get started doing this type of work?

  Teaching piano is my work. One could say it is my "life’s work." It is not my hobby; it is not a sideline; it is, rather, a profession that I find fulfilling and enjoyable as it allows me to share the world of music with students of all ages and with students at all levels of accomplishment. Whether your needs as a student are in fundamentals or in being truly challenged to bring your skills to the highest level, I believe that my background has given me the tools to benefit you. My parents began my preparation for my "life’s work" when at the age of five, they overheard me actually playing childhood tunes on a toy harmonica. They thought that surely, if I could manage to play songs like "Oh, Susannah" and "My Darling, Clementine" on a toy, then I must have at least some musical ability! Piano lessons, they decided, would be just the thing for me, and soon they located a teacher near our home. This person was primarily an art teacher who also called herself a piano teacher. She insisted that I take both piano and art lessons, but my parents said, "no, just piano." A friend of my mother had a rickety old upright piano with a little round piano stool. This old piano was soon in our home and my lessons began. For the next two years, I made weekly trips to my teacher’s home where I alternately sculpted something from clay, made finger-paintings, and played the piano some. My progress, so my parents thought, was good, as I soon could play the very songs that I was hearing my teacher play for me at my lessons. Usually, the "piano part" of my weekly lesson was my teacher saying, "I have a new piece for you, Linda… It goes like this." I would listen closely and watch her hands. Then I was able easily to play the new piece just as she had done. Immediately my mother bought a church hymnal for me so that I could begin to play some of her favorites. But this was not to be; despite the fact that I could play the pieces that my teacher played for me, I simply could not play the hymns from the hymn book. My cover was blown! Soon, another friend of my mother discovered that I could not read the music at all; I had been copying my teacher... "playing by ear!" As my mother did not read music, and indeed had no idea of what was involved, she had been completely unaware of my lack of instruction in this area. So, after two years, when I was seven, my mother found a competent, kind (yet strict!), and patient teacher who set out to teach me note reading and theory, and I was given no choice in the matter. This teacher insisted that I learn to read notes. She taught me music theory, and she taught me piano technique. This was a completely different approach to piano lessons for me. It was more difficult, as it required some actual work on my part. It often was not fun for me, and I’m pretty sure it was no picnic for my dedicated teacher, as well. She has always been a role model for me as a teacher. This dear lady continued to be my teacher through my second year of high school; it was then that she realized that she had taken me as far as she could. At that time, I began to study under noted composer/arranger George Anson at Texas Wesleyan University. Predictably, Wesleyan was my choice for college, where I continued my study under Mr. Anson. While a student there, I was the rehearsal accompanist for Wesleyan Singers, numerous TWU musical productions, and countless other university musical activities. For several years, I was the accompanist for the All-City Choral Clinics under the direction of Dr. David Foltz of the University of Kansas. Even as education and experience honed my musicality and technical skills with classical material, I was developing my improvisational proficiencies in dance bands and other private performance venues. Fortunately, my early experience with ear training has served me well, as I continue to improvise and to play by ear when appropriate. I encourage my students to develop such skills, but I also give note reading a high priority. Over the years, I have continued my activity in academic music, by providing piano accompaniment for the music departments in several area Independent School Districts including Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Southlake, Arlington, Irving, Keller, Burleson, and Azle. I am a frequent accompanist for Solo and Ensemble and UIL competitions. I recently performed before the conventions of The American Choral Directors’ Association and the Texas Music Educators’ Association. I enjoy musical diversity, and equally enjoy performing Bach and Beethoven as well as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. As a performer, perhaps the greatest compliment that I have received is that my greatest strength is my "musicality." Indeed, this is very thing for which I have worked my entire life: that my music should be much more than just notes and rhythm; my music should convey an artistic style and vitality. Thus was the preparation for my "life's work." And in my work as a piano teacher - now for well over four decades - I try hard to instill in my students the same disciplines and competencies that have served me so well. I sometimes tell students that my goal is to get them to the place where they do not need me – where they have developed the necessary skills to "figure out" music correctly for themselves. When they have reached this point, there are two things which I would like for them to remember about me. First, that I tried my best to teach them to play piano well, and second, that I was always kind in so doing.

• What types of customers have you worked with?

  My primary work is that of providing private piano instruction! Even so, as a pianist, I do provide other musical services... Whether a wedding, festive holiday party, reception, or any special occasion, piano music can ‘set the mood’ and provide elegance and sophistication beyond comparison. With over forty years experience in providing excellence in piano music, I am certainly qualified to impart that ‘perfect background’ to your special event. I have regularly played as featured soloist at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth as well as The Petroleum Club, The Fort Worth Club, the Fort Worth City Club, and virtually every country club in the area. Further, I have provided piano entertainment at upscale venues as diverse as The Old Faithful Inn and Lake Hotel in Yellowstone National Park, the Pump Room in Bath, England, and The Red Ox in Heidelberg, Germany. Likewise, I have provided piano music at countless weddings throughout the Fort Worth/Dallas area; from the simplest ceremonies to the most formal. In addition to my own solo performances, years of accompanying vocal and instrumental soloists, as well as ensembles and choirs, have given me a musical sensitivity to virtually any accompaniment situation. My experience allows me to provide 'worry free' accompaniment to any performer, expertly - and seamlessly - covering 'mistakes' by the featured performer and whatever other 'surprises' may befall a performance. These are the qualities you should look for when nothing less than fully competent accompaniment is absolutely necessary.

• What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

  I suggest that the selection of a good piano teacher is much more than a matter of “luck” or happenstance. Indeed, as with any discipline, there are specific characteristics and qualifications that may well be shared by all competent teachers. Such characteristics and qualifications indicate a passion for both the music and instruction in the art to others. First (and this may seem a bit obvious), the teacher should be able to play! A competent teacher must be a competent pianist. The teacher should be able to play with a style, verve, vitality, and musicality that is easily recognizable, even to the “untrained ear.” Further, the teacher should be able to sight read unfamiliar music without hesitation. Likewise, the teacher should possess a broad repertoire of memorized music. Only a teacher who is a skilled practitioner in the art can adequately instruct in fingering, touch, phrasing, and dynamics. When selecting a piano teacher, have the prospective teacher play for you. Second, the teacher should have teaching experience. If you expect to learn, you shouldn’t be among your teacher’s first students. Drawing on that experience, the teacher should be able to verbalize his/her expectations of the student, and should be able to understand your expectations of a teacher. An experienced teacher will be able to help you understand if your expectations and the teacher’s expectations are a good “match.” Third, the teacher should have well-established methods of communicating to the student, and in the case of young students, communicating with the student’s parents. Carefully review the “tools” by which the teacher provides important information about assignments and practice. Fourth, the teacher should provide a suitable studio. Most piano teachers teach from their own “home studios.” Even so, the studio area should be clean, safe, and attractive, conducive to concentration. The teacher should provide an excellent instrument, properly maintained and well-tuned. Fifth, the teacher should be serious about teaching. As with the first point, this may seem obvious, but there always remains the possibility that teaching piano is an “afterthought,” lacking both discipline and direction. For “real” results, find a “real” teacher. Have you ever heard the old saying, “Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Can’t, Teach?” We have probably all heard someone say it; perhaps we’ve even said it ourselves…But is it true? I think not. Beethoven had students. Chopin had students, Franz Liszt had students. The great Renaissance painters had studios full of students (although they were probably more likely to call them apprentices). The arts have a long tradition of master artists passing their art and their craft down to the next generation. Some are highly selective, picking trained students who come to them with a proven record of practice and achievement. Others prefer to work with young beginners, in the hope of instilling competence and artistry from the start. Some work with both beginners and the more advanced. The history of artistic endeavor is also the history of teaching.