Carrie Winkle
About
Carrie Lynn Van Winkle has been playing music since age 3, classically trained on piano since age 7, attended college for Music Theory and Performance in 2008, and has made her career playing and teaching music for all ages.
Teaching Style
I believe music is very much a language, and teach it as such. I also love knowing what makes music exciting for you, and would love to hear what you want to learn. Music should be an escape and a meditation, and never just another thing to worry about.
Curriculum
Each piano lesson is broken down into three parts: a technical practice (ex: scales), songs from a work book, and songs to add to the repertoire (ex: "Für Elise").
Each theory lesson (and the part of the piano lesson that deals with theory), will be taught much like a language would, and with your instrument (and/or a piano) as reference. I believe theory seems daunting for a lot of people, but if you have learned to speak and write a language, you can absolutely learn music theory.
The books we'll use are all dependent on skill level and what you'd like to learn. If you have your own books, we can definitely use those. I can also send you whatever songs/pages from books needed. Access to books should never be a deterrent.
If you're not sure where to start, some workbooks that I've liked using for piano are:
Ages 3-7: "Teaching Little Fingers How To Play" and "Theory Drill Games" by John Thompson
Ages 7-16: "John Thompson's Modern Course: First Grade Book"
or "John W. Schaum Piano Course: A - The Red Book"
Ages 16 and Over : "Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Level One"
Credentials & Affiliations
Attended Glendale Community College for Music Theory and Performance.
Taught privately in home for 10+ years, as well as at Desert Ridge Music Academy and Scottsdale Music Academy in Arizona.
Live music performer nationwide (USA) for 10+ years.
Have taught ages 5 to 85, specializing in persons on the autistic spectrum, with Respite training and experience.