Information About Gabrielle - Aberlour teacher -

(2 reviews)

Personal Description:

My name is Gabrielle Francesca , informally known as Gabby.
I hold the 'DipAbrsm' in piano performance.(A diploma qualification which is above grade 8.) I have a certificate in foundational violin teaching from Northwestern University and grade 8 violin with distinction. I spend a lot of time playing both instruments.
I studied piano as part of my degree at Keele university (and Osnabrück), where I gained a 2.1 honours degree in Music and German language and played the violin in the orchestra there and as well as at university in Germany. I have sometimes performed publicly as a pianist for special occasions. These days I focus on favourite pieces and on creating my own compositions. I have written around 30 children's pieces for using in piano lessons and around 7 serious pieces for piano and violin.
I also hold the ARSM piano performance diploma with merit and grade 8 piano since I was a teenager. I have a viola which I like to play as well and would be happy to help others with.

Tutoring Experience:

I love teaching everybody, both adults and children. My oldest student so far was 90 and my youngest were only around 3. I work afternoons and evenings, (from 11 am until 7:30pm) so I can fit in with those who are at home during the day as well as those returning from the school run. For children's lessons, I insist on parental attendance regardless of the age of the child. This is in line with current norms of two persons being present for children's activities.
I am principally trained in classics/romantic but I have helped people with jazz and pop and am open to a variety of styles. I train some learners to make it through grades and others to simply play what they want to play, or I find them music to broaden their experience. Some of my learners have done composition with me.
Many of my students have taken ABRSM or similar exams and been awarded great results, including 2 super-distinctions last year – a 98% and a 92%. There was a further distinction and a merit for 2 other learners. However, I do not evaluate my teaching based on volumes of exam results as I think it is not the best way to teach everybody.
I have designed my own systems for training the very young in two age categories; ‘pre-school to year 1’ and ‘primary school.’ Most children need to be 5 before they can learn the piano in a structured way, with a book and full concentration. However, older toddlers of 3 to 4 can benefit from musical activities in which they are their mums participate together. We can discuss this if you are interested. I find that children generally need to be about 3 and a half before they can benefit from any kind of formal musical education.
I adapt myself to the learner’s age, musical requirements and personality. With serious learners, I of course bring in my extensive knowledge of technique to the fore with a view to creating a stand alone pianist.
Some of my students have extra requirements such as autism, arthritis, ADHD, visual impairment and others. Everybody I have taught has made great progress and I have a 100% exam success rate. I believe this is partly because I encourage people and I allow no barriers to be put in anybody's way. I centre my teaching around the person, which I believe is key. Most importantly, I offer people a lot of choice about what pieces / styles to play in and I always listen to my students, both the children and the adults.
I have a lot of experience of teaching primary aged children and I find that they need everything to be fun. I focus on creating an engaging atmosphere.

Tutoring Approach:

To sum up my approach to music and tuition, I would say that music is everybody’s! It’s yours to have! It’s not owned by those who are most natural at it.
I believe in music being fun, inspiring and entertaining for the young learner. I also believe strongly in offering the chance to adults who missed out on musical education as children.
For those of us with more life experience, music is and should be an engaging intellectual journey of discovery and an adventure for the soul.
In general, I believe in learners taking grades and I think they are a good option for many learners. Graded exams give youngsters a great sense of reward and attainment and they enable both me and the learner to structure the lessons with a definite outcome. I will say now that there are some problems with the graded system and it is not necessarily the best way to train all learners.
Having grades doesn’t necessarily mean one person is better than another!
My main point is that each learner needs to be trained and assessed in a way which promotes them and their learning and not in a way which brings them down.
As a person, I am caring, hardworking and altruistic yet also fair, rational and expect a degree of application from others.