From Louis

I am an adult lifelong learner who decided to take up piano at the age of 60.  I did not start totally from scratch as I played trumpet in high school so I could read the treble clef and have been a social dancer for 15 years so have a feel for tempo and timing.  

I have been taking piano lessons from Kurt for 5 years.  In our case it is more of a coach and learner relationship rather than student and teacher.  I study a mix of popular, classical, praise & worship, and jazz styles.  

In classical and well written popular music, we will study the piece as written.  In jazz and P&W we frequently start with a lead sheet and I arrange and develop the music as we progress.  We will start with a simple LH bass line and some simple RH chord voicings.  I will write it out and then share and play it with Kurt.  He will critique it and make some suggestions and then challenge me to continue to “layer on” additional devices, chords, moving bass lines, etc.

I originally took lessons from Kurt in his studio.  Since he moved to Germany, we have continued on in a virtual format without missing a beat (actually we took one week off while he moved 😊).  Both formats are outstanding.  In the current setup we both have facial and overhead cameras we switch between and share music via scans and emails.

While I am not yet at the level I would like to be, I find piano lessons with Kurt to be both challenging and satisfying.  I practice daily and look forward to our weekly lesson.  Kurt is a fantastic person, teacher, coach and friend.  I highly recommend him to anyone young or old and beginner or advanced.