Teaching

Kia ora, my name is Cheuky.

Let me be as brief as possible in describing my teaching philosophy and career, plainly and honestly.

I have been teaching since I was an undergraduate at university. My students ranged from absolute beginners to diploma level, from four-year-olds to adult learners.

I teach at school as well as privately. The schools I have taught at are Christchurch Girls' High School, St Margaret's College, Christchurch School of Music and Cathedral Grammar in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the UK I have taught at Millfield Prep and Senior School in Somerset, and Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire.

I have been enhanced DBS checked for my position at both UK schools and hold a current certificate. I also worked for the NZ Police for 15 months prior to moving to the UK.

Besides my Master's Degree in Piano Performance, postgraduate training in UK and Germany, and years of experience as a performer, I am, in fact, a trained teacher, and hold a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning (GradDipTchLn) from the University of Canterbury.

If I am drawn to any type of students, it is the ones who are interested, engaged, and make an effort. Commitment and a positive attitude rate highly by my books, almost on par with cake.

I am classically trained myself, so I am versed in classical repertoire, like Brahms, Beethoven, Debussy, Schubert and Mozart. However, I don't insist on my students learning solely classical pieces. There are plenty of contemporary pieces that are well-written and suitable for lessons.

One thing I do insist on is that all my students are to have excellent foundation technique and posture, as well as good music reading skills. Two things.

Exams are something to work towards, and perfect for goal-oriented students. My past students have achieved extremely good results for both practical and theory exams, with many scoring Merits and Distinctions. I am equally happy if a student prefers to learn for enjoyment and not participate in exams.

Since covid I have started offering lessons on Teams and Zoom.

If I sound like someone who you would be interested to learn from, why not message me? We could set up a trial lesson.