Lessons

I’m sorry to say that I am not accepting new students now, as I’m making a gradual transition from full-time to part-time teaching. I don’t know when this will change. Meanwhile, I’m happy to offer recommendations for other music education options and provide initial guidance at no charge.

I have been teaching the following in Worcester since 2013:

Classical repertoire and practicing skills, beginner- intermediate level, children and adults
Jazz piano (as well as other popular piano styles), beginner through professional level, children and adults.
Playing by ear, reading chord & melody “charts”, & improvising melodies & rhythmic arrangements by ear or with charts.
General music theory, integration of theory and performance skills, children and adults
Songwriting, music and lyrics, beginning through professional level, children and adults
Public performance skills (including working with ensembles or accompanists) for pianists or vocalists (take your act live!) children and adults

Fees & Policies

Your introductory trial lesson is FREE. After that, the fee is $35 for each weekly half-hour lesson, payable as $140 for each renewable series of 4 lessons, due on the date of your first lesson in each new series.

Students only pay for and commit financially to 1 series (=4 lessons) at a time. I do not offer refunds for lessons you miss if you end in the middle of a series you have paid for. Otherwise, however, you are welcome to end lessons at the end of any series without further obligation.

However, if you discontinue lessons, you should not expect to resume at a later date unless you successfully negotiate some plan for that with me in advance. I don’t guarantee that this will be possible. This applies to taking summer or other seasonal breaks (see Missed Lesson Policy below).

NOTE: Continuity and momentum are so important to learning to play piano that I make every effort, and expect you to make every effort, to reschedule any missed lessons.

MISSED LESSON POLICY: If you miss 1 lesson in any 4-lesson series that cannot be rescheduled, I will advance your next payment due date by one week, regardless of the reason you missed the lesson, so that you will not pay for that lesson. If, on the other hand, you miss additional lessons within that series, again generally without regard to the reason, I will not advance your next payment due date any further.

One way to think of this is that each payment for a 4-lesson series is only valid for a limited time, so that I expect students to take 4 lessons within a maximum of 5 weeks, understanding that missed scheduled lessons will be made up at another time within that period if at all possible. I’d like to avoid having students pay for a lesson they can’t take within that period. However, in order to maintain a minimum level of predictable income, I need students to accept that this may happen very occasionally.

Exceptions: I reserve the right to charge for any “no-show” lessons missed without notice or a satisfactory explanation within a reasonable period afterwards. Also, naturally, there will be no charge for any lessons that I have to cancel that we do not agree to reschedule.

Also, if you notify me in advance that you will need to miss more than one lesson in a series due to an extended absence for any reason, you may be able to negotiate an alternate payment arrangement, especially in cases of financial difficulty. Students should not, however, simply assume that it will be acceptable to take breaks of more than a week from lessons without payment. Even in case of emergency, I would expect you to work something out with me when the appropriate time comes.

Reduced Tuition: Discounts are generally available for 2 or more students who are members of the same household. I can also offer reduced tuition to a limited number of highly motivated students for financial hardship reasons. I negotiate all discounts with students or their parents/guardians on an individual basis, at your initiative. Please tell me about your situation!

ACCESSIBILITY: unfortunately, my home studio is not accessible for people with disabilities that would prevent them from climbing stairs.

Teaching Resumé

2012-present: Teaching classical & Jazz piano in Worcester, MA area
2014: Directed Yes You Chorus for people with and without disabilities who were not expected to have any musical experience = a chorus for anyone. Who, me? Yes you!
2012-2016: Coaching vocalists in Worcester, MA area working towards beginning or improving public performance; accompanying, rehearsing, and coaching of soloists who are performing monthly as the “Sirens of Song” at Nick’s Worcester.
2002-2012: teaching fundamental musicianship to my two home-educated sons, each of whom has integrated music into his own life.
2002-2006: director, Children’s Choir, 1st Unitarian Church of Worcester
1996-2000: private piano teaching for adults and children in Kyoto, Japan; also incorporated choral singing into EFL teaching at university level
1991-1996: Music teacher, grades 7-12, and musical theater director, grades 1-12, Clonlara School (private);
1991-1996: incorporated choral music into Religious Education Program at Zen Buddhist Temple, Ann Arbor, MI
1988-1990: Incorporated music into academic learning as Grade 5-6 classroom teacher; musical director for various 3rd grade and all-school productions, Swift River School, New Salem-Wendell, MA.
1986-1991: Private piano teaching for adults and children in North Quabbin Region (based in New Salem: students from New Salem, Wendell, Orange, Warwick)
1983-1986: Music teacher and musical theater director (as well as Headmaster), grades 7-12, New Salem Academy (private), New Salem, MA
Prior to 1983: taught piano to children privately, and to fellow undergraduates through Wesleyan University Music Dept. (1972-1976)

Piano-Vocal Performance Information:

Currently performing periodically, mostly locally. Check my “Nat Needle” Facebook page or contact me for details on upcoming shows.
Check out my solo piano/vocal performance demo at my Video Sampler Page on this website!
Professional vintage jazz piano and vocal entertainer 1976-present, including: hundreds of public and private engagements as a pianist and cabaret artist, most regularly and recently at Beirut Bite Restaurant 2021-22, Nick’s Worcester, 2011-2022, Harrington Farm Inn, Princeton, MA 2005-10, and Sahara Restaurant, Worcester, 2001-2004.
Professional performance in Kyoto, Japan, 1996-2000 & throughout Western New England 1976-91.

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