Testimonials

Piano Lessons

Enquiries

If you’re interested in learning piano, Helen would love to hear from you. Click below to get in touch.

Helen has been an amazing teacher and helped me improve for an incredible 9 years. She is kind, incredibly patient and supported me with my piano since I was four. Thank you so much, Helen!

Sophie, 13

Just to say thank you very much for being a fantastic piano teacher! You have given me an insatiable passion for music and for this I am eternally grateful!

Cathleen

Helen is a wonderful teacher who makes the piano a joy to learn! As a remote student, I hugely value her incredible knowledge and ear for detail which mean that nothing is compromised when not in the same room.

Marcus

Thank you so much for everything! Honestly, you’ve been the best piano teacher I’ve ever had and you’ve helped me improve so much. I am so grateful for your support and encouragement during every exam and performance. You were the first teacher I had that helped me improve my sight-reading and gave me resources to do so.

Emily, 16

Thank you for your wonderfully supportive and inspirational teaching. Your patience and good humour have made the challenges of learning to play the piano incredibly rewarding for me!

Lillian

Thank you so much for everything you have done for me over the last 11 years. Piano has changed my life and I’ve loved every minute. I don’t know what’s coming up but I know that I wouldn’t have had many of the amazing musical opportunities I’ve had without your commitment and support, so I am eternally grateful.

Esther, 17

Thank you for making piano lessons fun!

Eloïse, 10

My daughter started piano lessons with Helen when she was 8 years old and continued under her expert guidance until she was 18. After achieving her Grade 8, she took a music degree at Sussex University and went on to a Master’s in composition at Trinity College, London. She now teaches piano for Hampshire Music Service, and has recently taken over from Helen one day a week at Hindhead Music Centre. Thank you, Helen!

When I retired at age 62, I rather belatedly decided to take up piano myself. (I had started learning at 11, but gave up after a year or so. Back then, learning piano seemed to be all about good posture and getting ready for the next exam or competitive festival, which I dreaded.) I asked if Helen would take me on and happily for me, she agreed. She has helped me start again and gain exam passes up to Grade 5, something I would never have imagined I could achieve! For me, though, exams are not ends in themselves; they just provide interim goals to aim for on the journey towards being able to improve my sight-reading and playing. I am so enjoying exploring new pieces now that I have more time to spend on practising.

I have loved working with Helen over the years. I have witnessed her sensitivity to the needs of a variety of different learners, and her ability to find a wide range of ways to develop their strengths, from the pieces she chooses to the practice methods she suggests for each learner. She is always encouraging and positive, and can support equally well those who are brimming with confidence about performance, and those who (like me) tremble at the prospect of playing for an audience. The small concerts Helen arranges for her pupils to meet and play for each other are a great way to get used to playing for an audience, and to appreciate how different we all are as performers.

Helen is a good role model, giving public concerts herself. She is always curious to learn more, taking masterclasses each year to develop her own abilities and repertoire. She always ensures that her students learn more about composers, extending our understanding of their life and times and their compositions by talking about each work selected for performance beforehand. In this way, the door is opened into classical works that might otherwise seem dauntingly difficult or strange and beyond comprehension, and we begin to appreciate and enjoy the full range of music. Along with imparting the fundamental practical skills, this seems to me to be a central part of fostering good musicianship. Helen is a great teacher in the broadest sense.

Sue (retired)