The Teaching Studio at Ars Musica
The Ars Musica teaching studio offers individual music study for students of different ages, experiences, learning styles, and goals. Piano and organ are the primary instruments for exploring music, with opportunities to focus on performance, improvisation, music theory, conducting, and other areas of musicianship.
Students develop technique and musical skills in support of their individual goals. Playing, listening, notation, theory, movement, improvisation, and other approaches provide different ways into the music rather than a fixed sequence every student must follow.
Accessible Pedagogy
Accessibility is part of the teaching method, not a separate program. Lessons can adapt communication, pacing, materials, physical interaction with the instrument, sensory environment, and ways of demonstrating musical understanding.
This approach developed through work in adaptive music instruction and now shapes the studio as a whole. Its principles are useful for every student:
Clear expectations and communication
Multiple ways to encounter and understand musical ideas
Flexible pacing, materials, and goals
Attention to sensory and physical access
Different ways to participate and demonstrate learning
Serious musical work without requiring every student to learn in the same way
Private Lessons
Private study is centered on a 60-minute weekly lesson, with other lengths and structures available when they better support the student.
Available areas of concentration include:
Piano performance
Organ performance
Improvisation
Music theory
Conducting
Repertoire and musical study
Students may concentrate in one area or draw from several according to their interests and goals. These areas support the student's musical development rather than functioning as a required checklist of proficiencies.
ARS MUSICA
Find Your Lesson Format
Most Ars Musica students study for an hour, but the best lesson length depends on the musician and the work. Answer a few questions and I'll suggest a useful place to begin.
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Who will be taking lessons?
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What would you like lessons to include?
Choose as many as you like. There is no advantage to choosing more.
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How much musical experience is already there?
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When you're learning something difficult, what usually feels most useful?
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What tends to happen when something takes a long time?
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At the end of a good lesson, which sounds best?
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What are you hoping to do?
Choose the closest fit.
RECOMMENDED STARTING FORMAT
Who Studies Here
The studio welcomes beginners and experienced musicians, children and adults, returning students, disabled and neurodivergent students, and musicians pursuing focused or advanced study. Goals can range from first experiences at the piano to advanced repertoire, improvisation, conducting, theoretical study, or developing a richer understanding of music.
No particular background, learning style, or professional ambition is required for serious music study.
A Place of Welcome
Your welcome here is not a question.
Disabled and neurodivergent people are welcomed and respected. LGBTQ+ identities are honored. Different bodies, minds, families, cultures, identities, and ways of communicating and learning belong in the studio.
Students should not have to minimize who they are in order to study music. Ars Musica will continue to maintain a teaching environment grounded in dignity, respect, accessibility, curiosity, and the expectation that every student deserves meaningful musical opportunities.
Beyond Private Lessons
Through Ars Musica, Parker also offers group instruction, workshops, coaching, and guest clinician work for schools, community organizations, churches, ensembles, and other groups. Programs may focus on:
Keyboard study and improvisation
Conducting and ensemble skills
Accessible and adaptive music-making
Rehearsal practice
Music literacy and theory
Customized areas of study
Accessibility and adaptation are considered as part of program design from the beginning.
Starting Lessons
New students may begin with a free 30-minute consultation to discuss goals, experience, accessibility, scheduling, lesson length, and tuition, alongside a sample of what a lesson might look like.
There is no obligation to enroll. The consultation provides a practical starting point for determining the lesson structure and approach that best fit the student.