Music and Health

Lana’s students have navigated

• anxiety

• racial trauma

• housing uncertainty

• auditory processing challenges

• ADHD

while learning piano and increasing their love of music.

Lana’s pedagogy is trauma-informed and promotes mental health. Her young musician curriculum was developed in consultation with a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who specializes in play therapy and early childhood development.

Lana has completed Mental Health First Aid (National Council for Mental Wellbeing, New York City), Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Practice (Dr. Tasha Golden, Johns Hopkins Medicine), and The National Alliance on Mental Illness training. 

This studio honors personal experience and the unique role of the arts in society, and does not offer clinical diagnoses or treatment.

Curriculum

Lana is a proud to be Steinway Educational Partner.

Lana helps piano students cultivate a lifelong connection to the arts. Her students build a strong foundation of classical keyboard technique that supports making music in many styles.

Because piano competency depends on exposure to a wide variety of musical expressions, many genres appear in the course of studies. Musical theater, pop songs, concert music, and folk traditions from around the world are presented throughout studies. 

Scroll to Offerings to learn more about the curriculum depending on age and goals.

Practice

Progress requires practice. Lana approaches practice expectations based on studies of habit formation and goal-setting.

Students and caregivers clarify their definition of success, and with a shared understanding of skill development, Lana helps them define the practice habit that is necessary to achieve those goals.

Caregivers help encourage and sustain student habits. Students address themselves with patience and respect while pursuing excellence.

Offerings

Classic Piano 

• Children (ages 6-11)

• Young Beginners complete an engaging, story-based curriculum to establish basic technique, reading music, and musicianship skills before advancing to a sequenced curriculum that includes music theory, sightreading, ear training, and repertoire from the major European historical periods.

• Youth (12-18)

• Continuing their multidimensional curriculum, Intermediate students are encouraged to participate in NYSSMA, RCM, or other annual events. Music history, compositional techniques, and score analysis play a larger role. Students who are singer-songwriters and composers can combine elements of Classic lessons with the Creator offering below.

• Adult

• Adults of any level are encouraged to learn piano or restart! It is never too late. From total beginner to advanced player, there is a custom track available. 

People who have enjoyed this offering represent a wide variety of professions, such as 

• lawyers

• journalists

• guitarists 

• NYC Housing Authority 

• Google Senior Staff
  

Adult Chorister

After years dedicated to singing, many choristers want to improve their reading, ear training, and understanding of the bigger picture. This offering combines beginner piano lessons with music theory and score analysis based on works they previously sang or learning for a concert.

Creator Coaching: Chord Charts, Arranging, and Personal Projects

This offering provides a dedicated container, kind accountability, and an expert musical ear for those musicians and creatives already involved in a sonic project. Modules on chord charts, improvising, and arranging live here.

Varied entrepreneurs and creatives have designed custom sessions: 

• meditation instructor 

• Broadway performer and singer-songwriter

• student composer

• sacred music program director