September 2026: Fully booked.
Sophie has been a piano teacher for 20 years. She taught in music schools and conservatoires in both Dublin and Lyon, France before returning to her hometown of Birr, Co. Offaly in 2023.
The piano lessons for beginners are based on the Kodaly approach to musicianship. Pupils learn to read a simple score using stick notation and solfa syllables (do, re mi), before they learn to read the 5-line staves.
The repertoire for young beginners is mostly based on folk songs and simple melodies that the children are able to sing.
Each piece is taught by singing it first with a simple clapping game so that the pupil develops a steady beat. The piece is then sung in solfa using the solfa hand-signs, which helps develop their inner ear and sense of pitch (high notes, low notes, intervals etc). Lastly the piece is sung with rhythmic syllables whilst clapping the rhythm (ta, titi). Once the pupil has mastered this they play it on the piano in mutliple tonalities, on the white keys or on the black keys. This is all done very quickly in a class as the pieces are very short.
The aim is to build up the confidence of the pupil little by little, so that even if they cannot read music straight away, they can at least play 20 or 30 little simple songs by heart. Once they are at ease with simple rhythm patterns I begin introducing simple pieces on the grand stave, using several well-know piano method books and easy, beginner-repertoire books. Pupils learn to read music as easily as reading a book!
For more advanced pupils I work mainly on classical repertoire as this is my area of expertise, but I am always open to teaching any songs that a pupil brings along to the lessons.
Our music school is a recognized local exam centre for students wishing to sit the RIAM piano exams, however the exams are not compulsory. I am myself an examiner for the Royal Irish Academy of Music, so for students wishing to sit the exams I ensure that they are thoroughly prepared. I cover music theory, scales, technique and repertoire during lesson time.
I aim to organise two informal recitals for students each year, usually at Christmas and at the end of the academic year in May/June.