Trish Cummings

I‘m a musicianship and piano teacher in South East London.

I come to London several decades ago to study for my BMus at Goldsmiths College and I loved it so much that I stayed and have brought up three children here and run a baby signing business, too.

I have been teaching piano lessons since 2017. A relatively latecomer to piano teaching, but a very enthusiastic, open minded teacher, always learning new skills and polishing up my existing skills.

I not only teach piano, I also have weekly lessons too! Why? Because in my opinion, one can always learn more.

• I loved playing the piano, but honestly, it was despite my piano lessons as a child, not because of them.
• I hated practising, I hated do music theory, I hated the repetition, etc. BUT I LOVED MUSIC.
• When I decided to investigate piano teaching in 2017, I was very keen to avoid delivering the dry, exam focused lessons that I had received as a child. Now – these dry lessons were enough to give me the skills needed to get to do a music degree with piano and flute as my joint first instruments. I am grateful to these teachers. But I didn’t want to teach like them; I would like my students to be surprised and even disappointed that their lesson with me has to end, rather than clock watching. I would like my students to understand how music works from the outset.
• I have searched around and to achieve this I have joined The Curious Piano Teachers, a group which encourages piano teachers to strive to be the best they can be, investigating teaching resources, techniques, trends, etc. I am a member of the British Kodály Academy and other musicianship bodies where I am developing my musicianship skills throughout the year. I am a newly signed up member of GIML (the Gordon Institute for Music Learning) which teaches Music Learning Theory (which is the theory of how we learn when we learn music).