About Sue Ellen
I am an independent private piano teacher in Madison, WI and offer instruction in classical-style piano study. I teach beginning to early advanced students, preschool age to adult.
Families in my studio enjoy close parent-teacher communication and coaching, off-the-bench activities, group classes, and a focus on nurturing expressive playing through a focus on tone and physical ease at the instrument.
I have been a piano student since the age of four and went on to earn degrees in music and art education. I have taught piano lessons for over ten years and have enjoyed thousands of hours working with children and their parents! As an educator teaching students to play the piano, I have found a special joy in combining my love for classical piano repertoire, my fascination with how children learn and grow, and the pleasure of working in small group settings with children and their parents. It is a gift and a privilege to engage in this work!
I am a member of The Suzuki Association of the Americas, The Suzuki Association of Wisconsin, Madison Area Piano Teachers Associated (Board member 2014-2018), MTNA, and The Dalcroze Society of America.
I am also fortunate to have cello, viola da gamba, and trumpet playing and fellow teacher husband Eric Miller with whom I get to collaborate on various musical and teaching projects.
" To have a task throughout our lives, a lifelong task engaging us for the sake of children, this is a great joy for us instructors. We have a purpose in life." -Suzuki
Families in my studio enjoy close parent-teacher communication and coaching, off-the-bench activities, group classes, and a focus on nurturing expressive playing through a focus on tone and physical ease at the instrument.
I have been a piano student since the age of four and went on to earn degrees in music and art education. I have taught piano lessons for over ten years and have enjoyed thousands of hours working with children and their parents! As an educator teaching students to play the piano, I have found a special joy in combining my love for classical piano repertoire, my fascination with how children learn and grow, and the pleasure of working in small group settings with children and their parents. It is a gift and a privilege to engage in this work!
I am a member of The Suzuki Association of the Americas, The Suzuki Association of Wisconsin, Madison Area Piano Teachers Associated (Board member 2014-2018), MTNA, and The Dalcroze Society of America.
I am also fortunate to have cello, viola da gamba, and trumpet playing and fellow teacher husband Eric Miller with whom I get to collaborate on various musical and teaching projects.
" To have a task throughout our lives, a lifelong task engaging us for the sake of children, this is a great joy for us instructors. We have a purpose in life." -Suzuki
Education
- Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) through Music Teachers' National Association
- BA Music, Northern Illinois University
- BS Ed. Art Education, Northern Illinois University
- Suzuki Piano Volume One training—Chicago Suzuki Institute, Chicago, IL
- Suzuki Piano Volume Two and Three training—International Music Festival, Bay Village, OH
- Suzuki Piano Volume Four and Five training—Studio of Rita Hauck, Cincinnati, OH
- Suzuki Piano Volume Six and Seven training—Studio of Rita Hauck, Fort Worth TX
- Suzuki Principles in Action course—Madison, WI
- Suzuki Piano Practicum course—Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, MI
- Music Together Teacher Training and workshops—Chicago, IL
- Graduate course work in Dalcroze Eurythmics—St. Thomas University, St. Paul, MN
- Dalcroze Certification Training—Institute for Jaques-Dalcroze Education, Middleton,MD
- Dalrcoze Certification Training—Dalcroze School of the Rockies, Fort Collins, CO
My Approach to Piano Study
I hope to nurture relationships between parent and child, sensitivity to great music, musical independence, beautiful tone, fine technique, confidence, basic skills in improvisation and composition, strong sight reading ability, joy in playing music with others, strong music theory knowledge, perseverance, and the thrill that comes from playing to the best of one's ability!
Children learn best in an environment that involves the parents (particularly young children), provides daily listening to piano music, and includes a knowledgeable teacher who tailors instruction to meet the developmental needs and stages of the child.
In addition to my extensive Suzuki training, I am also an experienced Music Together teacher and have completed courses toward certification in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. I am fortunate to have studied Suzuki pedagogy with master piano teachers including Rita Hauck and the late Doris Koppleman. My teaching is also highly informed by the pedagogical philosophy and understanding of child development put forth by Waldorf education.
My students attend weekly private lessons, monthly group classes, and play at several studio recitals throughout the year. Students also participate in the National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Festival, Sonatina Festival, Solo and Ensemble, and other local events.
For more information on my approach to the Suzuki method, please contact me to set up a meeting or phone conference.
Children learn best in an environment that involves the parents (particularly young children), provides daily listening to piano music, and includes a knowledgeable teacher who tailors instruction to meet the developmental needs and stages of the child.
In addition to my extensive Suzuki training, I am also an experienced Music Together teacher and have completed courses toward certification in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. I am fortunate to have studied Suzuki pedagogy with master piano teachers including Rita Hauck and the late Doris Koppleman. My teaching is also highly informed by the pedagogical philosophy and understanding of child development put forth by Waldorf education.
My students attend weekly private lessons, monthly group classes, and play at several studio recitals throughout the year. Students also participate in the National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Festival, Sonatina Festival, Solo and Ensemble, and other local events.
For more information on my approach to the Suzuki method, please contact me to set up a meeting or phone conference.
About Suzuki Piano Instruction
Who was Suzuki?
Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) was a keen observer and intuited much about child development and parent child relationships. He was the son of a violin maker, a late beginner in his violin studies, a WWII survivor, an international traveler, a long-time student of the violin, someone who believed in the ability of each child to play music not just those deemed musically talented (as was the norm at the time), and above all a man with a grand vision for the power of music to bring beauty to the lives of those who play it and listen to it.
What is the goal of Suzuki Education today?
First and foremost to improve the quality of life for those who study and enjoy music and, as a result, make the world a more beautiful place. Secondly, to give children the skills to enjoy music making for their entire lives. Some of these children become professional musicians, but most do not. Indeed, Suzuki himself wanted to create a world full of “happy amateurs”. Today, there are close to 10,000 Suzuki teachers in the Americas and more worldwide. Suzuki's understanding of how children learn and approach to piano pedagogy have been adopted and by many contemporary traditional methods.
Suzuki education and reading music:
Reading music is a complex spatial skill. Playing with physical ease and training the ear to listen for a beautiful tone at the instrument is a complex skill. Skilled Suzuki piano teachers integrate both skills into each lesson!
Failure to address reading would be an incomplete approach to an instrument which demands fluent note reading. Failure to address the physical complexities of playing the instrument would not allow the student to develop the freedom to play with musicality and feeling.
It is very common for a student to be playing pieces at a more advanced level than their sight reading ability. We learn to speak before we read and write and eventually become equally fluent in both—learning to read music is a similar process. Music Learning Theory as developed by Edwin Gordon shows us that ear before eye and experience before symbol are truly best practices in music education.
Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) was a keen observer and intuited much about child development and parent child relationships. He was the son of a violin maker, a late beginner in his violin studies, a WWII survivor, an international traveler, a long-time student of the violin, someone who believed in the ability of each child to play music not just those deemed musically talented (as was the norm at the time), and above all a man with a grand vision for the power of music to bring beauty to the lives of those who play it and listen to it.
What is the goal of Suzuki Education today?
First and foremost to improve the quality of life for those who study and enjoy music and, as a result, make the world a more beautiful place. Secondly, to give children the skills to enjoy music making for their entire lives. Some of these children become professional musicians, but most do not. Indeed, Suzuki himself wanted to create a world full of “happy amateurs”. Today, there are close to 10,000 Suzuki teachers in the Americas and more worldwide. Suzuki's understanding of how children learn and approach to piano pedagogy have been adopted and by many contemporary traditional methods.
Suzuki education and reading music:
Reading music is a complex spatial skill. Playing with physical ease and training the ear to listen for a beautiful tone at the instrument is a complex skill. Skilled Suzuki piano teachers integrate both skills into each lesson!
Failure to address reading would be an incomplete approach to an instrument which demands fluent note reading. Failure to address the physical complexities of playing the instrument would not allow the student to develop the freedom to play with musicality and feeling.
It is very common for a student to be playing pieces at a more advanced level than their sight reading ability. We learn to speak before we read and write and eventually become equally fluent in both—learning to read music is a similar process. Music Learning Theory as developed by Edwin Gordon shows us that ear before eye and experience before symbol are truly best practices in music education.
