Would You Like to Teach With Us?

Do you play an instrument (note: it doesn't have to be piano)? Would you like to pass along to others what you've learned and experienced?

You don't have to have any previous teaching experience; we will help you with that. All you need are music skills and knowledge and a desire to help others learn what you've come to know. We teach all ages and abilities.

Our teachers are part-time employees of Fairfax Piano and enjoy a collaborative environment with plenty of teacher-to-teacher interaction. Although this can be your full-time job, it is ok if you only want to teach a few students a week. Your teaching schedule would be flexible enough to accommodate your lifestyle.

February 25, 2020February 26, 2020

What Should I Expect?

A professional career in music may be an eventual outcome of lessons with Fairfax Piano but is not expected nor will it be the end goal of these lessons. Rather, lessons here will prepare the student for a lifetime of making music fluently and comfortably using the piano. Long after lessons have ended, a former student may end up making music at home, or accompanying church music or other volunteer outlets, or simply making/enjoying music in casual times with friends. If a student goes on to choose a career focused on music – even a part-time career or hobby - then lessons here will be a solid preparation for further studies and future work.

Along the way toward becoming musically fluent, students will gain or refine some essential life skills. The regular application of lessons, practice, and performance can lead to

greater self-confidence,
self-motivation,
perseverance,
an enhanced ability to be self-starting,
continued learning and extension of musical skills,
a lifelong knowledge and love of music, and
an enhanced ability to be creative, including the ability to create music.

Whether you've never played piano or you have been playing for decades, whether you're a young child or an adult, lessons at Fairfax Piano can help you boost your skills. and when the time comes that your instrument at home needs tuning or service, we can be right there to help.

It would be an honor if you should choose Fairfax Piano to help you enhance your musical abilities.

February 19, 2020May 30, 2020

Staff

History

Mike started Fairfax Piano in the fall of 2017 after he was asked to begin teaching piano by someone who heard him play. He has added into the studio's offerings his skill in piano tuning and service. Fairfax Piano has continued to grow from that day.

Mike studied piano under Dr. Ejnar Krantz & has been playing piano for over 40 years. He has accompanied church music for many congregations, & currently plays piano or keyboard with the Sunday music team (bass guitar, drums, guitar, organ, vocalists) at Cedar Valley Bible Church.

Mike's Instructor

Ejnar Krantz, Concert Pianist, Organist, Teacher, Composer was born August 3, 1915, the second-born son of Swedish immigrants, Sam and Hannah Krantz, on their family farm two miles from Mears, Michigan, north of Muskegon. At an early age, he learned to play the mouth-organ and then a small accordion to a larger accordion on which he learned to improvise and delight his school mates, family (he had one brother), and friends.

By the time Ejnar was twelve, his mother discovered a used Carlyle player piano for sale for $100 for which he pitched in working hard at picking cucumbers that summer to pay for the instrument. Before the season was up, his mother surprised him with the instrument one day having had it secretly delivered to the house. He was so overjoyed and he played and played, growing in his ability to improvise music. His Dad, seeing the musical gift his son had so innately been given, sacrificed to bring a teacher to the farm home each week for half-hour piano lessons paying $2.00 for every three lessons. In winter, Mrs. Greiner would be picked up and returned to her home by horse and sleigh. His next teacher, Mrs. Noret, during his attendance at Hoart High School in Michigan charged 75 cents a lesson but was not as good as the first one. However, Mr. West compensated for this by giving Ejnar organ lessons making him very adept in playing with both hands and feet. Loving to practice, Ejnar would devote hours to his music for the rest of his life.

In 1933, Ejnar moved to Chicago with his maternal uncle to continue his real formal music education in piano, music theory and composition at Sherwood Music School made possible through the kindness of the its director, Prof. Scanlon, offering him a scholarship. With only one transfer, Ejnar thoroughly enjoyed the daily 7-cent street car rides to and fro from school. After three years of study and due to the need to make money to afford the completion of his collegiate music studies, Ejnar accepted a partnership with professional violinist, Alexander Kaminsky from Russia, to be his piano accompanist and soloist, as well as being his driver. At his son-in-law’s recommendation, Kaminsky purchased a Model A Ford which enabled the duo to give concerts all over the USA (East, South and Midwest America) and Canada for the next two years. After this time, having earned $75.00 a week, Ejnar was ready to return to Sherwood Music School and where he finished his Bachelor's Degree in 1939.

For a full year, Ejnar was a scholarship pupil of Rudolph Ganz studying piano with him as he attended the Chicago Musical College where in 1943, he obtained his Master of Music degree. He here studied composition with Max Wald and gave piano recitals annually and had the opportunity of playing concerti with the orchestra supplemented with the players from the Chicago Symphony at Orchestra Hall. Supporting himself by being organist-choir director at a church on weekends, teaching high school French and Spanish during the week, and having a few private students, this energetic, enterprising and talented musician was able to take on doctoral study at Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University which he completed in 1954. His doctoral thesis was An Approach to Fingering in Piano Playing. (AP-0830)

Concert pianist Ejnar Krantz made his debut in New York's Town Hall and has concertized for several years in the USA and abroad with violinists, singers and as a soloist under art agency. As a result of a nationwide contest, he represented the state of Michigan in concert in Carnegie Hall.

His professional teaching career began in Ruston, Louisiana at the Polytechnic Institute for one year, followed by three years in San Antonio, Texas where he set up a large private Piano Studio in the old opera building downtown and was choral director at Grace Lutheran Church. At the same time, for one year, while in San Antonio, he played 15-minute weekly radio broadcasts of the classical piano repertoire on KMAC AM radio.

Ejnar Krantz had a broadmindedness about himself, others and the world, wanting to feel at home with all nationalities and religious groups. His wanderlust took him to share his music in Sweden. December of 1950 saw him make his formal debut as Pianist in the Konserthus in Stockholm followed by a 3-month tour of twenty piano and organ concerts there. Denmark, France, Holland, Spain and Germany were countries where he vacationed while speaking their native languages. He served Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran churches in Michigan, Illinois, Texas, Washington, DC and Indiana.

For three years, beginning in 1957, Dr. Krantz served the First Presbyterian Church in South Bend, Indiana, as the organist-director Minister of Music. In addition to rehearsing five choirs, he played a series of 27 organ concerts on the last Sunday of each month. He also conducted several oratorios with his choir augmented by singers from other churches and a guest organist. However, since this was a full time position, and since his first love was piano performance, private teaching and composing, he left this position but only long enough to answer the urgent request of the pastor of Trinity Grace Methodist Church in South Bend, Indiana to help out over Christmas. Dr. Krantz ended up staying there for 10 years as organist-director, a part-time position. From 1960-1963, Dr. Krantz was Assistant Professor of Music in two colleges interim appointments while faculty members were on sabbatical Manchester College, North Manchester, Indiana where, in March 1961, he performed the Rachmaninoff's "Concerto No. 2," followed by one year at Goshen College, Indiana. In 1970, Dr. Krantz became an adjunct professor of Piano and Music History at the Indiana University - South Bend, the position he held for more than 20 years until his retirement in 1995 while maintaining a private piano studio. This venue became the hub of his mature musical life.

Since 1964, the public could count on Dr. Krantz to play an annual piano recital. His last recital took place at IUSB in 1996. He loved to practice and did so for 4-5 hours a day. Twice in his life, he recalls practicing all night long! Dr. Krantz developed an extensive piano repertoire for solo or orchestral appearances from which he has designed many programs to suit various occasions such as student convocations, formal evening recitals, club meetings, etc., besides lecture-recitals featuring major classical works like the 24 "Piano Etudes" of Chopin.

Dr. Krantz served the National Guild of Piano Teachers for over 30 years as an Adjudicator who knew how to enable students to perform their best by making them comfortable with him.

Mr. Krantz enjoyed his golden years at his home in South Bend, Indiana, grateful for the thousands of audiences and church services he was privy to enthrall with and through music. He died on May 1, 2007 at his home in South Bend, Indiana.

Composer, Dr. Ejnar Krantz has provided the music world with compositions for piano, organ, voice and choir as need and inspiration dictated throughout his life. They are now published by Alliance Publications, Inc.

February 19, 2020February 26, 2020

There is a Better Way to Pay for Piano Lessons

The usual way is to sign up for a year somewhere, and pick a fixed time during the week that you'll commit to be there. You pay a commitment fee and you pay your fees every month.

If you're sick, or there's a snow day, or you're traveling, or if it falls on a special day or some other commitment, or if you just can't make it there, you forfeit the lesson. You lose. If you have to quit your lessons mid-year, you pay a cancellation fee. You lose.

Fairfax Piano has a better way.

Here:

You don't sign up for a year-long commitment.
You don't commit to a specific day and time for the entire year.
We don't tap into your checking account on a certain day every month.
You are in control of how much you pay and when.
There are no fees for rescheduling lessons, ever.
There is no cancellation fee to stop lessons.
You get the lessons that you pay for.

Our first meeting is free. No obligation. No pressure. We're confident that Fairfax Piano is right for you, but you are welcome to check it out and be sure of that for yourself.

You enroll for $50. It's not an annual fee; it never happens again after you start.

You purchase a lesson or a block of lessons in advance at a competitive price. With you, we schedule each lesson individually at the time of purchase. The lessons that you purchase have an expiration date associated with them, and the expiration date allows for flexibility in your schedule.

For example, you can purchase lessons in advance in a block of four lessons at a time - at $22 per lesson in our studio or $31 per lesson in your home. Lessons are valid for 40 days from the date of purchase, so if you are sick for a given week - or traveling or just unavailable - you have the flexibility to reschedule your lesson within those 40 days at no charge and no penalty. And when your last lesson rolls around, you simply buy another set of lessons and schedule that new set at that time.

Are those prices a good value? Click here.

You will get a receipt by email whenever you make a purchase, and your receipt will show you the lesson dates and times for each upcoming lesson, and you will get calendar invites for each lesson that you can import into your own calendar with a single click. Plus, you'll get an email and a text message an hour before your lesson to remind you!

So forget the fees. Forget the year-long commitments. There's a better way.

February 19, 2020February 26, 2020

Where Is Fairfax Piano?

February 19, 2020February 25, 2020

The Basics

Doing business with Fairfax Piano is simple.

There are no monthly fees and scheduling is flexible, so you can get all the lessons that you pay for.
Major credit cards are accepted, as are checks or cash.
You can purchase your lesson materials through Fairfax Piano.
After each purchase, you will receive a receipt by email that details your purchase.
You can take lessons in our studio or in the convenience of your own home.
When your piano is tuned, we will keep your piano's model and serial number on file, so that if your instrument needs parts later, we may be able to order the right part without needing a separate visit.

We promise that you will be in control of your piano education, you will know where your hard-earned money is going, and you will be informed every step of the way.

February 19, 2020February 25, 2020

Gain a Well-Rounded Piano Education

While most piano teachers are good at teaching what music is and how and what to play, here you can also learn how to play at your best, learn how music is created and ways to create your own, and learn why certain things sound the way they do.

Most piano teachers teach:

Proper Technique
Reading Music
Rhythm
Lots of Songs

At Fairfax Piano, you can learn all those plus:

Ease of Playing
Circle of Fifths
Improvisation
Repertoire
Arranging Music
Lead Sheets
Chord Sheets
Creating Your Own Music

And not only can you learn these things, along the way you can learn the reasons why certain things are done the way they are done. Why curve your fingers? Why practice? Why play things this way and not this other way?

Some of this additional knowledge is presented very early on in the course of lessons. In fact, Ease of Playing and the beginnings of the Circle of Fifths are presented starting at the very first lesson, and Improvisation is brought in not long after!

The more you know about how music is put together, and the more experience you have in creating your own music, the better you can play anything! A working knowledge of keys and chords can help you play that Beethoven Sonata that much easier.

If your preference leans toward modern music rather than classical, know that all of these things that are taught here are used today in creating and playing today's music. Taking lessons at Fairfax Piano can give you a solid basis in playing piano or keyboard regardless of the style of music that you prefer.

Author: admin