A little about Laura…
What has your music history been?
I grew up in a musical family, so singing, Chopsticks duets and random jam sessions were a regular occurrence. I learnt piano from my Mum when I was 6, then began teaching myself more when I was 11. I started learning flute when I was 9. By high school I was doing piano exams, playing flute in bands, viola in ensembles and regularly played and sung for church.
In 2023 I completed my Bachelor of Arts with an Extended Major in Music. Now I am challenging myself by undertaking a Masters of Music, also at the esteemed University of Queensland. I love learning new things and am enjoying this new adventure.
I have been teaching since 2019 and in that time I have learnt how to teach and how not to teach. It has been an adventure of learning from my own lessons, from my teachers, from uni professors, my own research, and trial and error. Whilst there have been challenges and stressful times I know that this is what I was meant to do.
My dream is to be a music teacher that demonstrates a true and genuine love for music to my students. I want to be a teacher that allows them to fall in love with music as much as I do; to give them a passion, love and interest for music, and more importantly, life.
Why do you love teaching music?
One of my favourite things about teaching is seeing how excited students get when they finally get that part that has been haunting them for weeks. I know from my own practice, that in these moment, all the hard work has been for a good reason.
My philosophy is that since each student learns differently, then their lessons should be tailored to their own needs, goals and preferences. The most important thing about learning is that students enjoy themselves and develop their creativity and love for music. I place importance on technique, notation reading and general knowledge but ultimately, creativity and musical expression is the goal.
I love, inadvertently, teaching life-related skills like confidence, self-esteem, concentration, perseverance, discipline, time management, emotional intelligence and memory capacity. All of these concepts are closely linked to learning music and any musical instrument.
I love teaching because I love seeing the way students progress from beginner to advanced. I love seeing them work hard and see how a piece of music or scale or chord progression goes from being slow, messy sounds to music that’s played with emotion and feeling. I love being able to invest in my students’ lives, to see them every week and be a part of their lives.
There is so much more to teaching than seeing how their practice is going or how prepared they are for a performance.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about the way I teach or if you need accompanying of any kind. I would love to hear from you!