Teaching Philosophy

Nothing has educated me more than fulfilling my duties as an educator.

The universal language of music is among the strongest unifying activities shared by all humankind. I enable this high privilege for others by building their technique, expanding their awareness, and broadening their experiences.

The objectives for artists in my studio are to develop:

An awareness of their sound and unique abilities without fear.
An awareness of their unique challenges without shame.
The ability to independently identify practice solutions on their own.
Methods to overcome self-consciousness and stage fright preventing their best performance.
Open ears to all types of music.
A desire to try new things and a value for mistakes.
A personalized way to quickly release tensions and fears.
A high respect and curiosity for all friends, colleagues, and their respective arts.
An awareness of every musician's ability to write their musical ideas down — to compose.
How to consciously express themselves and develop analytical opinions — how to make music written by others their own.

Being a dedicated performer lets me mentor from my active experience. I am a consistent performer and never far from a stage. Immersing within one's ambient community and exploring different musical environments is extremely useful in broadening any student’s horizons and granting readily-accessible experiences. Mentoring from my active experience is another way to say that I always teach by example.

Healthy practice habits must be established early on. Fundamental technical issues can present frustrating obstruction in achieving their musical goals. I immediately posit a fluid plan to combat any technical obstacles. This comprises scales, etudes, and repertoire at appropriate levels for each student. These are introduced with increasing levels of challenge, methodically encouraging the student’s progression, maturity, and growth.

In my studio, I diminish the common aura of competition between students, in favor of mutual support. Competitions have their definite time, place, and benefits. Competition benefits us most, however, when we realize its due boundaries. This opens doors which, in my own experience, can bring an artist all over the world. Our greatest success emits from the support we give our fellows in the field.

My studio is a safe, disciplined, and supportive community for growth and exploration. From birth, our most fundamental mode of learning is by the example of our family, environment, institutions, and society.

My teaching philosophy is summarized in the awareness, and putting-to-practice of the fact that we always "teach by example".

- Dr. Immanuel Abraham, DMA