4.9
from 104 Google reviews
127
adults taught to play
Best of Long Island winner
Most adults here open with some version of the same sentence. I'm not musical. I left this too late. I tried once and it didn't take. A lot of them already had a piano in the house, from a kid's lessons or a keyboard bought on a whim and politely ignored ever since. A few months go by and they're playing something they picked, on a random Tuesday night, because they felt like it.
You're not the only one who waited
Almost everyone here started late.
What's actually been stopping you?
The plan is to start when things calm down. Respectfully, they don't. Everybody here started in a busy month, because they all are.
"I don't have the time"
Nobody quits piano on purpose. They miss a week, then two, and by the third it's easier not to go back.
"I'll just quit again"
Everyone's patient with a beginner. You're wondering what they're like on the fifth attempt at the same four bars.
"I'd be a chore to teach"
- Denise E., started at 56
"Did he think I could learn THE PIANO at 56 YEARS OLD???!!! We didn't even own a piano! … I practice EVERY DAY."
Sara!
Hello, I’m
I’ve been playing since I was five, when Grams would sit me on the bench beside her. Crane School of Music, twenty years teaching, one night at Carnegie Hall. None of which you need.
None of it tells you whether I’m any good at teaching, either. Thirty minutes in the intro will. You want to hold your own on four or five songs you love, and I won’t try to talk you into more.
They’d play it perfectly at home and fall apart in the second measure with me beside them. I filed it under nerves and got very good at pep talks.
It took me far too long to work out what was actually happening. They weren’t nervous. They were being listened to, without a break, for thirty straight minutes. My attention was the problem.
Where the headphones came from
For three years I sat six inches from every student.
- Deborah B., a student before and after the switch
“When I started she was doing individual lessons but now she has moved to play for life, which, to be honest, I like much better! I’m able to warm up and begin practicing without the anxiety of someone standing right behind me.”
They’d play it perfectly at home and fall apart in the second measure with me beside them. I filed it under nerves and got very good at pep talks.
It took me far too long to work out what was actually happening. They weren’t nervous. They were being listened to, without a break, for thirty straight minutes. My attention was the problem.
Where the headphones came from
For three years I sat six inches from every student.
“When I started she was doing individual lessons but now she has moved to play for life, which, to be honest, I like much better! I’m able to warm up and begin practicing without the anxiety of someone standing right behind me.”
- Deborah B., a student before and after the switch
A private lesson is an hour of somebody listening to every note. A group class is an hour of comparing yourself to the person on your left.
This is neither. Your own station, your own headphones, everyone on different work. I teach you, then leave you to practice, which is how you learn to do it when nobody’s standing there.
You are not going to be the slowest person I’ve taught, and on the day you are, I won’t notice and I wouldn’t mind. Watching somebody get it on the fourth try is the part of this I actually like.
No one else hears you play.
So I built the only studio on the island that works like this...
What adults actually need
Room to work it out
Every wrong note fixed the second it happens is exhausting. You need space to miss it, sort it, and move on before anyone reacts.
One-on-one, not a group
Somebody who hears the thing you can't hear yourself, and tells you the one change that fixes it. No app has ever done that.
A plan, not a playlist
You can find a thousand piano videos tonight. What you can't find is which one comes next, or whether you're ready for it.
For Life Program
The Play
Built for the staying part
Five students, every age, each in headphones at their own keyboard. I teach you one-on-one, then step away so you work it out yourself, the part a private lesson never makes you learn.
Here's what your hour looks like
You sit down and play
No warm-up chat, no theory lecture to get through first. You're at your keyboard with headphones on inside the first few minutes, working on the thing you left off on. Adults are usually a little suspicious of how fast this happens.
Reading gets easier
This is the one nobody believes until it happens. We build it a little each week, until you look at a page and hear it, the way you're reading this sentence without sounding out the letters.
I come to you
I move around the room and work with each person individually. When I'm with you, it's a private lesson. When I'm not, you're practicing what I just showed you, which is how you learn to do it when I'm not there at all.
Something you chose
Some adults spend six months on exercises before they're "ready" for a real song. Not here. You'll always have something you picked, and nothing out of a children's book. The exercises stay, they're how the songs become possible.
Andrei, 4 months in
“At first I was very worried that I would not receive enough attention because I would be in a session with multiple students but Play for Life in my opinion is the perfect balance.”
“At first I was very worried that I would not receive enough attention because I would be in a session with multiple students but Play for Life in my opinion is the perfect balance.”
How does this sound?
A song you've known for twenty years, suddenly under your own hands.
1
Sit down without the twenty minutes of talking yourself into it.
2
Read something new and hear it before your hands find it.
3
Two hands doing two different things while you think about neither.
4
Notice it's been a year and you never once quit.
5
That year starts with one free lesson.
Don't Take My Word For It I'm Biased
- Peter B., age 48
No One Can Hear
You have time to practice your piece without anyone hearing you because we all have headphones on. No pressure
- Michelle L. adult musician
PLAY FOR LIFE ACTUALLY WORKS
I was skeptical of Sara’s “Play for Life” format. I grew up taking private lessons for multiple instruments & it was always 1 on 1 w/ the instructor sitting next to you. … After trying different schools I chose lessons with Sara. … the lessons actually WORK.
- Mica A., returned after 20+ yrs
YOU GO AT YOUR OWN PACE
I have taken 1 on 1 lessons when I was a child (at least 20 years ago) for 6 months and remember feeling so much anxiety going every week that I had quit then. Not at Chatlabash! You take lessons in a lab setting with 3-4 other students simultaneously all with headphones and you go at your own pace.
- Jonathan V., 6 months in
IT WORKS
I was worried I wouldn't get the individual attention I needed. Not only does it work but I think it's perfect.
- Adam J., Bellmore
OVER A YEAR NOW
I've been taking piano lessons at Chatalbash Lessons for over a year now, and I have to say, it's been an invaluable experience. Sara is an absolutely amazing piano teacher, and the progress I've made under her guidance has been astounding!
- Brittney N, started at 30
NOW AT 30 YEARS OLD
I’ve thought about taking piano lessons for a while and now at 30 years old am so glad I started… Go for it!
- Denise E., started at 56
LEARN THE PIANO AT 56
Did he think I could learn THE PIANO at 56 YEARS OLD???!!! We didn't even own a piano! With much apprehension, I went to the introductory lesson and met Sara. … So here I am, almost two months in, and I am loving the piano! … I practice EVERY DAY.
- Tara N., dreamed big
GIVE IT A SECOND CHANCE
I always dreamed of learning piano and took lessons as a kid but hated it so much that I quit. Big regret. I finally decided to give it a second chance, it’s been a wonderful few months.
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What You Get Each Week
A Full Hour, Built to Keep You Playing
Most full-hour private lessons around here run $320–$380 a month. Here it's a full hour with real practice time built into it.
The Play For Life Program
Everything below is included, every week, for as long as you want to keep playing.
• A full hour, taught one-on-one
• Your own keyboard and headphones
• Video and text support between lessons
• Miss a week? Send a video, get a lesson back
• Music you pick, plus the basics
For most adults here, this is the first thing in a while that isn't for the house, the kids or the job. The hard part wasn’t the number. It was spending it on themselves.
83% ARE STILL PLAYING A YEAR LATER
• You’re playing within minutes
• You’ll be reading music by the end
• Unsure? Sit in on 15 minutes of a class
• No commitment either way
Start Here
Thirty minutes. You play, you ask questions, you decide later.
Free Intro
249
$
/mo
• A full hour, taught one at a time
• Your own keyboard and headphones
• Video and text support between lessons
• Miss a week? Get a video lesson back
• Music you pick, plus the basics
- Robert P., started after being gifted a keyboard
“The one hour a week with Sara’s oversight is invaluable. It is a good use of my time and my money.”
Every one of these removes a reason to quit:
Nobody hears you. Headphones from the first minute, including when you get it wrong.
You're never taught as a group. Up to five students, every age, each taught one at a time.
Miss a week? Send me a video, get a lesson back. You don't lose your place.
Evening lessons that end at eight. Most adults here come straight from work.
Month to month. No contract, no term, no long conversation if you stop.
The only thing left to find out is whether you like it.
Recitals have no audience. On purpose. And Sip N' Song is adults only, optional, and more party than performance.
Play For Life includes everything
except
the hard part.
An hour a week is one percent of your week. I can teach you and I can make the room easy to walk into, but I can't practice for you. Thirty minutes most nights beats three hours on a guilty Sunday, and that part is yours.
The adults who make it aren't the talented ones. They're the ones who kept showing up.
My promise
You'll never be put on the spot or corrected in front of anybody. If something isn't landing, I'll find another way to explain it. That's my job, not yours.
Yours
Show up, and practice most days. That's it. Do that and you'll play, not for a term, not until it gets hard. For life. That's the whole reason it's called that.
This is for you if:
It’s probably not for you if:
You want a room with only adults in it. Classes are mixed age. Everyone's in headphones, but still.
Practicing between lessons isn't happening this season. That's fine. Come back when it is.
You want to be taught, not left to figure it out
You'd rather build real skill than poke at an app
You can find thirty minutes most nights
You've wanted this for years and you're done circling it
You're Not Auditioning
Here’s where to park, which door, and where you’ll sit. Nothing to prepare and nothing you need to already know.
Your free intro lesson
Three steps, and the third one’s optional.
You're Not
Auditioning
Ask for a free intro
Fill out the short form, or just text me. Wednesday, Friday or Sunday, 5 to 8, most adults come after work.
Step 1:
Step 2:
Sit down
Thirty minutes, one-on-one. By the end you’ll have read music and played three short songs. Simple ones, but songs.
Stay and Watch
Sit in on fifteen minutes of a real class. You’ll see four or five people working, and hear almost nothing.
Step 3:
“The website said it gave adult lessons and it offered a free trial. It seemed like the perfect oppurtunity so I went for it. I’m very happy I took the plunge and started lessons here.”
“The website said it gave adult lessons and it offered a free trial. It seemed like the perfect oppurtunity so I went for it. I’m very happy I took the plunge and started lessons here.”
- Michael M., total beginner, found the studio on Google
Three Things
People Still Ask
Do I need to read music first?
No, and you never have to apologize for not knowing how, it's the thing you're coming here to learn. Very few people arrive able to do it.
03
Do I have to do recitals?
04
Twice a year, and yes. The only time anyone hears you, students only, no guests, everyone in the room is also up next.
Am I in a class with kids?
Sometimes. Classes are mixed age. It doesn't come up though, because you're not learning with anybody, you're learning next to them.
02
How is this different from private lessons?
It isn’t less. A full hour, taught one at a time, then practicing on your own, how you learn to do it at home. Or come watch.
01
So why hasn’t it happened yet?
It was never your hands.
Adults come in sure they’re at a disadvantage. It’s almost the opposite. This was your idea. You know what practicing feels like. A job, a sport, the instrument you gave up. You’ll tell me when an explanation isn’t landing instead of nodding until I go away. And you’ve stuck with something hard before. That’s the only part that ever mattered.
One hour a week that finally isn’t for anybody else.
You’ll leave playing three simple songs. No commitment either way.
The 5 Questions
Most Piano Teachers Hope You Won’t Ask
Takes 3 minutes to read. Could save you a year with the wrong teacher
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