What to expect
In private lessons I adapt content, pace and method entirely to you – whether you are a complete beginner or already have experience. We work on technique, improvisation, scales, rhythm and above all on finding your own authentic expression.
It is absolutely important to me that you rediscover your intuition for music – that is the core of the work, so that one day you can make music entirely on your own.
Lessons take place at my studio in Althengstett, at your location or online – as you prefer. Instruments are available if needed.
Das sagen meine Schüler
My Method
Music is for me much more than technique, theory or playing notes correctly. My teaching is based on a simple principle: Intuition before theory.
Many people have stopped making music at some point because they learned to analyse everything. They think about notes, rules and mistakes instead of experiencing the sound directly. But music doesn't start in the head – it starts in listening, feeling and experiencing.
So with me you first learn to trust your ear, your perception and your hands. We discover together how individual notes work, how rhythms arise and how real music emerges from simple sounds. Theory comes later – exactly when it is helpful and makes sense from practical experience.
The Handpan is particularly well suited to this intuitive approach. Its harmonic tuning creates a musical flow even after a short time. You don't need to read music or have any musical background. Instead you develop a feeling for rhythm, melody and expression – naturally and at your own pace.
My Handpan teaching conveys not just playing techniques but above all the ability to engage freely and creatively with the instrument. The goal is for you to be able to make music independently and find your own musical expression.
In Piano lessons too we play real music from the very first session – no dry finger exercises, no rote note-learning. Music theory is an important core of the lessons, but only comes into play when it makes sense from practice.
The focus is on developing more heart and feeling for the notes. You learn to train your ear – to hear what you play, to sense how it works, and eventually to play freely and expressively, without staying stuck in your head. This creates a sustainable relationship with the piano that is enjoyable and lasting.
I teach in my studio in Althengstett near Calw – in the northern Black Forest (Schwarzwald), in the heart of Baden-Württemberg. Lessons are easy to reach from Pforzheim, Böblingen, Herrenberg, Nagold, Leonberg and the entire northern Black Forest region. Students also come from Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and wider Southern Germany. Online sessions or lessons at your location are also available on request.
My goal is not simply for you to replay songs. I want to help you experience music as something natural again – as a language that already exists within you.
Music Theory
Music theory is not a dry set of rules – it is the language that explains why music sounds the way it does. Three pillars support everything: Melody (the singable line), Harmony (how notes sound together) and Rhythm (the pulse in time). From there come scales, chords and keys.
Scales are sequences of notes in a specific pattern of whole and half steps. The two basic types – major and minor – give music its character: major sounds open and bright, minor more reflective and deep. We make these differences directly audible in lessons – on the Handpan or at the piano.
A chord arises when at least three notes sound simultaneously. The distance between notes – the interval – determines the character of the chord. A major triad sounds stable and open, a minor triad softer and more emotional. There are also diminished and augmented chords that create or resolve tension.
Chord progressions – sequences of several chords – are the foundation of almost every song. In lessons you learn why certain chords work together, how to build your own progressions and how to apply this knowledge directly to your instrument – not through memorisation, but through understanding.
The Circle of Fifths
Outer ring: major keys · Inner ring: relative minor keys
The Circle of Fifths shows at a glance which keys are related and which chords work well together. In lessons we use it as a map: once understood, it opens up a completely new way of reading – and feeling – music.