“Hi, I’m Mary the piano teacher . . .
is the greeting given by Mary Henning at the front door of a new student’s home.
Mary Henning has taught private piano lessons for nearly thirty years, starting in Iowa then moving to Chicago. A graduate of Central College with a BA in music education Mary has developed an easy going system of incorporating music games into the piano learning process. In 1990 she began teaching students in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, and discovered there was a market for in home private piano lessons.
Mary has honed her niche to teaching beginning to intermediate piano students. In 2011 she wrote a pair of beginning piano books instructing the novice student in the fundamentals of music reading.
Informational Book about music signs and symbols by Mary Henning
Beginning Piano Book by Mary Henning
Though a traditional style teacher, she puts a twist on teaching the basics (notes on the staff, rhythms, terminology, chords, scales, etc.) by incorporating games (homemade) as well as using software, and apps into the lessons. “I am an advocate of using flashcards, but that can be a drudgery for the student. Using those same flashcards for a game makes it fun for the student (and the teacher!)” In addition to using instructional material, lessons assignments include the student’s choice of fun music.
“My goal is to give my students a strong knowledge of music reading and piano playing skills. With these skills my students will be able to play the piano for their own enjoyment the rest of their lives.”