“With Claire’s help I’ve reached a point where I feel I’m expressing myself fully as a musical artist, which has always been my dream”
I discovered Claire at a time when music had become central to my life. I’d done a year-long course in Collaborative Vocal Improvisation and was exploring my singing voice in a deep and thorough way. Learning to improvise had unlocked my ability to be creative with music, and I wanted to write and sing piano-based songs, and accompany myself when I improvised vocally.
I had a strong sense that the piano was my instrument. I’d had piano lessons as a young child but we didn’t have room in our house for a piano, and at that time keyboards were a poor substitute! Because I was unable to practise properly I stopped having piano lessons. From the age of 10 I learned to play the violin, and I also played the guitar for about 20 years from my teens. However, something was calling me back to the piano.
A friend told me about her wonderful piano teacher who took an innovative approach, aiming to support the student’s creativity and musical tastes. I was intrigued, and excited to experience this for myself!
My lessons with Claire have been one of the highlights of my week for the past five years. Claire is a ray of sunshine, and a total pleasure to spend time with. Aside from this, each lesson she will find a way to move my piano playing forward – whether that’s through creativity practice, technique, or theoretical knowledge.
Claire has supported me to become a songwriter who uses the piano to accompany and arrange my songs. I had written one or two songs before meeting Claire, but these were either a cappella ideas or had a chord sequence without a developed arrangement. I didn’t really know where to start with composing for piano, or even what my options were.
I feel that Claire’s input has been instrumental in helping me develop my own unique style as a songwriter, where I use the piano in a nuanced way to tell stories and express the emotion and message of each song. I now have the ability to improvise on piano within different scales, quickly find different chord inversions, express chords in a variety of ways, and play with rhythm and syncopation. Claire has given me an array of tools and strategies for fleshing out a piano arrangement.
I now have six songs fully arranged for the piano, which I love and feel proud of. With Claire’s help I’ve reached a point where I feel I’m expressing myself fully as a musical artist, which has always been my dream.
Danielle Styles – Vocal improvisation coach
“I’m finally making meaningful progress towards my goals after years of floundering, with only a short block of lessons with Claire.”
My only regret is not starting piano lessons with Claire sooner!
As a child, I had the traditional classical grade-system piano lessons, which I found uninspiring, regimented and restrictive, which ultimately led me to give up.
I’ve always wanted to be able to accompany myself, and to be able to improvise and find a flow state at the piano. I’m finally making meaningful progress towards these goals after years of floundering, with only a short block of lessons with Claire.
Claire is diligent and thoughtful, tailoring the lessons tightly to your goals and preparing thoroughly so that each lesson feels purposeful without being regimented. Claire prepares bespoke materials in advance that she provides both in physical form and via a
Google drive, and writes notes for each of my sessions to remind me what we learned and what to focus on until my next lesson.
It’s clear that Claire is committed to helping her students find joy and satisfaction in their musical practise (rather than training people to pass exams for example).
Cannot recommend more highly!
Sophie Starke – Singer-pianist
“I found Claire’s genuine enthusiasm for helping me find my voice at the piano really inspiring”
I’m predominantly a vocalist who had previously never learned another instrument properly, even though I’d studied music theory. My goal was to be able to accompany myself while singing- particularly whilst improvising- for my own practise of self expression.
I was looking for somebody to be able to teach me chord progressions, and a kind of fluency on the piano, so that I could work with it to improvise over the top. Claire was recommended to me and even on the first lesson it was clear that she was really passionate about teaching in and of itself, even though she is also an amazing musician in her own right.
We began by taking songs that I liked and arranging them in my own way. It was a lot of fun thinking about the voicings of the different chords, how my hand could travel from one to the other in the most fluid way and, of course, the timing of my hands against the rhythm of my singing.
As someone who was new to composing on piano I found Claire’s genuine enthusiasm for helping me find my voice really inspiring- and her belief in me really boosted my confidence.
Once I moved on from arranging known songs, Claire taught me to trust my own instincts in what sounded good to me. It helped me shape the songs I was writing – and that was invaluable. I really love working with the piano because it’s so expressive and you can use your body to express what you’re feeling in connection with the notes.
Claire also gave us opportunities to practice playing to a supportive audience made up of her community of students, which was very special. You don’t expect to do recitals at our age!
Aisha Ali- Composer/theatre-maker
“I learned a lot very quickly and really built my confidence”
I came from a musical family and amassed quite the collection of vinyl as a keen listener from an early age! It was all pop and rock music, not classical, and I was a dedicated watcher of Top of the Pops throughout the 70s and 80s.
As a child, I was offered the chance to play the violin, but I didn’t get on with it at all. I didn’t want to learn classical music and I was intimidated by the sheet music and formality of it all.
I was at an age – late forties- when I felt that I wanted to give music another go, especially on a different instrument like the piano. I enjoyed myself immediately and made progress very quickly- thanks to learning songs I knew and liked. Claire provided a supporting structure throughout and, as a good coach should, she kept encouraging me to stretch myself, so I learned a lot very quickly and really built my confidence. Every time I hit a block, she would encourage me to keep practising until I broke through it.
Claire helped me understand song structure, melodies and bass lines and how they complemented each other in songs I already knew. It helped my own songwriting immensely- as did understanding chord structures and chord progressions.
Sitting at the piano and being able to find a melody on it, that I have created, feels incredibly special. Then being able to build the layers and feel it grow is so satisfying. I tend to prefer composing in the minor keys, so I love the depth and resonance the piano brings, but also the ability to get contrast further up the octaves; it’s such an expressive instrument that can produce such variety.
I produced a clutch of songs during the lockdowns, and doing that was incredibly good for my mental health at the time, as well as for my creative development. That eventually led to my collaborating with a more experienced musician and producer on an electronic piece we released as a single online in 2023, and that was something I was able to approach with confidence during the collaborative process. I simply could not have done that without developing my piano skills and music theory knowledge. I’m really proud of it.
Tracy Johnson- Writer, photographer, coach
Piano Lessons for Singers 