Nicole Cortero's Piano Studio
I'm a piano teacher based in the Tampa Bay Area. I offer in-person and online piano lessons to students of various levels.
My goal as a teacher is to help my students find joy in studying and creating music. By providing a safe space for musical learning, I aim to help my students cultivate and develop a love for music-making through a nurturing and caring environment. My teaching style involves traditional methods that have been passed to me by my mentors and incorporating newer concepts that I have developed throughout my years of teaching.
I believe that each student has unique individual qualities, and my responsibility as a teacher is to encourage them develop their creative voice through musical expression. The ability to freely express one's self through music is one of my main goals as an instructor. In addition to helping them develop strong technique and build repertoire, the art of keyboard improvisation is introduced early on in my student’s musical training. Improvisation is an effective way to express one’s creativity and encourages spontaneity and freedom. Every student has their own way of learning, and my approach varies slightly with each student to satisfy their needs and goals in taking piano lessons.
Whether or not a student decides to pursue music as a profession, receiving musical training helps them develop better as an individual. Musical training increases the brain’s efficiency and strengthens the communication between the brain’s left and right hemispheres. Besides improving one’s creativity, academic performance, and motor skills, learning to play a musical instrument promotes increased confidence, perseverance, focus, collaboration, accountability, and empathy. Through the combined hard work of the parent, the student, and my guidance, we can achieve enjoyable creativity and develop beauty through music-making.
NICOLE'S TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Get to Know
Nicole Cortero offers personalized in-person & online piano lessons designed to help students of all ages and skill levels achieve their musical goals. Nicole is dedicated to sharing her love of music with her students. She takes a unique approach to teaching, tailoring lessons to each individual student's needs and learning styles. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced pianist looking to improve your skills, Nicole can help you reach your full potential and help you develop a lifelong love of music and a deep appreciation for the piano. Contact me today to schedule your first lesson and start your musical journey!
Take lessons with me from
anywhere you are in the world!
30 mins | 45 mins | 60 mins
In-person | Online
The Benefits of Playing Piano
THE PHYSICAL AND mental benefits of playing music have long been recognized. The piano, in particular, has been an unparalleled outlet for those seeking escape, creative expression, and simply fun and joy. Recent years have only seen more evidence of the benefits of piano come to light, linking music making to a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy life.
IMPROVE THE BODY
Even though you’re sitting down, playing the piano is a workout all its own, and offers different physical and physiological advantages to players of all ages. For instance, regular piano playing sharpens fine motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination in the young and developing. Research has shown that piano lessons for older adults have a significant impact on increased levels of Human Growth Hormone, which slows the adverse effects of aging. Bringing music into your life is also proven to reduce anxiety, heart and respiratory rates, cardiac complications, and to lower blood pressure and increase immune response.
SHARPEN THE INTELLECT
Piano practice also boosts cognitive and intellectual abilities, which is to say it makes you smarter and activates similar parts of the brain used in spatial reasoning and math. Studying piano has also been shown to amazingly improve memory — particularly verbal memory — and build good habits like focus and perseverance, diligence and creativity. Children who had a few years of piano study under their belts could remember twenty percent more vocabulary words than their peers. And childhood musicians are better equipped later in life to retain information from speeches and lectures. Playing piano has been shown to increase spatial-temporal ability, which figures heavily in math, science and engineering. Regular music practice at an early age can even make structural changes to the brain that stay with you for the rest of your life, making your brain more efficient both while playing and in extra-musical endeavors.
Children who had a few years of piano study under their belts could remember twenty percent more vocabulary words than their peers.
CALM THE MIND
Studies show that time spent at the keyboard improves mental health: people who make music experience less anxiety, loneliness, and depression. Playing piano has also been shown to be a great source of stress relief, and provides ample opportunities to bolster self-esteem. It is also a widely used form of therapy for Attention Deficit Disorder.
LIFELONG HEALTH, HEALTHY LIFE
Playing the piano offers a plethora of health benefits that will supplement every part of your life. And that doesn’t even begin to consider the deep cultural network and historical tradition that you join as a piano player and owner. For two hundred years, the piano has been a staple of the home, bringing together families and friends and strengthening communities with the power of music.
Source: https://www.steinway.com/news/features/the-benefits-of-playing-piano