Neil Olmstead

"I would like my students to leave my class with 1) awareness of the piano literature including the four major periods and jazz, 2) effective technical skills including how the body integrates naturally with the instrument in order to create fluid technique and a variety of color, and 3) practical knowledge of jazz harmony and improvisation abilities."

"My teaching is fed by 45 years of professional activity performing and writing music. Early on, playing six nights a week in one of the most illustrious piano rooms in the city of Boston (Plaza Bar, Copley Plaza Hotel) forced the discipline of learning repertoire within the context of creative improvisation, a creative discipline that's carried directly into the classroom to this day."

"I grew up listening to my father's Bill Evans and Stan Getz records, imitating Thelonious Monk and studying classical and then jazz piano. It seems my whole life I've been moving between the two idioms, studying, performing, writing, and teaching jazz and classical music. As a result I not only have a plethora of jazz students but also find myself teaching many classical pianists how to improvise and how to be creative within the jazz idiom. What I love the most about teaching at Berklee is being able to delve into both of these worlds with student musicians from around the world."

"Private teaching by nature is the most personal. How a student thinks and what a student wants are the first questions in my mind as I meet a student. To balance this against what a student needs is the great challenge for a teacher. Then giving students the tools to express themselves is where the deeper challenge (and fun) lies."

"Musical ideas are nothing without technical ability. I often tell my students, 'We play the piano with our entire body, not just our fingers and ears.' Our skeletal, muscular, and tendon structures work together and respond to each other in accord with the laws of nature as we play, regardless of whether it is jazz or classical music. I strive to help the pianist organize how the body moves, from the fingertip to the feet on the floor. This frees up the physical motions for greater facility, more beautiful tone, and deeper expression. It is a joyful moment when a student suddenly discovers how a motion in the forearm or torso will open up the sound or result in a new improvisational idea generated from deep in the subconscious."

"Technique is essential, but technique alone is nothing. Recognizing and building upon our musical attributes while working on the weaknesses is essential to the development of individual artistry. This is generated by curiosity, concentration, and an enthusiasm to study and practice; this drives our artistic vision toward its goal. The pleasure of working through the difficulties and arriving at an artistic end is one of the great rewards of music and life."