Today we’d like to introduce you to Dani Ahndreç.
Dani, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My dad bought a piano when I was around twelve years old, and I quickly developed a powerful interest in the instrument. He taught me about playing by ear, and bought me a simple chord encyclopedia, which I soon memorized. That was really when I got into music. I let my curiosity about the piano guide my interests with what I was listening to. I started wanting to hear more piano driven music, more complicated rhythms and harmonies. That’s when I started listening to jazz, and started performing in high school even winning awards. I even started teaching my very first piano students while still in high school.
In 2007, I was accepted into UC San Diego, where I got my degree in music, studying jazz and composition. In 2011 UC Irvine invited me to get my Master’s in music and teach a few courses as well. All the while I was still teaching private students on the side, and performing with different bands and collaborating with artists throughout the years.
I started teaching private students noticeably more once I graduated in 2013. From asking around, calling up all my musical friends, putting ads online, to working directly with some schools as a music instructor, I starting building up a clientele. I rented an office in 2015, located in Covina, which I use as my music studio, for practicing, composing, rehearsing with others, and for teaching private lessons. The Ahndreç Piano Studio is, I would say, the most current chapter of my story.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I can’t really say that it has been a struggle. I think most musicians would say that studying music is a constant struggle. You’re fighting against a 24-hour day, and you still have to make time to practice, on top of everything else. It gets to be pretty busy, and sometimes a lot of what I do is driving from gigs to gigs, lessons to lessons, and don’t forget concerts. But the teaching part is the smoothest part. Genuinely, what I’m doing is sharing my experience with students. They’re eager to start learning as young pianists, and I get to show them how I do it. It’s really just that simple.
Please tell us about Ahndreç Piano Studio.
My business is the Ahndreç Piano Studio, where I teach piano and music lessons. I tend to focus quite heavily on practice methods and developing a comprehensive knowledge of the instrument. For example, other teachers might have a student play a passage over and over until they perform it correctly. But when my students struggle through a passage, I suggest they identify the source of the mistake, which is often a fingering error, or an awkward cross over, or a complicated rhythm, or something else. But there is usually a source, which can be isolated and addressed on its own. So I might make the student play or work through the isolated material note by note, or beat by beat, mastering smaller chunks of the passage until the whole of it is completed. I often ask students to attempt passages with their eyes closed so I know they know the material well enough to move forward. These are all practices I developed myself, mostly because I’ve had so many things to practice and learn (under time constraints) over the years, and these tricks expedite the learning process.
Not all of my students care to learn sight-reading and classical. And for them, I propose working out of the chord encyclopedia and learning to play by ear, same way I got started. I still teach them exercises and have them transpose to different keys for technique and theory, but we generally customize the curriculum to match the interests of the pupils.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Well, I’ve certainly had incredible mentors who’ve guided me wisely. My dad definitely started it all, and then my high school band teacher too. In college, I studied with Grammy Award winning producer and pianist Kamau Kenyatta, and internationally renowned pianist Kei Akagi (who played with Miles Davis). More recently I’ve been studying (yes, I still continue to take lessons too, we can always keep improving), with Vardan Ovsepian, LA based jazz pianist and composer.
But I also learn so much from my contemporaries. There are great pianists in LA right now on the scene. Josh Nelson, Jeff Babko, Kiefer Shackleford, Brandon Cordoba, Brian Hargrove, Connie Han, Kait Dunton, Adam Benjamin, it’s a long list, let’s just say that.
Pricing:
- Weekly 60-minute lessons: $200 for 4
- Weekly 30-minute lessons: $120 for 4
- A la Carte 60-minute lesson: $60
Contact Info:
- Address: 635 S 1st Ave Ste B, Covina 91723
- Website: http://ahndrec.com/piano
- Phone: 909.997.8287
- Email: [email protected]
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