TEACHING / | lesimei-piano

Lesi a Steinway Certified Piano teacher, where at her home studio, she teaches on a golden-era Steinway L. She also has a second location serving northern San Diego, north of freeway CA52.

From Lesi:

Everybody likes music, and everybody can appreciate music. With proper training, the enjoyment and appreciation could be magnified zillions of times. Here are some principles in my teaching:

MUSICALLY, it's very important to develop sense of rhythm, pitch and tone from the beginning of piano lessons. Technique is an essential part of piano lessons too, but never to the excessive or boring extent. Also ear training, sight reading, and collaborative piano (e.g. four hands with the teacher) are integrated in lessons too.

OTHER THINGS, we talk about music. We talk about the composers of the pieces we play, the background the music was written and how we feel about. Then we talk about what we hear every day too, if you like Taylor Swift or Maroon Five. Maybe students want to play a star wars song - I couldn't be more thrilled. We need to feel the music in everyday life to be a real musician."

FEATURED REVIEWS

"With Lesi, we came to see for ourselves how much the teacher really matters. After we switched to Lesi, my son's piano playing improved greatly and his repertoire expanded to other genres. Lesi refined his technique, nurtured his passion for music, got him ready for piano competitions, and helped him get to a level where he was accepted to one of the most sought-after music programs in the country."

-- David N. Parent of a former student, 2023

"Lesi is an amazing pianist and teacher!! I am a longtime student who took private lessons from her while I was in high school, and I’ve learned so much from her. Lesi has been such a positive influence on my growth as a pianist, helping me take on a variety of challenging and fulfilling repertoire, and preparing me for competitions and college admissions. She offers incredibly valuable knowledge and insight during lessons.

What makes her unique as a teacher is her ability to consider the full context of a piece, prompting me to consider historical background, the composer’s life, the intention of each musical section, and how to best engage with that in my performance. It was so important to take a step back and discuss each piece thoroughly. I hadn’t been trained before to really analyze music like that and I’ve always enjoyed talking with her from these perspectives.

In addition, Lesi has an in-depth understanding of body alignment and other subtleties that impact piano performance in ways I hadn’t realized before. She was very good at assessing my technical skill set and helped me improve with a flexible variety of exercises. It is vital for pianists to develop healthy habits and avoid injury, and Lesi is excellent at sustaining that.

Lesi is also very personable and patient. She was always interested in what else I was up to, music-related or not, and kept very open communication about schedules and availability. She is just as active in performing as she is in teaching. Whenever I got an opportunity to see her play, she would always give an incredible performance! She’s been a wonderful teacher to me and I highly recommend her for piano students at any level."

-- Lukas, N. Former student who's in University of Michigan as a music Major, 2023

"Incredible musicians don’t always translate into being amazing teachers (same as doctors, sometimes the greatest test takers have the worst bedside manner and perform poorly clinically). We got extremely lucky to have her teaching our daughter. Lesi's teaching abilities and style match her incredible talent as a pianist - and this makes her uniquely special and incredibly hard to find."

-- Vi B. Parent of an 11-year-old student, 2020

"Lesi is a patient teacher who I'm very fortunate to be taking lessons from. I'm sure any students of hers would say the same. My playing and technique has drastically improved and will continue to do so as I plan on taking lessons with her as long as I can."

-- Caleb R. Adult student, 2017

"We've had Lesi since the beginning of this year and we're seeing a huge improvement in my sons' piano skills! She's very patient and yet, able to keep the boys moving at a good pace in their lessons. The boys enjoy playing and I don't need to push them for practice. That's a big change! We're very happy with Ms. Lesi's lessons."

-- Mei Z. Parent of two 9-year-old students, 2018

"I have been taking lessons from Lesi for about 6 months now. My goal was to improve my technique and musicality as I was restarting to play piano after a long break.

Lesi is patient, easy going, and very supportive. She listens to my concerns and is able to provide great feedback. She has been able to pin-point things in my playing that I was oblivious to. She also was able to give me very specific exercises for improving sections I struggled with in the pieces I was learning. As far as technique goes, I have improved a lot due to Lesi's help.

Lesi is also very attentive to musicality. She has a lot of experience with the different musical styles of the classical era. For many of the pieces I learn, she always explains the background, musical style, historical events around the piece and composer, and points out the important features of the piece. She also describes which techniques should be used to accurately express the musicality intended by the composer.

Lesi is pleasant to talk to. She gives out great analogies when trying to understand specific concepts relating to piano playing. She also has cool personal stories that provide great insights. She is an amazing player and is obviously very passionate about piano playing.

Overall, I've had a very good experience learning from Lesi and I vouch for her."

-- David S. Adult student, 2015

"Lesi is a talented pianist. My two children have been with her for over a year now. She is a great teacher and very patient with the students."

-- Melody G. Parent of 2 students aged 10 and 8 years old, 2015