Approach
Mark’s approach to teaching piano flows from two major concepts: truly understanding and loving the music, and developing a set of skills required to explore the musical legacy that is inherent in each and every composition be it Beethoven, Billie Eilish or Duke Ellington. The understanding of music is formed and nurtured by gradually acquiring the most important theoretical aspects of piano technique essential to understanding harmony and structure. Students learn to use harmony and improvisation from the very first lesson and gradually progress to the level where they can understand how the greatest masterpieces of piano repertoire were born. Improvisation, ear training, harmony and sight-reading play a major role in this process. By the completion of the student’s studies, the development of these skills will have enabled the student to learn big instrumental works as well as to play their favourite songs and melodies by ear.
Repertoire
Mark Taratushkin is open to all kinds of music. His students play works of Bach, Schubert or Rachmaninoff as well as songs by Billie Eilish, John Legend or works of Bill Evans or Oscar Peterson. Mark strongly believes that there is no bad music, there are just different levels of complexity. Even the most basic melodies and tunes offer useful learning material. This way students get more involved in their learning process, since they are from the very first moment working on the pieces they like.
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Online lessons
At the beginning of 2020 the world faced the pandemic of the coronavirus. During that time Mark invested his time and energy into preparing the most technologically advanced setup for digital education. With high speed internet, two different camera angles, projection of the score on the display and separate audio recording with external microphones, Mark's lessons provide the highest quality available on the market today. Students need only a phone, a tablet or simply a laptop. This setup may be used as a temporary solution to continue the educational process in times of quarantine, illness or mobility/contact restrictions, as well as a general model from the very beginning if the student lives in a different part of the world.
Flexibility
While two lessons a week with fixed time are highly recommended to provide the most fluent experience in learning, other models may be applied such as one lesson in two weeks or a single masterclass. Mark offer flexible teaching hours between 9:00 and 22:00 pm (CET).
Age
There are no age restrictions in music. History knows many examples of musicians starting at the age of 20 or older and becoming exceptional concert performers. Finger mobility and coordination develop themselves in every age. It is only the matter of how much time the student is willing to invest in his or her development. Mark Taratushkin teaches all age groups from 5 to 70+.
Students play
Here you can listen to excerpts of some of Marks students playing their favourite pieces.
Theo, 8 years old
I. Brill - Etude
Noam, 17 years old
B. Evans - "Seascape"
Frida, 10 years old
Grechaninov - Prelude
Leon, 15 years old
T. Wallers - "Strut Miss Lizzie"
Levi, 10 years old
D. Gillespy - "Antropology"
Andre, 17 years old
S. Smith - "Writing's on the wall"
Lisa, 15 years old
L. Beethoven - Sonata Op. 10 No. 1
Theo, 5 years old
A. Artobolevskaya - "Waltz of Puppies"
Leon, 16 years old
S. Rachmanbinoff - Etude-tableaux, Op. 33 No. 7
F.A.Q.
Yes, we can start from the very beginning.
Lessons can take place in Russian, English or German
Yes, house visits are possible. Please don’t forget to provide your address during the booking procedure.
The studio is equipped with a Kawai grand piano and is located in Plantagenstr. 8, 13347, Berlin
Although there are plenty of things we could learn without an instrument, like music theory or ear training, it’s highly recommended to have an instrument from the very first day.
For the beginning an e-piano should be enough, but I would highly recommend learning on acoustic instruments. The keys on most of the e-pianos are much lighter, so it might be difficult to switch to an acoustic instrument after you learn and practice on an electronic one.
I collaborate with several piano manufacturers and distributors and would be more than happy to assist you with a choice of an instrument. Make sure to check our buyers' guide here. There you my find our choice of recommended instruments and other equipment.
You can use your smartphone, tablet or computer and a free "Zoom" application (available at www.zoom.us). After scheduling your lesson, you will receive an email with all necessary access information and a link to your conference room.
Most of the time the microphone on your phone, tablet or laptop should be enough.
You can book as many lessons as you want or use a contract to make sure that the lessons will take place on a regular basis.
The contract allows you to have a fixed time slot every week. In case you would like to change or cancel the lesson, you can do it without any additional costs at least 24 hours in advance.
The contract can be cancelled without additional costs 30 days in advance.
We accept PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and American Express.
Prices
SINGLE LESSON - AT THE STUDIO OR ONLINE
CONTRACT - AT THE STUDIO OR ONLINE
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