Carl Laukkanen
Music Teacher & Composer
Three of our four family members took lessons from Carl for several years, and he successfully covered the teaching spectrum from age 5 to adult. Carl has a special talent for selecting music that is fun and interesting to play, even during the early lessons with just a few chords. Our kids learned to play guitar and ukulele, but they also learned to appreciate different music styles and sounds, and especially to appreciate how much talent really goes into a song by The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, or Johnny Cash. Listening to the radio in the car became a new experience, with questions and comments about the instruments, rhythm, sound, and different parts of a song. Carl took the time with both kids over the years to teach them songs to play at school talent shows, for school book reports, or for a special birthday. Listening to them practice and grow musically was a real joy, and we are grateful to Carl's passion for teaching and dedication to his students.
We have two kids. Our oldest started working with Carl and enjoyed it/learned a ton. So when it came time for our youngest child to start lessons, we signed her up with Carl as well. We consistently hear from our kids that he is kind and patient. He also adapted well to remote learning during the pandemic. And we have seen tremendous progress from each of our kids in their understanding of the instrument (piano) and ability to read music. Learning from Carl helped our oldest child transition well into a middle school band program, and we believe it has helped both of them with their appreciation of music generally.
Carl lets you go as slow as you need and, when learning songs, he asks if you feel good about moving on or not.
Carl gives you small things to write on your practice sheet that can help you know what parts of your music to focus on. This helps you fine-tune your music and skills.
Our son Neil started taking piano lessons with Carl when he was seven years old. When younger, Neil was often squirrelly, and Carl's patience and bag of tricks were always enough to get Neil ready and focused for learning. Neil enjoyed performing at Carl's yearly recitals. Over eight years of seeing Neil and the other kids perform at recitals, we saw great growth in all of the students (not only our son's); it was evident that Carl individualizes his music education to each student, as seen in the depth and variety of musical pieces performed each year. Neil says that Carl was always great at helping him get past a problem or place that he was stuck. And, also he said that Carl always knew the right time to move on from working to master one piece to starting the next. Whatever our son does with piano and music in his life, he will have a very solid foundation to build upon thanks to Carl's guidance.
Our children (ages 6 and 8.5) started with Carl when they were 5 and 7. They have both progressed so well while taking lessons. Carl has a calm, encouraging demeanor that really works well for our kids. They feel proud of the music they have learned and love showing off for friends.
