About Dr. Lory

I have been a piano teacher and performer for more than three decades. I started piano lessons at age seven and immediately started passing on my enthusiasm to friends and family by giving them piano lessons! By my senior year in high school, I was taking college courses at the nearby music conservatory and after graduation, earned scholarships to that school. After my completing my Bachelor of Music degree, I taught in the public schools.

After a few years of teaching I was awarded a teaching assistantship at The Ohio State University, where I taught at the university level while working on my Masters and Doctorate degrees in piano pedagogy.

I moved to Arizona in 1998 and opened a private teaching studio in Scottsdale, welcoming students of all ages and levels to learn to play the piano in a comfortable and positive environment.

Doctoral Research and Thesis Publication

Students at the Ph.D. level are required to write a thesis and to defend that thesis in a front of a panel of the faculty. My thesis presented results from original research on how the human brain functions and the ways we learn new concepts. One of my findings was that piano students have different ways of learning and that each student has a preferred way to learn. My thesis suggested that, given this preference for a particular kind of piano instruction, piano teachers would get better results if they chose teaching methods and materials that matched each student's preferred learning style. In other words, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to teaching the piano would not, according to my research, be the most effective way to teach.

The faculty panel at The Ohio State University accepted my doctoral thesis and since that time, music publishers have introduced a variety of piano method series designed to match different kinds of student learning styles. Now, piano teachers can choose different method books for different students, making it easier for students to learn to play the piano.

Application to My Teaching Practice

As you would expect, I apply the knowledge gained in my doctoral studies to help my students in their pursuit of their piano goals. Initially, and at regular intervals, with each student, I look carefully at the ways he or she grasps new piano concepts. Then, I tailor the teaching curriculum to that student's preferred learning style. This approach results in faster learning and a more enjoyable piano experience.

Life as a Lawyer

In addition to my background as a piano teacher, I have work and educational experience outside of the arts, which has sharpened my critical thinking and made me a better communicator. After earning my Ph.D. degree, I enrolled in law school, where I graduated with honors, including the prestigious Order of the Coif. I was named to the school's law review—the first piano teacher to achieve that honor! After graduation, I passed the bar examinations in Ohio and Arizona and practiced law, concentrating in corporate law and litigation. Today, I maintain an inactive status as a lawyer and concentrate on teaching the piano.

A Word About My Students

My students range in age from five to eighty-five. My kids take piano lessons because they love music and because their parents recognize the importance of music in their overall intellectual development. My adult students, many of them working professionals, share a common passion to learn the piano, whether they studied music as children or not.

While many of my students live or work in the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley areas, a number come to my studio from all over the Valley.