Noel Mills Ford

Piano

Check out Noel’s Profile!

How long have you been teaching?

This (2024) is my third year teaching piano lessons. I taught for a couple years in high school and am excited to be teaching again now.

 

Which Opus Music Academy locations do you work? Do you have your own studio? If so, where is it located? Do you offer in-home lessons?

I teach at the Plymouth and Robbinsdale locations. I offer in-home lessons and have two wonderful students I teach at their home in Eden Prairie.

 

What instruments do you teach? Anything else you teach?

I teach piano. 

 

What is your studio story? How did you get to where you are now?

I grew up taking piano lessons, and playing piano quickly became my favorite hobby and way to relax. Piano has enriched my life and I want others to have a shot at that. I teach piano lessons because if even one student ends up loving piano as much as I do, it’d be worth everything.

 

What is one thing you think you do really well as a teacher?

I pride myself in being encouraging and always telling my students what they’re doing well, not just what they can improve.

 

What is one thing you really struggle with as a teacher?

I struggle to get some of my students to practice, but they’re all very active kids so it’s understandable. We all seem to have so much going on!

 

What do you do to retain your students?

I try to be really encouraging with my students. The piano teachers I didn’t click with growing up were the ones who focused so much on what I could improve instead of focusing on what I was doing well. Every pianist is different, and while it’s important to be challenged, we don’t all have to fit a certain mold in order to be great and enjoy the art.

 

Share a funny music story:

In the books I teach with, there’s a song about a donkey and the illustration of the donkey is so funny – every student who sees it for the first time cracks up laughing and I can’t help but laugh too!

 

What is your niche? What sets you apart from other teachers?

I used to be a camp counselor and really enjoyed learning about my campers and sharing my life experience with them. I bring my “camp counselor” mentality to my piano lessons – I want to know how their week was as much as I want to know how much they practiced.

 

What is your favorite band, artist, or composer? Why?

My favorite artist is the iconic Taylor Swift. Her songs put words to feelings I couldn’t explain for myself or didn’t even know I had. It’s special how she makes so many people feel seen with her art.

 

What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

I grew up on a farm in Iowa – my first jobs were picking strawberries and detasseling corn.

 

Let’s say you’re having coffee with a brand-new teacher.  What’s one piece of advice you wish you would have known when you started?

I would tell a brand new teacher that not all students are going to practice diligently every week, and you have to be okay with that. You never know what’s going on in their lives, and it’s not life or death if they practice or not.

 

Let’s say you’re visiting with a teacher who is feeling burned out. What advice would you give to them to give life to their studio?

I would tell a teacher who is feeling burned out to spend time with their instrument to remember why they chose to teach lessons in the first place. It’s easy to lose sight of why we do what we do, so we have to remind ourselves!

 

What do you do to inspire your students?

I try to inspire my students by sharing how piano has become such an important part of my life. I hope they hear about my experience and want something similar for themselves.

 

What is your craziest idea? What is something you would do if money, time, and space weren’t an issue?

If money and time weren’t an issue, I’d buy a huge lake house with tons of guest rooms for all my family and friends to come visit whenever they wanted. We’d have parties all the time and I’d have a beautiful baby grand piano!

 

If you weren’t a music instructor, what else would you do with your life?

I actually work in public engagement consulting, which I love because I care a lot about people having a say in what happens in their community.

 

Want to learn more about Noel? Email us to find out more and to set up a free trial lesson!