Piano

Andy Alder

I have been teaching piano at Raritan Music Center for six years. I started lessons around 5 years old! Back when RMC had the grand piano room across the street, I watched my eldest brother have a piano lesson from Mr. Lou, and curiosity completely took me over from that point onwards. My mother ended up signing me up for piano lessons with Mr. Lou that same year, and I'm forever grateful that she did! Music became an intricate part of my life since the start of my academic career, and has helped nurture me into the musician, teacher, and person I am today.

I actually credit a lot of my musical beginnings to RMC - I learned all of my fundamentals here through lessons and our camps in particular, and have been fortunate enough to pursue music scholastically at both Bucknell University and the Berklee College of Music. In 2022, I graduated from Berklee with my B.A. in Interdisciplinary Music Studies.

Whether it's by consumption or creation, everyone interacts with music. It's one of the very few things that connects us, no matter where we are in the world. I teach music because I want to do my part in making the world of music more accessible for everyone and to facilitate others in forming & maintaining their own unique relationship to music.

Currently, school itself has been the heaviest and most time-consuming music focused activity (and activity in general) for me over the past three years. Multiple courses each semester that dive into music theory, music history, music production, music supervision, performance, music therapy, music business & copyright law.... the list goes on and on.

Favorite type of music to play: Classical
Favorite type of music to listen to: Alternative R&B
Favorite type of music to teach: Anything!
Favorite line of music of all time is the "boyyyyYYYYY" in the intro of Countdown by Beyonce

Fun fact: There are, like, three embarrassing photos of me as a kid inside the studio... look hard enough and I'm sure you'll find even more!