Lessons
One to one · Vilnius and online
Piano, voice and making music.
Vytautas Straižys teaches piano, singing and self-accompaniment. Each programme starts with the student’s experience, musical interests and goals, whether that means learning the first chords, arranging a song, improvising or preparing to perform.
Enquire about a lessonAreas of study
Listening, understanding, playing
Piano technique and repertoire
Classical music, jazz, pop, soul and film scores. Chosen pieces provide a way to work on technique, interpretation and the language of each style.
Improvisation and creative practice
Developing ideas from melody, harmony and rhythm. Lessons can explore jazz, blues and pop, or improvisation informed by the music of Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Einaudi.
Songwriting and composition
Bringing melody, harmony and form together in a song or instrumental piece. Working on structure and developing an arrangement.
Singing and self-accompaniment
Pitch, phrasing, lyrics and a key that suits the voice. Chords, pulse and vocal lines are brought together gradually to build coordination at the piano.
Harmony and musical analysis
Chord function, scales and musical form. Pop and jazz progressions are broken down into ideas that can be heard, understood and played.
A first step or a next step
Lessons are for adults and teenagers, including complete beginners and students with previous musical experience.
- Beginning and experienced pianists.
- Singers who want to accompany themselves.
- Players of other instruments, composers and producers developing their understanding of harmony.
A programme built around the student
Vytautas combines learning by ear, chord charts, notation and technical exercises. Study can be entirely practical, using the ear and chords, or include a structured approach to reading music.
Lessons can also support preparation for exams, auditions, recordings and concerts.
Online lessons
Vytautas teaches students in Australia, Denmark, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Students join at their own instruments, with lesson times arranged to suit their time zone.
A view of the lesson
The teaching setup uses a Roland GP9 digital grand and a second keyboard. The student sees the teacher’s hands, the physical and virtual keys, note names, scale degrees, chord symbols and staff notation together on screen.
The teacher
Vytautas Straižys
Vytautas Straižys is a pianist, singer and founder of Downtown Piano Lab. His lessons can bring together the piano, voice and musical understanding to suit the individual student.
Biography and performance work ↗Arrange a first lesson
An enquiry can include the music you would like to work on, your experience, preferred times and whether you would like to study in Vilnius or online.
Write about lessonsOr call+370 624 02 031