Keyboard Studio of Dr. Bruce Berr

Dr. Berr is not only an exceptional instructor, but also an exceptional mentor. My son began taking lessons at the studio when he was 5 years old, and just a few short weeks ago, he took his final lesson at the studio before heading off to college. I am confident that music will be a part of his life forever, largely due to Dr. Berr's instruction and direction. Dr. Berr doesn't just teach the technical aspects of piano playing, but he knows how to instruct the emotional side as well. The result is incredible! I must also speak from a personal perspective in that Dr. Berr helped my son through a difficult year as we were investigating an unknown health issue. His compassion and understanding during that time helped my son immensely. We are all going to miss seeing Dr. Berr as our "teacher", but I know that we will keep in touch with him now as our "friend".

We got to know Dr. Berr more than seven years ago when my daughter started to study in his studio. A couple years later my younger child also became a pupil of his and our family has since stayed with the studio and enjoyed the excellent experience.

I value Dr. Berr because he is not only an everyday piano teacher, but also an extremely capable educator, and a good person. Dr. Berr has a working methodology to make music practice easy and mastery possible. His lesson notes and assignments are always clear and well laid out. Come to one recital and you will be amazed that how well each student is prepared. Besides the hard work by each student, it's definitely the meticulously-designed lesson plans from Dr. Berr that leads to their readiness and success. Dr. Berr really knows what mastery level each piece needs to be at each stage, evaluates and adjusts accordingly.

Dr. Berr cares about his students and strives to allow each student learn at his or her own pace and style. My younger child is such an example. When he first started we were worried that he couldn't even sit through the lesson. While allowing room for him to display some playfulness, Dr. Berr has the authority and ability to keep him in the right track and steer him back firmly if his mind wanders. Dr. Berr's lessons are never dull and my son enjoys coming to every one of them. We are satisfied by the high level of concentration my son can have for the entire lesson length and also with his progress in the music.

I have recommended Dr. Berr to many friends and neighbors and I will recommend him again without any reservation.

Dr Berr is an excellent piano teacher. Both of our children have taken lessons from Dr. Berr and our son is still a student. We have also recommended Dr. Berr to others.

Dr. Berr is extremely knowledgeable and therefore able to customize lessons to suit the student. Our son, who also plays tenor sax and clarinet, has developed a strong interest in both jazz and music theory. Dr. Berr customized his lessons to highlight this which has both encouraged our son's interest in piano and also helped him in jazz band.

Dr. Berr has encouraged and helped our son in other ways as well. For example, he arranged twice for our son to participate in a competition on the North Shore. Our son won a gold medal one year and a silver medal the other year. The pieces were difficult and Dr. Berr worked with our son, helped him through the difficult sections, and encouraged practice and persistence.

Dr. Berr is able to span a wide variety of ages and skills. His teaching of our son currently is clearly very different than when our son started as a very young child. However, even at the elementary level I believe both of our children benefited from having such a knowledgeable teacher. For both somebody very musical (like our son) and not as musical (like our daughter) his teaching at the elementary level provides a rich foundation. His teaching at the advanced level can then take different paths to suit the student.

When my son was ready to start piano lessons my husband, who is a professional musician, interviewed several teachers before settling on Dr. Berr. We could not be happier with our son's progress with piano. Dr. Berr makes learning fun but makes sure that there is progress in the theory parts of music, not just playing notes. We especially love how my son gets to do duets with my husband. These really inspire him to keep practicing!

I sincerely feel that we could not have found a better teacher.

We are delighted with Dr. Berr! My son has been studying with him for two years, and has made terrific progress. Dr. Berr brings a wealth of experience, musicality, and a persistently positive approach to lessons.

When my son was ready to start learning piano, I knew his lack of finger strength could be a weakness--Dr. Berr was able to help develop strength in a fun way through learning music. He is able to adapt to students' needs, adjusting his teaching to communicate with each one. He also makes tricky musical concepts easily understandable for young students.

I'd recommend his teaching for students of any age or any level.