Organ Lessons with Eddie Zheng

Discover the music of the organ with a Juilliard-trained organist

Love Bach, Franck, Widor? Want to learn the pipe organ? I would love to teach you! My name is Eddie and I am an organist studying at The Juilliard School in NYC. I'm currently pursuing my Artist Diploma degree and have experience playing organ concerts and teaching the organ. Whether you are a beginner or more advanced, with or without skills at the piano or keyboard, I can help you learn the skills necessary to play the organ lyrically, with ease, and with great enjoyment. I can help with anything from preparing performance pieces to playing service music, learning pedal technique and navigating the transition to organ for those with some piano experience. There's a world of music out there, from Bach to your favorite Hymns - let's learn them together!

If you are in the New York City area, I'm available for in person lessons at my church, St Ignatius of Antioch in Manhattan. I also teach via Zoom to students around the world, so no matter where you are, if you are interested in learning the world's oldest and largest instrument, contact me for your first lesson. See you there!

Teaching Philosphy

The core principle of my teaching is that students will improve their music-making the most when taught the fundamentals of musical expression, technique, and practice as a baseline for everything to come afterwards. It is my goal in teaching to convey the best practices associated with these three pillars of music in a way that allows students to self-apply what I teach them in their own practice and beyond our lesson time. 

With my students, I focus on the vocabulary and tools of music-making, used to convert the notes on a score to a narrative of emotional qualities and tales from our lives. Parallel to the development of our ability to infuse music with a story and emotional character, I focus on the techniques needed to allow our bodies to freely express what students may hear inside their heads. 

Finally, I believe students need a highly conscious and coherent approach to practice — just as our memories are built in sleep, our music is built in the practice room. My thorough discussions of practice with students are guided by the simple principle of “practicing in sections at a tempo that allows for the incorporation of all of the necessary changes and improvements, as well as with a minimal amount of errors”. The importance of practicing is understated in musical teaching, and I believe it is crucial for students to truly understand what practicing is for, and how to actually improve their music-making every day.

The environment that learning takes place is equally as important as the principals I follow in teaching. I make every effort to provide a comfortable, friendly, and constructive atmosphere in my lessons, never intending to make students feel embarrassed, upset, or disappointed. I believe that criticism and critique is important towards understanding how one can improve their playing; and that most students have a desire equal to the teacher to hear where they can improve. However, my approach towards promoting improvement through critique is to first, praise what elements were successful, and then to make a clear distinction between objective points and personal attacks, and to never cross the line towards making a student feel that my comments were not in the name of improving their music making. 

It is my hope that any student I teach will experience the joy of playing the organ, equipped with the tools necessary to read a score and transform the music into an emotional narrative, heard first in their minds, expressed next through their bodies and the instrument; from the practice room to the performance stage.

Try out a lesson in person or virtually!

I offer in-person lessons at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in New York, NY. Virtual lessons over Zoom are also available. Lessons are 60 minutes in length and cost $85. Please fill out the form below to get started!

New York, NY Teaching Location - St. Ignatius of Antioch Church