Parents of students

What we loved about Steve is that he gave Reese the space to be creative with his music and found projects, like Young Composers, to challenge him in that creativity. Reese was at the point of giving up on piano lessons but once he started working with Steve his desire and love for creating music was sparked again and now, he is on fire and pursuing music as a career in both piano and music production. Steve is inspirational and brings out the very best in all his students. He really aspires to help them achieve their dreams.

—Nick & Thea Nachbur, parents of Reese

Steve Lewis is an excellent piano teacher--kind, patient and incredibly knowledgeable. I appreciate that he is constantly thinking of effective ways to challenge and inspire my nine-year-old. My son's practice habits have improved immeasurably, and Steve consistently presents an engaging variety of material to improve his technique and musicianship. Steve also encourages my son's interest in composing and provides thoughtful guidance as he develops his ideas. I would not hesitate to recommend him as an instructor for students at any level.

—Kate Davidson, parent of Walter

Steve Lewis is a wonderful piano teacher!  Steve offers a solid approach to beginning technique and focuses on the whole musician.  Steve presents varied repertoire, compositional techniques, and a commendable focus on musicianship.  Steve is consistently kind and patient.  He puts the well-being of the student first through the inquiry-based learning environment he provides.  As a professional pianist myself, I have enjoyed watching Steve work with my daughter and broaden her musical horizons.  From her very first recital, my daughter was creating high levels of artistry, and I am forever grateful to Steve for setting that foundation.

—Ashley McCullar, Middle School Choir Director at OES (Oregon Episcopal School)

My son actually came to work with Steve through recommendations of other piano teachers. He was previously working with a local teacher, but it became clear that he needed someone more advanced. We needed a pianist that could teach expert level pieces and also someone very adept at teaching composition. 

We were assured by those offering referrals, that Steve not only possessed the skill set we were in search of, but that he also taught with great patience and kindness as well. After nearly two years of working with Steve, we have determined that those referrals were indeed accurate. 

As a parent, I was most appreciative when I shared with Steve that my teen son was starting to fade in enthusiasm for the piano. Steve offered great solutions and ideas to cure this problem and was able to reignite my son’s passion by making some minor changes to the music selections they we currently working on. Watching my son progress in his composition goals has also been very exciting and rewarding. 

All around, working with Steve has been well worth the hour and a half drive we must make for in-person lessons and composition work shops. 

—Jessica Sharp, Kelson’s mother

Steve Lewis has been my son's piano teacher for four years now. He has worked with my son on popular music he has wanted to play while broadening his appreciation of beautiful classical pieces. My son enjoys Steve's friendly style of teaching and how Steve adapts his instruction to ensure he can learn the music. I am grateful for Steve's inspiring teaching which has helped my son continue to improve over the years. 

—Amy, mother of Liam

My two sons were aged 11 and 9 when they started lessons with Dr. Lewis.  He was methodical in the sense that he incorporated theory, scales, music history as well as music performance into his instruction.  Dr. Lewis was incredibly patient with my boys and used illustrations that they were passionate about ie. Star Wars, to bring the music to life.  He was well versed in classical music but also adjusted his music selections to accommodate the individual students be it jazz, modern, and even self compositions.  We experienced lessons during the Covid pandemic and Dr. Lewis was quick to adapt to the restrictions and held our lessons on-line recognizing the importance of continued instruction.  His studio has a “low stress”  feel for those who may not want to participate in competitions and want to learn for the joy of music; but equally can be demanding for those who want to pursue a future career in music.  He held his recitals in a neighborhood church and gave my boys a fun atmosphere for performance.  Since that time, my youngest son has transitioned from piano to French horn and is using his gained knowledge and love for music and is playing with the Portland Youth Philharmonic. 

—Audrey Cheng, mother of Harrison and Brennan

We were fortunate to find Steve just after he moved to Portland, because we were looking specifically for an advanced music theory teacher for my daughter. After a year of enjoying her lessons she asked to switch to Steve for piano lessons as well. She studied with him for four years. By then she was so well taught that college music history was a doddle - she got the distinct impression the teacher was trying to find points to take off her on tests. Steve had trained very her well.

I then took over her spot, and I presently hold the honour of being the OP (Oldest Pupil). My youngest child is also a pupil, so I have seen Steve in action with three different students. I’m also able to compare him to the many music teachers my four children have had over two decades, and two continents. We also have professional musicians in the family, although sadly these will never include me.

I think Steve is a fairly rare animal: An incredibly gifted musician and composer who genuinely likes teaching and who cares about the progress of his pupils, even the lower level ones. He sets firm limits on his teaching hours, and I consider us lucky to be on the pupils list. He is a perfectionist himself, who is quite forgiving of other people for not being so driven.

Steve is an interesting teacher because he is very cerebral, but also empathetic. He also has an incredible amount of patience. He is very laid back because that’s how he is, not because he isn’t interested.

He has a very wide ranging knowledge of subjects related to music: history, geography, physics, physiology, theory, ethnography of music. And he brings all of this knowledge together  to inspire enthusiasm and curiosity in pupils. 

My son is a rather recalcitrant student, and on the days when he just doesn’t want to do piano, I have seen Steve charm him into playing and communicating via a digression into music theory history and animal sounds, or the physics of the keyboard. He may go into a lesson sulky but he comes out enthused and in a good mood. It’s why I won’t let him stop.

One thing I particularly appreciate is that Steve is sensitive to his pupils and adapts his teaching focus and practice requirements to suit the student’s situation. I have encountered teachers who just tell the pupil to try harder, Steve rather adapts the lesson so the student achieves more with the same level of effort. A kid with ADHD needs a different strategy to a neurotypical child.

For example, I have a damaged left hand and no matter how hard I try I just can’t do certain movements. Steve designed my lessons and exercises to accommodate and to target the weakness in my hand. I may never be able to do the movements “properly”, but I will have a workaround.  

Sometimes I think that Steve really is a therapist in disguise. 

Are you one of those people who is terrified of making a mistake? He’ll praise you for noticing your errors. 

Performance anxiety? He’ll listen to you make a dogs breakfast of the piece you worked so hard on and then say “not bad”, in a way that makes you feel he knows you can do it better if you just weren’t so  anxious about making mistakes. Then he’ll make you play it again with your eyes shut.

Frustrated that rhythm is not your friend? He has many, maaaaaaaany ways of helping you find the beat. Ok, your family will be driven mad by the endless counting and plunking but you will beat those triplets into the same space as a crochet and keep them there. 

Things I really appreciate having learnt from Steve:

* Rhythm is as important as note accuracy. And he expects you to master both.

* Any music teacher, or parent, knows when you haven’t been practising. Steve knows if you aren’t practicing properly, and he’ll make you do it again. It’s the journey AND the destination that matter for Steve’s pupils. So it is no good being able to do those exercises perfectly if you didn’t roll your wrists properly. You’ll spend the next week doing them again, rolling those wrists.

* There are no absolutes in music.

* Music theory is understandable, but it not always obviously logical.

* Playing music is fun but it is weirdly satisfying to when you nail your exercises. Ah, the joy when you get those chord inversions right WITH BOTH HANDS TOGETHER.

And there is an unexpected bonus of being a pupil of Steve’s. If you come early and he doesn’t know you are there you will sometimes get the pleasure of seeing a superb pianist practicing rather than performing. I sometimes think David Attenborough should be there saying “and here we see a wild pianist in his natural environment. Notice how he twitched at that wrong note..” 

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—Belinda, 50-ish adult student and mother of two of my other students

Teenage Students

Choosing Steve Lewis was the best decision I could’ve made for my growth as a pianist. Steve covers all aspects of piano in his teaching, going beyond just technique and theory, into expressing emotion and meaning in the repertoire. Studying with Steve has been a wonderful experience, he is a genuine and kind person, and with each piece, I feel I have made a noticeable improvement in my skill as a pianist.

—Ben, 16-year-old student

I have been a student with Steve for several years, and have found his instruction to be greatly helpful in guiding me to becoming a better piano player. Steve has helped me improve my technique and ability to focus, providing direct feedback and instruction to guide me in learning new pieces. Steve meets me where I am, is flexible and has been very good finding ways to keep me engaged.

—Mack, 17-year-old student

I am 13 years old and have been a student of Steve's for a little less than two years.  Steve is truly a top of the line teacher. He's patient and kind, while still making sure to encourage you to work hard. Steve has always been able to work with me through problems while learning new skills, and his techniques to solve those problems have always worked. He thoroughly goes over how to play certain parts of a piece correctly, and his teaching is clear and always makes sense. He is the third piano teacher I've worked with, and has the best approach to learning music. He goes into explicit detail of how music should be played, and ensures the success of his students. I've been able to achieve my goal of playing more complex pieces while working with Steve and I'm grateful to have such an amazing piano teacher!

—Kelson, 13-year-old student

Steve Lewis is an exceptional piano teacher and person, as he teaches with passion, patience, and knowledge. Steve never failed to show me that I could succeed, and he was able to teach me that I could play technical and advanced pieces that originally seemed too difficult to play. 

His exercises all had intent behind them, which led me to develop life long piano skills I would have never gained otherwise. Lastly, Steve works hard to connect with all of his students on a personal level. His passion to see his students grow and find confidence in their playing is truly an amazing experience. I strongly recommend Steve for quality piano lessons.

—Payton, 18-year-old student

Professional Students

Working with Steve has been a true gift. I met him at a music conference and just felt him so easy to be around. I am a piano teacher by trade and had been wanting to work on some repertoire with a teacher and to fill in gaps that I felt I had in my teaching and playing, and thought of Steve because I wanted someone who knew their stuff but who wouldn't shut me down with judgment or too much ego. I wanted less top-down learning and more of a partnership with a teacher who was kind and encouraging but much more knowledgeable than myself.  Wow was I in the right place! I got all of that and so much more. Steve made learning come alive. He helped me work through feelings of inadequacy and intimidation to strengthen my confidence by letting me share my vulnerabilities and by meeting me with understanding and so much wisdom! He blew my mind with what he offered that turned fear into curiosity. He used these moments as doorways to bring me closer to the topic at hand, helping me see learning as multi-faceted and multi-dimensional, like suggesting I think of practice and learning as interfacing with a composer; teaching me about the context of the music to help me understand how to interpret the music on a much deeper level, instead of just feeling like a trained monkey. At a certain point, I found myself more interested than intimidated by the gaps I had, because I was just so happy to be immersed in the world of learning in this way. He was a master at recommending repertoire and partnering with me to find the right pieces with what I wanted to learn. He was also helpful and patient with finding the right way for me to understand something complex. He was masterful at answering questions about music theory and improvisation. I learned so much about technique, rhythm, and tempo and felt so much better as a musician. Eventually, I built the courage to perform again after a long time, and I know I wouldn't have done this without working with Steve. I already have a Masters in Music, but I feel I learned more from Steve in many ways, perhaps because he made learning interesting and created a compassionate and welcoming space to learn and grow. I have always tried to create this for my students but had never had anyone create it quite this way for me until Steve. As an added bonus, I felt that working with Steve helped me feel stronger in a lot of other aspects of my life, as I had more confidence and interest in learning and not so heavily the pressure of not being perfect yet. I'm so thankful for the teaching and humanity that Steve brings to our community, not to mention the joy of watching him perform and experiencing his creative compositions. 

—A piano teacher in Oregon

Adult Students

Steve is a superb teacher. As an adult student with no music background he was able to engage me and teach me simultaneously, there was no 'waiting for the interesting work'. Over the past several years I have advanced through a mixture of technique training while learning to read music. Steve's demeanor is flexible, encouraging, never intimidating, and he makes his students want to achieve results while not ever putting undue pressure on them. The process of learning technique has been challenging for me but Steve has always found ways to get me through hurdles; his years of teaching have clearly given him an extensive repertoire of strategies to keep his students making progress. As a pianist Steve is inspiring, and he brings that inspiration to his teaching.

—Kelly, adult student

I've been taking remote lessons with Steve for almost 5 years, and couldn't be happier with how much I've progressed.  He helps me set challenging, yet attainable goals, and is always considerate of what pieces will best address the gaps in my technique.  He also encourages me to bring him pieces I'd like to learn from outside the classical repertoire, which are some of the most personally rewarding for me to perform.  We will often go into detailed discussions about composition as it pertains to whatever piece I'm working on at the time, which is always fascinating due in no small part to his encyclopedic knowledge of composers, music history, and theory.  I often feel like I'm receiving a full university-level music curriculum as a byproduct of our lessons.  I'm extremely grateful to have Steve as a teacher and friend.

—Tyler, adult student