Songiver Music Studio

About Songiver Studio

Hi, I’m Emily Arwen Mott.

I am a musician, composer, and music teacher. I deeply value musical expression in my life and consider music one of my central artistic practices. I am also a dancer and a healer; I often work with movement and music simultaneously. My art draws from embodied emotional sources. My current writing projects may be categorized as art songs, simple pieces for piano and voice. Exploring musical composition is an expanding aspect of both my own artistic practice and my teaching.

Here is my basic teaching philosophy.

Everyone is musical. Making music is joyful and satisfying. I really believe that musical intelligence is important in our world. How often do you or your children see live musicians making music? If all we do is consume music from media, our children may not even understand that music is made by real people. I grew up surrounded by professional musicians and spend much of my time now playing music with amateurs and students. I am happy to have found challenging work that I love. Each of us is different in our interests and learning styles, but we still seek expertise in learning a difficult skill. Studying one-on-one with a teacher is often a rare treat for children and adults; piano lessons are going strong and I’m pleased to part of this long tradition. If your child is 5 years old or younger, I strongly recommend enrolling them in an early childhood music program such as the Music Together® program I teach. Several of my most successful students have been through that program and it is incredibly fun and well-designed.

I love to work with all ages, mostly in private lessons, teaching piano and basic musicality. Students learn pieces and technique through imitation, discovery, and notation. We also sing, move and compose. Parents support students by creating a positive and structured environment at home for practicing and celebrating music making. My students have also revelled in playing duets and trios with each other, with their families, and performing for each other at our “Music Share” recital parties. I’m building toward more group work, for deepening ensemble concepts, reinforcing skills in a social setting and learning positive peer critique. The students inspire each other.

Music study is unique from many activities children pursue now; it is a creative, mostly solitary, problem-solving, largely non-verbal, complex activity that does not always offer immediate gratification. Except when it does, especially in the early years. I love to see how delighted little or big people are when they discover how to play a familiar song, or find a way to make the music sound more beautiful or angry or…

To develop as a musicians, students must work hard for an extended period of time. The rewards include learning to express themselves with beauty, listen deeply, and discipline and focus their bodies and hearts. This gradual process, which has all the ingredients for what makes humans happy, gives developing musicians a solid self esteem.

If we haven’t met yet I look forward to meeting you and getting to know your musical goals.

Contact me at emilyarwenmott@gmail.com if you are interested in lessons for you or your child. You can also reach me at 617-872-4432.

 My current studio location is in Burlington, VT. I have a small waiting list and am always happy to meet new individuals and families and hear about their musical goals.