About Me

Hi, I’m Tarah Schoell. In addition to giving flute and piano lessons, I also am active in the Omaha Music Teacher’s Association as the Web Coordinator, Committee Member of Fun Fair, and Music Theory Co-Chair for Fun Fair. Most recently I became the music director for the One for All acting troupe. I also play in various professional and community ensembles in the Omaha Metro, and play in church services at Good Shepherd Lutheran.

How I Started in Music

In 3^rd grade I started the flute. Most kids start in 6th grade, so that was really early. There was a reason for that. I was in a two-room school house in the mountains of Washington State, so in order to have an ensemble, they had to go down to 3^rd grade. Because I started so early, I had some issues that took several years to correct, due to arm length and lung development.

I moved to Wisconsin in 1990 and joined 7^th grade band, though I was in 4^th grade. I felt intimidated by being around such big kids, but everyone treated me as an equal.

In 1991, I started piano. Because this was my second instrument, I effortlessly flew through the first 3 books. My teacher allowed me to have horrible hand position, look at my hands all the time, and no matter how badly I played, she just had me work on the next page each week. She taught me one thing that I will always remember and still use to this day – you learn far more from “fun” music than from a lesson book.

My High School, Luther Prep in Watertown, WI, required everyone to take piano lessons, so I started with a new teacher at the school. This teacher started me over, using early intermediate repertoire. It was easy music for me, but I had to relearn a lot. I had a different piano teacher every year at that high school. My favorite was Senior year, Rebecca Mattek.

While I was in High School, I was one of 3 flute players chosen to teach flute lessons to a partner grade school. Each of those students asked to also start piano. I was chosen for a similar program in college

The reason I was chosen for that program was because I was within the top 3 flutes in the school, sometimes being first chair.

My Junior and Senior years, I went to State for Solo and Ensemble. That was when I realized that the more times you can play in front of a judge, the better you will get.

Credentials

I went to college at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN. and got B.S. in Elementary Education with a Concentration in Music.

During the first two years of college I took organ lessons. I hated it, so I went back to piano. Luckily, my favorite piano teacher from High School had come to teach piano at my college that year. I continued to learn under Rebecca Mattek for my last 3 years of college.

I took flute lessons under Lynn Hermanson all through college. She did a lot to bring me to the next level and teach me how to practice. I also took the brass, woodwind, and percussion pedagogy courses through MLC. I loved those classes! In addition to the instrumental pedagogy classes, I took three courses on voice – one learning to teach individual lessons, one learning to teach children’s choir, and one learning to conduct an adult choir.

Omaha, Here We Come!

My husband and I moved to Omaha, NE right after college. I was able to get a couple of piano students from the neighborhood and they moved away shortly after I had my first child. I didn’t know how to market myself, so my studio stalled and I had a hard time finding students for a few years. After I started teaching my oldest daughter to play piano for about a year, I started getting students again. I have been enjoying myself with teaching piano and flute ever since.

Besides all my musical endeavors, I also enjoy watching sci-fi, reading, and long-distance running. I have two daughters and I spend a lot of time taking them to band, sports practices, and other events.