Oksana Karataj

Oksana Karataj studied at ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya), the Catalonia College of Music in Barcelona, and at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA). At LMTA she earned two master’s degrees — in performance and in art pedagogy.

While she was studying, looking for new teaching tools, Oksana wrote her master’s thesis on “Using information and communication technologies in a piano teacher’s work”.

Its experimental part showed that music-learning software, interactive scores and even music computer games motivate students, help them learn theory more easily and quickly, and noticeably improve their results. That experiment is where Amadeus was born: the classical school and modern teaching in one lesson.

Oksana believes music is one of the greatest wonders of the world, and that getting to know and understand it is fascinating. That is why she has always been convinced that learning music should be fun and free of stress.

The teaching method is chosen individually for each student’s age, needs and abilities. In the lessons:

• you learn to read music with interactive scores;
• rhythm is practised with djembe drums, an egg shaker and rhythm sticks;
• you learn to recognise notes and chords by ear and pick out tunes without sheet music;
• from the first lessons you improvise and make up simple melodies;
• you learn to accompany your own singing and to play in an ensemble.

Teacher and student choose the repertoire together: classical and folk music, jazz, rock, arrangements of popular songs. She writes arrangements of favourite songs especially for the student, and adapts difficult pieces they love to their level at no extra cost.

Every year the studio holds music evenings in concert halls around Vilnius, where students share what they have learned. Those who would rather not perform in front of others can record a video of their performance without an audience. You can watch the concerts on the studio’s YouTube channel.

Oksana teaches in English, Lithuanian and Russian. Say which language suits you in the booking form.

The idea of her thesis also lives on in the interactive textbook «Piano for adults» (Fortepijonas suaugusiems), which Oksana prepared for the studio’s students. Every topic is drawn on the board step by step, every note sounds, and questions and exercises are answered right on the keyboard.

Two of its exercises — note reading and ear training — are free to try on the music trainers page.