Susan Lusher Rivera
★★★★★ 5 · 7 student reviews
Susan Lusher Rivera came to teaching piano with a resume most music educators simply don't have. Before she ever sat down with a student in Grayson, GA, she had toured and recorded for five years with the Albert Castiglia Band, performed at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, and shared stages with Hubert Sumlin — the guitarist behind Howlin' Wolf — as well as Muddy Waters' guitarist Bob Margolin and Chicago blues legend Michael Bloomfield. Both her Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and her Master of Music in Music Education came from Manhattan School of Music, and she spent years teaching in New York City and Long Island public schools before moving into full-time private instruction.
“Susan introduced me, on a weekly basis, to scales using both hands, and chords, including first and second inversions. This approach proved to be efficient for dexterity and 'muscle' memory, so much so that the learning curve has been less steep as I advanced through Alfred's book.”
— Ray L, adult beginner, Providence
That professional depth shows up directly in how she structures lessons. Rather than moving students through repertoire alone, Rivera builds from the ground up: scales with both hands, chord inversions, counting aloud, and music theory taught alongside whatever songs a student actually wants to play. A student named Ray, who came in with no prior background, described her method as 'multipronged' — the combination of the Alfred Adult Course, daily scale and chord work, and practice strategies from multiple angles made the learning curve measurably less steep as he progressed. Bob, who started at 57 with no musical experience at all, reported that within a year Rivera had taken him further than he expected, crediting her ability to 'break down music theory in a way that makes it logical and digestible.'
Adult beginners appear frequently among Rivera's students, and the pattern across their reviews is consistent: they arrived skeptical of their own ability, and she recalibrated that. Tammy started for the first time at 50. Grace Lynch came to her chasing a childhood dream. Martyna had taken lessons as a child but described prior teachers as making piano 'feel more like a chore than a hobby or passion.' After studying with Rivera for several years, Martyna wrote that she had 're-ignited my love for piano again.' Rivera's own bio notes that she works 'always adapting what we do to the specific needs and desires of the student' — and the reviews back that up specifically: Bob mentions that she customized her approach to his music tastes; Tammy notes she 'customizes the lessons to your abilities.'
“At the age of 57 with no musical experience, I started piano lessons with Susan. In one year she's brought me along further than I ever expected, breaking down music theory in a way that makes it logical and digestible. In addition, by customizing her approach to my music tastes and sharing her life experiences as a professional musician, Susan builds confidence and makes it all fun.”
— Bob, adult beginner, Ft. Lauderdale
Rivera also teaches children, and does so virtually. EWA, a parent in Four Oaks, enrolled her 8-year-old twins for online lessons and noted that Rivera gives them room to be chatty without losing the thread of the lesson, while still pushing them to grow. The twins made significant progress within a few months, all without leaving home. Rivera offers online lessons alongside her in-person teaching in Grayson, which accounts for the geographic spread in her reviews — students writing from Providence, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Gig Harbor, and Four Oaks.
Across all seven reviews, Rivera holds a perfect five-star rating. The through-line isn't a single teaching style so much as a refusal to use a one-size approach: she meets a 57-year-old beginner differently than she meets a pair of second-graders, and differently still than she meets a young adult returning to an instrument she abandoned. What reviewers describe, repeatedly, is a teacher who draws on thirty-plus years of experience — both in professional performance and in the classroom — to make the mechanics of piano feel purposeful rather than mechanical.
“I liked playing but my teachers made it feel more like a chore than a hobby or passion. I found Susan in my piano journey as a young adult and have been studying with her for a few years now. The amount of care and specificity she takes in her lessons is SO valuable to me. She has definitely re-ignited my love for piano again.”
— Martyna, returning adult student, West Palm Beach
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