Get individual lessons on learning the balalaika. All sessions will be one on one with your teacher.
Your teacher is not only an accomplished balalaika performer, but also a seasoned educator.
Your teacher will challenge you with an individualized curriculum to challenge you and help you grow.
I have a Masters Degree in Balalaika Performance and Music Education from Petrozavodsk State Music Conservatory, one of the leading music conservatories in Russia.
I've taught music in Petrozavodsk, Russia, Minneapolis, MN and in Albuquerque, NM.
I am also accomplished performer and has performed in Russia, Germany, Finland and in many US states.
I've been teaching online lessons since Spring of 2020.
Three years ago I was looking for someone who would look at the balalaika that I got from my mom to tell me if it was playable. I found Liza Debelak in my search for someone local. By putting playable strings on it and tuning it, she determined that it was playable for a beginner. I had never played a stringed instrument, so I started taking regular lessons. Liza found appropriate tunes for me to learn and I enjoyed her instruction in several techniques, so after 8 months I ordered a balalaika from Russia. Then for 2 years I enjoyed learning the songs Liza found for me. She was good at guiding me in learning more techniques for playing. I continued to practice on my own for the 6 months that started with the COVID-19 lockdown and then decided that I had progressed as far as I could on my own. So I contacted Liza and we started using Skype for my lessons. I have been very pleased at how well she can see and hear how I’m doing remotely and how good she is at offering suggestions for improvements. I look forward to continuing lessons with Liza.
It had long been a dream of mine to learn the balalaika but was impossible to find a teacher locally so I searched for online lessons and found Liza Debelak. I was pessimistic about learning an instrument online being a piano teacher myself but lessons with Liza have been amazing. While nearly 16,000 kilometres away, I feel like lessons have been in my own home. Liza is very patient, kind, reliable, knowledgeable, and thoughtful, and I look forward to every lesson. I’ve had lessons for two years now and have loved every lesson.
In the fall of 2023 I was called upon to accompany my choir, Brooklyn Youth Chorus. I, being an instrumentalist with a Balalaika and excited to play in a professional setting. There was one issue, I didn’t know how to play! I started getting lessons from Ms. Liza Debelak with a goal in mind, to learn the song I’d be playing with my choir, “The little birch tree.” The following lessons I received were incredible! Very easy to grasp instructions on how to adjust and improve my playing, she is an incredibly patient and understanding teacher with a wealth of knowledge to share with any prospective student eager to learn such a beautiful instrument. These lessons over skype were incredibly comfortable, I often get nervous video calling but after meeting Ms. Debelak I felt very at home. Every lesson has been very enlightening and helpful for my technique and understanding of an instrument I wasn’t too acquainted with previously, being a keyboardist.