All Beginning instruments
I play trumpet, guitar, and percussion, among others. Expert teacher, and expert on practice. Click to see my bio.
For beginners, I teach all band instruments, guitar, piano, and percussion. For more advanced students, I accept motivated trumpet, rhythm guitar, jazz improvisation, and music theory students.
All players who study with me will also further their music-reading skills and learn to hone the crucial craft of effective practice.
Practice was the focus of my Ph. D. research and the subject of two of my books. Helping all students learn to practice efficiently and effectively is of primary importance to me as a teacher. How to practice gets special focus in nearly all lessons.
I love working with beginners and returning players who have taken years or decades off from playing. Both have specific needs when starting out, enjoyment and creative exploration being right at the top of the list. Beginners of any age who have a supportive and encourging teacher stay involved in music. I know what beginners need to get a good start, enjoy themselves, and make fast progress.
I've taught elementary-, middle-, and high-school band. I've also taught college courses on these subjects for future music educators. I've been teaching for over 25 years, and playing for over 40 years. I love it, and I'm good at it. Come take a free 1/2 hour lesson!
All players who study with me will also further their music-reading skills and learn to hone the crucial craft of effective practice.
Practice was the focus of my Ph. D. research and the subject of two of my books. Helping all students learn to practice efficiently and effectively is of primary importance to me as a teacher. How to practice gets special focus in nearly all lessons.
I love working with beginners and returning players who have taken years or decades off from playing. Both have specific needs when starting out, enjoyment and creative exploration being right at the top of the list. Beginners of any age who have a supportive and encourging teacher stay involved in music. I know what beginners need to get a good start, enjoy themselves, and make fast progress.
I've taught elementary-, middle-, and high-school band. I've also taught college courses on these subjects for future music educators. I've been teaching for over 25 years, and playing for over 40 years. I love it, and I'm good at it. Come take a free 1/2 hour lesson!
what will I learn in private lessons?
All students receive instruction on a wide range of necessary musical skills. If you have a specific challenge you'd like to focus on, great! I love it when students know what they want. If you're one of those, sign up now!
All private students receive instruction on the following essential music skills:
All private students receive instruction on the following essential music skills:
- sound production and tone quality
- correct instrument technique
- essential practice strategies and mindsets to help make practice more fun and more effective
- ear training
- rhythmic ability
- melodic ability
- harmonic ability
- basic general improvisation skills
- basic piano skills (to help understand some musical concepts)
- this can be substituted for basic guitar skills if preferred
- reading music skills
- Other musical skills focused on if the student is interested:
- jazz improvisation
- rhythm guitar and/or piano
- composition
- songwriting
- music theory
- music technology (recording, amplification, pedals, MIDI, etc.)
my approach to music learning and teaching
Don Cherry (1936-1995)
For beginners, fun and encouragement are the prime movers. Not only does it make intuitive sense, it's backed up by extensive research (e.g. Sosniak, 1985). Jazz trumpeter Don Cherry said, There is nothing more serious than fun. That doesn't mean there isn't work or learning, of course. I believe the best learning is fun. Challenging, but fun. Mr. Rogers said, Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning.
For beginners of any age, I approach learning music like the way we learn language: sound before sight. I help students develop listening skills, imitation skills, rhythmic ability, and melodic awareness long before we begin to look at notes on a page. Musical learning approached this way is more robust, usually easier to grasp, and is a lot less tedious, both for the musician and those who listen to them practice. :) That being said, if a student prefers or is more excited about learning to read music, then that's what we do. Above all, the student and their needs and goals direct the course of study.
As students get better, fun and encouragement are still crucial, but receiving critique and assessment become part of the fun, too. From the moment a student begins to work with me, I focus on helping them learn critical thinking skills, and we build on a student's ability to practice efficiently and effectively so they can make steady, significant progress as long as they play music. We also work on developing a growth-based mind set. Not sure what this is? Find great summaries here and here.
For beginners of any age, I approach learning music like the way we learn language: sound before sight. I help students develop listening skills, imitation skills, rhythmic ability, and melodic awareness long before we begin to look at notes on a page. Musical learning approached this way is more robust, usually easier to grasp, and is a lot less tedious, both for the musician and those who listen to them practice. :) That being said, if a student prefers or is more excited about learning to read music, then that's what we do. Above all, the student and their needs and goals direct the course of study.
As students get better, fun and encouragement are still crucial, but receiving critique and assessment become part of the fun, too. From the moment a student begins to work with me, I focus on helping them learn critical thinking skills, and we build on a student's ability to practice efficiently and effectively so they can make steady, significant progress as long as they play music. We also work on developing a growth-based mind set. Not sure what this is? Find great summaries here and here.
Charanga Musical School's version of the spiral curriculum.
Another unique aspect to my approach is that I make ample use of improvisation and composition. You don't need mad skills to be able to improvise and compose music! My students begin to improvise and compose from the moment they can get a decent sound on the instrument, usually after one or two lessons. My approach in general is modeled after Jerome Bruner's Spiral Curriculum model.
As students begin to read music, we also learn to play rhythms on drums or other percussion instruments, because it's easy and sometimes more fun.
Above all, I help the student hone the skills they're interested in, and help them discover their own musicianship in a creative, engaging way.
As students begin to read music, we also learn to play rhythms on drums or other percussion instruments, because it's easy and sometimes more fun.
Above all, I help the student hone the skills they're interested in, and help them discover their own musicianship in a creative, engaging way.