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25 Years
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Piano lessons in Napa . Whether you are looking for beginner guitar lessons for your kids, or are an adult wanting to improve your skills, the instructors in our network are ready to help you now!
Instruments: Piano Guitar
When it comes to teaching, I find the most important thing is that we work towards the goal of what the student wants to learn - in the case of their preferred styles/genres of music, and the songs that they really enjoy. Every student has their own individual skill level and pace that can be developed and worked around. First, I would find out the level of skill and musical interests of the student, then I would create a lesson plan utilizing all of the tools at my disposal - both from my personal experience and from other educational sources, such as: Blues books, Rock books, Classical guitar/piano books, theory books, and tablature books, or music from popular bands. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet
I've blended my methods with a response to each student I work with by requesting their trust, listening to their places of comfort and interest in playing music, and discovering new avenues of development with the student. I encourage them to draw from those areas in our sessions as we develop our repertoire and enhance individual growth from there. For beginners I tend to start with either Standard of Excellence books or Rubank and build custom practices from there. Read More
Instruments: Piano
I enjoy observing each student’s character in their playing and design lessons tailored for them. Also finding a good balance between the music that a student is good at, and others that a student is not familiar with. Playing piano is in a way of expressing one's opinion through music. Learning the history, musicology, stories behind a piece, and the different techniques and tones for expressing the music, are all important features in my teaching. Read More
Instruments: Piano Organ
I began teaching in high school. Immediately after college, my studio grew to include 25 students. Included in the mix, some students were as young as 8 and several were adult beginners. Intermediate and advanced students also studied with me, as well as adults who were "re-beginners." (The term refers to adults who took lessons in childhood and have picked up their instrument again years later.) During graduate school, my assistantship included teaching piano classes comprised of students majoring in voice or music education. Read More
Instruments: Piano
I have started piano students off with Piano Adventures Primer Lessons and Theory, and have taught adults using the Alfred Basic Adult Piano Course. I do have students learning from John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers How to Play method (moves more quickly than Piano Adventures), and have a Blues Piano student learning from various sources including How to Play Boogie Woogie (Hal Leonard/Wise). I teach beginning guitar using the Hal Leonard Guitar Method, also Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method, and Mel Bay's Fun With Strums. Read More
Instruments: Piano Flute Music
Learning about music involves so much more than technique or scales, but also relies so much on their emotions and mindset. I want to prioritize their own independence within these lessons in regards to choosing their own repertoire or experimenting with their own compositional style so that they can embrace how liberating and fun learning about music and being creative can be, rather than seeing it as a chore! I also want to make sure that their musical journey is built with the right mindset - a lot of the time there is unnecessary toxic, competitive energy within other musicians which defeats the whole purpose of inspirational collaboration that can come from playing music with others. Read More
Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar
When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
It was a gradual decision I wish I would have made sooner. Being a musician isn't just a career, but a full on life style. The sooner you commit to this life style the more fully you can experience it. Becoming a performance level musician takes time and commitment unlike anything else. I was never encouraged to be a musician because my family was not musical and did not understand the prospect of playing or teaching music as a profession outside of recording hit singles and touring stadiums. It took me well into adulthood to realize that there are other and more realistic ways to make a living through music such as teaching, performing in a small touring band, or a successful local band, and possibly working as a session musician in a studio, jazz, classical, or wedding ensemble.
If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
Coincidentally enough if I was not playing and teaching music I think I would want to be a school teacher instead. I really do love sharing my knowledge with curious individuals and working one on one with students to see them develop. I've always been very interested in history and reading especially so it would equally be a joy to share these interests with thirsty minds as well. Some times I even consider going back to school to become a teacher for a full time day job where I would still have nights, weekends, and summers off to focus on my art.
What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
Since I started I've always played some kind of rock music. First classic and alternative rock and now primarily a new style people call "jam". Jam music roots from 60s psychedelic rock especially the Grateful Dead and Alman Brothers Band, but also such popular acts as Pink Floyd, Big Brother and The Holding Company, and Jimi Hendrix as well as more contemporary and eclectic influences such as electronic, hip hop, funk, world, and jazz. The main feature of "jam" music is it's incorporation of improv and fluid transitions between pieces and styles to create a unique musical mosaic each performance. I prefer this style because it incorporates a wide range of influences from other styles of music I like while expressing genuine emotion in the moment more passionately then other current genres.
What is your dream piece to perform and why?
I've been saying for years now I want to do a cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine on you Crazy Diamonds". Pink Floyd have always been a major influence on my playing and thinking since my father first introduced them to me as his favorite band when I was a child. Since then this has probably become my favorite piece of theirs. It's a multi-movement psychedelic rock symphony starting from the depths of the void and taking listeners on an other worldly sonic journey through time and space guided by the piercing vocality of David Gilmore's guitar tone. The piece is incredibly cinematic in a sense and truly the peak of what I believe modern music is cable of.
What does a normal practice session look like for you?
I like to start by warming up, which really every player should. My routine includes scale exercises to practice fretting, intervals, finger dexterity, and reach as well as a variety of diatonic chord and strumming exercises to practice rhythm in different time signatures and styles including basic funk, reggae, and jazz patterns. Next I'll often move on to scale and solo work by practicing with TABs, recordings, and new scale charts. Finally I move on to song work and improv developing original material and solo ideas for my band or else practice on nights it is scheduled.
25 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
3,123
Teachers in Network
Trusted as the industry leader, for over 21 years the teachers in our network have been providing Piano lessons in Napa to students of all ages and abilities.
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