Saxophone Lessons in Phillipston, MA

Instruments: Saxophone Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have a very open minded and flexible teaching style. I ask my students why they love playing music and I focus on the skills that they want to improve. When I have students who want to perform on stage, I challenge them to play guitar without looking at the strings so that they will focus on the audience. I also encourage them to stand up and move around even while they are practicing so they will be more engaging during the real concert. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Saxophone Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Djembe Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I began teaching 11 years ago during my senior year of high school. At the time I had been playing for many years. During this time I had five students. One of my students was a friend who had been envious of my playing for a while when he decided to ask for lessons. It was truly amazing and rewarding to see him advance to a level where he could play along with other people and write songs. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

I was recently hired by Pearson to create a series of instructional videos to accompany their new textbook. In them, I teach students about different words one uses to write about music (timbre, tempo, etc). The publisher has called me "a natural, with a colloquial style that is very engaging and easy to understand." While I am otherwise new to teaching music, I have taught sailing for the past 9 summers of my life. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Piccolo

For beginners I often start with the Standard of Excellence, but it does not take long before we start to get into more individualized education. For example, a student may be bound for high school jazz band, in which case we will immediately begin on music theory and scale/mode practice from as early as 5th grade. On the other hand, I may have a high school flute student who wants to audition for conservatory, in which case I would use some Marcel Moyse books, orchestral excerpt practice, and standard solo repertoire. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

Nothing is more rewarding than seeing one of my students develop a passion for music. Therefore, it's important that each student progresses at his or her own pace. I encourage this by setting realistic goals for my students at each lesson. Acknowledging accomplishments helps fuel students desire to progress, and makes students eager to learn more. By trying to find out what inspires the student, I can successfully tailor my instruction to their wants and needs. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet Keyboard

Nothing is more rewarding to me that seeing a student make steady progress in their lessons and feel proud of themselves in what they have accomplished! I will tailor my lessons to what the student wants to ultimately take away from the lessons, and then I will help them achieve that goal at a pace that is suitable for them and encourages healthy, sustainable growth towards their desired outcome. After determining what the student wants to achieve musically, I will set weekly, realistic goals for the student to meet and to feel accomplished every week by the end of their lesson! Read More

Instruments: Saxophone

For all students I begin with an essential book called The Art of Saxophone Playing by Larry Teal. For students who are just beginning the instrument, I like to include the Rubank Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Method Books for Saxophone as well as the Selected Duets both by H. Voxman. Then we would advance to introducing etudes with 48 Famous Studies by W. Ferling. Then I will begin to include beginner repertoire. Read More