Clarinet Lessons in Upper Holland, PA

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet

In my teaching I try to be sensitive to the individual student's needs and desires while stressing the discipline required to reach these goals. The study of music is often a progression of 'ah-ha!' moments where the student experiences an understanding of something they may have struggled with for a period of time. It is the responsibility of a teacher to leaad students to these breakthroughs by presenting a variety of approaches to something a student finds difficult while continuing to motivate them. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet

I vary my methods according to student level, age, and practice habits. For example, for the advanced high school student I often mold my teachings around college audition requirements and all-state, regional band auditions. Otherwise, particularly for younger styudents, I am not very performance oriented. I think it is more important to learn to "play" at music rather than plan and prepare for multiple recitals. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Oboe Bassoon English Horn Acoustic Guitar

I love the learning process and to see students progress through the stages of learning an instrument. I taught myself to play the piano before I started formal lessons. I began playing the saxophone at the same time I took up the piano. I entered my undergraduate program in 1992, majoring in music education with the saxophone and piano as my principle instruments. During my studies at the University of South Alabama, a new program was started in MIDI and I attended an extra year to master digital audio. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet

Lessons are positive and laid back.  An atmosphere is created to be able to ask any question. Lessons are comprehensive, meaning that they both play to the student's strengths while addressing any weaknesses or information that is typically skipped over in public school simply due to lack of time and having the students on an individual basis.  Lessons are not just theory oriented, but more performing oriented.  There is always a solo to play or duet to sight read. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Saxophone Flute Clarinet Music Keyboard

I focus on tone production, articulation and phrasing. Sight reading, improvisation and music theory follow next. With clarinet and saxophone students I spend a lot of time on reed selection and care. There are so many misconceptions about reed strength and how it relates to mouthpieces that I could talk about it all day (and usually do). I work on clarinets and saxophones every day and consider myself proficient in identifying problems with instruments and then fixing those problems. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Keyboard

While my lessons are catered to each individual student, each follows a general curriculum that I have developed over the years through teaching. Method books are a great structured way to quickly get confident on an instrument, however they don't often encourage listening skills or creativity. This is why I structure my lessons around particular method books like Rubank or Faber while providing additional pieces, exercises, and improvising to supplement the book. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet

From there we learn simple songs -- sometimes by ear, and sometimes by reading music (both are valuable skills to have). From there we learn how those songs we learned are built. This is the theory part. Once a student has a rudimental understanding of theory they can begin to compose their own songs! When this is done spontaneously people refer to it as improvisation, but don't let the names fool you. Read More