Music Lessons in City Island, NY

Instruments: Voice

My goal is for all of my students to feel relaxed and free in their lessons. Singers use a lot of different emotions and they need to feel very much at home with their teacher in order to explore those moods. I teach taking into account the the student's age level and ability, and I'm very sensitive to time-constraints that most students have during their week. It's important to keep goals realistic, vocally safe, and fun. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Music Keyboard

For absolute beginner students of any age, we begin outside of a book as the best way to learn is from personal experience. With wind players for example, we work on breathing, posture, and hand position as these three components help students produce a quality sound in as comfortable of a way as possible. Moving into more formal studies, I used the Standard of Excellence series for young children and the Rubank series for more intermediate students. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Drums Recorder Keyboard

My career in Music Education began in elementary school when I accompanied my Sunday School holiday programs on the piano at age 10. During my teenage years, I accompanied my church and high school concert choir. After graduating from college, I became certified in music and decided to teach piano full-time. I wrote a curriculum and established my own music studio which has expanded into a music education program that provides music instruction to pre-school-12th grade students in state educational institutions, charter schools, churches and camps. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Cello Viola

My method is basically laid out in the following format. While I try to adhere to this, everyone is different and I do tailor the lesson to the individual. 1) Technics 2) Lesson Books 3) Etudes 4) Solo piece 5) Accompanied piece. To learnapplied musicissomething thatanyone can and should do, andthere should be no discrimination whereage or individual ability are concerned. Itis one of the things most people are either very grateful to have learned, or something they universally regret not learning in life. Read More

Instruments: Drums

Above all, what's the most important for Will is passing on the love/passion for music the arts that he has had his entire life. Potentially lost in the void of auto-tune, drum machines, and artificial instruments, the drum set is an art form that has direct roots in American history as well as western music overall; in addition to the 7 years of teaching experience and over 15 years real-world, practical gigging experience, it's this notion that makes it crucial to Will that this all gets passed on to keep music in our lives, both young and old! Read More

Instruments: Piano Trombone Euphonium

For beginner students, I will usually start with the basic fundamentals of playing the instrument. This would include tone production, articulation, flexibility, scales, arpeggios, and sight reading. Once the student has become more fluent in the technique of their instrument I will start to ask them what they want to work on and improve upon. One method I truly believe in is playing duets with the student. The best way to improve at anything is to practice with someone who has more experience. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Drums Synthesizer Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Music Keyboard

2011-2012: Teaching Assistant, San Jose State University 2010-present: Piano, percussion, and voice teacher with Musika 2010: Substitute accompanist at Willow Glen United Methodist Church 2008-2009: Accompanist for James Lick High School 2007-present: Organist/Pianist for Santa Teresa Hills Presbyterian Church 2006-7: Accompanist for Scotts Valley Unified School District 2005-2006: Accompanist and Teaching Assistant with Cabrillo Youth Choir 2005: Composer and Percussionist for "Oedipus Rex," Cabrillo Stage; Substitute Accompanist at St. Joseph's Church in Capitola, California 2004: Accompanist with the Santa Cruz Summer Singers 2003: Teaching Assistant for History of Western Art Music, University of California, Santa Cruz 2000-2001: Teaching Assistant and Tutor in music theory, musicianship, piano, and world music studies at Cabrillo College 1998: Began working as a freelance piano teacher and keyboard player Read More