Music Lessons in Clarksburg, CA

Instruments: Voice

Vocal coaching as a profession is quite new to me because until just recently I've always focused on my own development as a performer and artist, however, I've often assisted my fellow co-artists, classmates, bandmates, and even friends with improving vocal technique and performance quality. In my college classes, we were encouraged to provide feedback about a classmates performance and I absolutely loved when they would apply my advice and everyone saw a significant improvement in performances thereafter. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Music

I also discovered that I had a talent for making my students feel very relaxed during their lessons. I began to go beyond just teaching from one page to the next and started to explore the creative process of creating interesting lessons that would challenge, encourage, and engage, as my teaching style would always be adjusted and adapted to perfectly fit my students' individual learning styles. Since relocating to Northern California in 1999, I have continued to work with a diverse range of ensembles and am currently teaching at two music studios, conducting clinics at local schools, and running a number of small and large group ensembles, including woodwind quintets, sax quartets, jazz combos, and experimental music groups. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Organ Synthesizer Keyboard

In piano lessons, I'll provide highly valuable instruction and guidance on the key aspects of playing the piano: interpreting a piece of music accurately and with artistic expressiveness, improving technical ability, learning methods for efficient fingering and effective pedaling technique, developing greater control over emphasis, dynamics, and timing, and even strategies for physically improving and safely caring for your hands, fingers, and forearms. If you are a beginner and aren't sure what all those things mean or if they would apply to you, that's fine too. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Conga Latin Percussion

For beginning guitar I start out with Chris Parkening: classical guitar book...learning finguring styles, rudiments, and notes. We then go into various techniques and develop song repetoire and chording and strumming styles. For beginning piano I start with level one Hal Leonard book for beg. piano and various beginning classical composers: Beethoven, Mozart, Tchakovisky, Jazz, etc. . I split this class into musicianship-learning notes and reading music, fingering and scales, and theory. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

When I first meet a student I ask them to tell me what kinds of music they love to listen to and what strikes a chord in them about this particular music. Then I assess their level, if they have played for awhile. If they are a beginner, I start with correct posture, hand position, and elbow position as these are very important ergonomic considerations any of which can cause stress on the joints and additional tension in both the hands and wrists. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion

We will began with two drumsticks and a pad. Core fundamentals are the building blocks for everything we do behind the kit. We will first need to get the mechanics working before we drive the car. How to hold the sticks, how to strike a drum, and the basic of reading rhythms, will be the focus of the first 2-3 lessons. It is at this point we can start putting the two together. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola

I began teaching private violin and viola lessons in 2012, and I greatly enjoy working with my students. They have ranged in age from 3 1/2 to adult, and each one has been unique. After beginning lessons with my first student, teaching a semester of music theory, and teaching a summer camp, I became interested in Suzuki methodology and pedagogy. I find that for younger students especially, this method allows for more parent involvement at an age when many parents want to be more involved, and many children equally appreciate this involvement. Read More