Music Lessons in Cottage Hills, IL

Instruments: Guitar

All music can be broken down into three categories: melody, harmony and rhythm. I tend to explore everything we do by observing how the given material utilizes one of these three elements (with rhythm being chief!). I love to instill the ideals that I have learned from my mentors into my own students. All guitar students are taught to think as musicians and not just as guitar players. I often think back on some of Miles Davis's famous words, "If it sounds right, it is right!". Read More

Instruments: Trombone

 As mentioned before, I've been teaching for about 11 years. I've taught at charter schools, leading concert band and jazz band rehearsals at local schools and coaching smaller sections of the ensembles. Educational outreach is a part of my job as a musician in the Air Force. We regularly visit schools and provide clinics and presentations for students. I enjoy teaching one-on-one lessons since it provides the opportunity to engage in the interests of the students and tailor the learning experience to best suit their needs. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Piccolo Keyboard

My first experience teaching music began immediately after graduation college and had continued to the present day. Originating as the music teacher at a girl's club the summer after my college graduation, my music profession soon began. There my eyes were opened to the benefits music has on children. This is also where I learned a lot about myself musically. While teaching music theory, choir & directing the summer musical started its cycle of my evolution here, this was only is beginning. Read More

Instruments: Piano

From upper elementary on, musicology is added. For a student that plans to keep learning, musicology is the history and the composer's impetus for composing the way he does. Why did Chopin compose so differently from Schumann, and what does the student need to learn to play each composer as he intended? It's very interesting, and separates my students from others that are playing just notes. They may be playing with feeling, but whose feeling? Read More

Instruments: Piano

For beginning and intermediate students I utilize the Bastien Method books series, which includes supplemental Theory and Technique books that can be purchased if needed.  These students each select performance pieces which they enjoy and are level-appropriate from a variety of sources. More advanced students focus primarily on challenging performance pieces, several of which are selected as 'keepers' for practice and review.  Lessons include technique practice (scales, arpeggios, finger exercises), theory (from textbooks, flashcards etc.) music history, instrument mechanics, ear training and musicianship (such as rhythm and sight reading drills, dictation) and student compositions (notation and continuation methods). Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Trumpet Recorder Euphonium French Horn Music Keyboard

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. I will have you have an assignment notebook where I write what your "sticker song" will be for the following week; this way it's clear what your assignment is. Read More

Instruments: Piano

My teaching experience dates back to my college days, as I began teaching privet lessons more then 20 years ago, and have been consistently teaching students in my home studio for the last 10 years. Encouraging regular practice a consistent schedule is one of the key points I like to empathize for younger students, as it tends to help the students progress and gain a passion for the instrument.My students are encouraged to enter competitions and recitals, as well as work on composing their own original materials, so they can feel good about their accomplishments and stay motivated to learn. Read More