Music Lessons in Hometown, IL

Instruments: Violin Viola

I tailor the lessons to students' unique goals. No matter the age or experience, I try to have a continuous dialogue between the student and myself about their progress and what direction they'd like to head in to make sure they are engaging with material that suits their needs and goals at the same time. As long as we are working toward a common goal together, I'm happy to accommodate any particular goals a student may have, as long as we are still working toward proper technique and expressivity. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

Learning to play an instrument can be extremely overwhelming, so it's important that the student sets his or her own pace. My role as a teacher is simply to guide students along paths they choose for themselves. At the same time, I push students to explore ideas that they may not have thought to explore for themselves. For example, as a predominantly rock and blues oriented musician, some of the most profound growth I've experienced has come from learning the basics of classical theory. Read More

Instruments: Voice Trumpet

Since I have so many ages and levels of students, I customize lessons to fit each student. Through feedback from the student (and sometimes with the help of parents) we figure out together what the students musical goal is. These evolve over time of course, but focusing on playing a certain song, learning scales, composing original music, gaining performing confidence (among other goals) are what I base lesson plans off of. Read More

Instruments: Violin Music

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 a 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: Trombone Euphonium

The point of music is to have fun creating art, sharing that gift, all while learning a skill that not many others are able to learn, but here are so many other benefits from what you learn that can be utilized for the rest of your life. These lessons include, but are not limited to discipline, work ethic, focus, problem solving, compassion, historical knowledge, and countless others. I am aware that not every person I teach will continue playing music for the rest of their lives, but if I can instill some of those above stated principles into my students, then that is a success in my book. Read More

Instruments: Piano Keyboard

For beginning students I usually start with either Fundamentals of Piano Theory or just basic note reading and writing. Since each student is different and responds differently to any variety of instruction methods, it’s important for me to be flexible and find the right one for the student. For kids, keeping the material light enough to understand while being challenging and engaging is important. For adults, being aware that they have busy lives with not as much time to practice as kids is something I always take into consideration. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I started teaching private voice lessons during my first year of college in 2012. I enjoy prepping students for auditions as well as teaching proper warmups. One of the techniques that helped me the most at a young age was learning how to support my voice with my breath. Breath makes a huge difference in vocal quality and the correct breathing methods can become second nature after working on breathing exercises. Read More