816-463-3583
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Music lessons in Kansas City . Whether you are looking for beginner guitar lessons for your kids, or are an adult wanting to improve your skills, the instructors in our network are ready to help you now!
Instruments: Piano Voice
My biggest focus with my students is building confidence! I strive to always be encouraging. I believe that we are capable of accomplishing much more when we believe that we can do it! One of the most important building blocks of confidence is consistent practice. I will make sure my students leave their lessons with a plan for the coming week’s practice. I will do my best to make sure this practice is both purposeful and enjoyable. Read More
Instruments: Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar
As a former certified school teacher my focus is on laying the right foundation for a lifetime of musical learning and enjoyment for the student. I want my students to develop skills in all aspects and styles of playing so that as their preferences progress they will be equipped for all genres and styles. However if an adult or intermediate level student wants to specialize I can accommodate them. That's why I suggest they incorporate both note reading and chord theory to their scope and sequence of study. Read More
Instruments: Violin Viola
I adjust my teaching style to compliment each student individually. My goal is for each student to enjoy playing their instrument, but I believe that the personal improvement of each student is vital for their continued interest and passion. I take it upon myself to make sure that my teaching is resulting in personal enjoyment and improvement! I also believe that studying a musical instrument is useful for developing things like problem solving skills, perseverance, building good habits, having a good work ethic, and being responsible. Read More
Instruments: Piano
For beginning students like young students, I typically start with Piano Adventure as the textbook. Once they have progressed of study, I would like to introduce some solo repertoires with beautiful melody line for their recital performance. And in each lesson, I will play the accompany part for young students, which can bring them more fun of learning short pieces, and enjoy studying. For adults, I would like to talk with them, and find out a good way that they are interested in of studying, and give them more space of choosing repertoires for learning. Read More
Instruments: Violin Viola
The experience I had started with was a community center in an underprivileged area of Kansas city in 1973 as a Senior in High School and extended to many retail establishments of the Kansas city metro and beyond. I have also taught private lessons in my residence and in homes of many students during the pandemic. For nearly 20 years I have taught all ages at the Kansas city strings in Merriam Kansas as independently contracted teacher. Read More
Instruments: Piano
My music teaching experience began all the way back in 2011 when I got to be a section leader for the Charleston Trojans Marching Band alto saxophones section. My interest in piano grew and my most current teaching experience was student teaching at Hayt Elementary School in Chicago, IL (in CPS). I got to teach lessons in music to classes of 25-30 students for 8 hours a day, and did everything from singing songs to playing piano, but everything to get children experiencing music and tapping into their potential. Read More
Instruments: Violin Viola
Karla received her Music Educators license in Instrumental Music from William Jewell College in 2005. Instrumental Conducting, Secondary Music Methods, Instrumental Techniques, and Educational Psychology were some of the courses that prepared her to become a more knowledgeable teacher. She started private teaching violin and viola lessons in 2002 at REW Band and Orchestra. From there she went to Northland Cathedral School of music in 2006 before starting her own studio in 2010. Currently, Karla plays 4th chair viola with the St. Read More
Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Harmonica Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar
What musical accomplishments are you most proud of?
I would say my earliest accomplishment was getting into music school after having played guitar for just over two years. At the University of Kansas, I also provided classical guitar accompaniment for a DMA flute student, and played on several of his doctoral recitals. For a 19 year old, it was greatly stressful, but I managed to help him to execute successful performances despite my relative lack of experience. Later, some of my favorite performances were with a gypsy jazz quartet where we performed in an idiom similar to Django Reinhard, and st the same time I performed many solo acoustic shows playing both original compositions and covers.
What do you think is the hardest thing to master on your instrument?
In terms of mechanics, I believe right hand technique is one of the most tedious to develop, and takes an immense amount of time to hone in. In a larger-scale sense, I would say mastery of jazz or classical styles are some of the most difficult, and for two totally different reasons. For jazz, a guitarist has the dual role (like piano) of rhythm and lead. Many guitarists start on styles more akin to pop or rock, and do not develop sight reading skills that other instrumentalists do, so that is always a battle for guitarists. Also, there are multiple positions you can use to play the same note, so certain judgements have to be made. Sight reading is even more paramount in classical music, thus, classical guitarists must work extra diligently to develop this skill.
Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
I prefer as much as possible to not use these methods, as I have found them to be disinteresting for most students. I prefer to make notes by hand, or selecting printouts from the internet. I also encourage students to look through various websites, and searching through YouTube to help their practicing throughout the week. For more advanced students, I do encourage them to purchase Real Books and other materials that give explicit education to music theory. I have a printer, and will print materials before a lesson, or will email suggestions as needed.
What does a normal practice session look like for you?
I like to begin with technique warmups for 5-10 minutes. In my most focused practice time, I will set a timer on each idea I’m working on. In general, I like to limit my intense focus on a couple of keys per week, and run through different ideas in each of them. For instance, recently I’ve been looking at half-diminished chords and their inversions and arpeggios. I will take two keys that are generally unrelated (Dmaj and A-flat maj this week) and execute the exercises until they feel comfortable. This extends for all ideas and sets of scales. Then if I have time, I will do some ear training, and sight reading. Afterwards, I usually work on repertoire for the remainder of my practice session. I have a few apps on my phone that I will browse through if I have free time and am away from an instrument.
25 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
3,123
Teachers in Network
Trusted as the industry leader, for over 21 years the teachers in our network have been providing Music lessons in Kansas City to students of all ages and abilities.
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