816-463-3583
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25 Years
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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: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass Classical Guitar
I am primarily an electric guitarist who has a fascination with composing/producing original music of a wide variety of styles. I was born into a musical family; I began taking classical lessons on piano at age six, and later upright bass at eight (guitar being a venture on my own accord that began somewhere in between). Though I consider guitar to be my main instrument, double bass allowed me to achieve considerable success in my high school years. Read More
Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Synthesizer Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar
Hi there! Teaching guitar is my passion. Having played guitar for almost 20 years (!), I'm eager to pass along what I've learned and push students to develop their own love for the instrument. I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old, taking private lessons with my older brother (the local music school had a 2 for 1 deal!). After several years, my brother decided it wasn't for him, but I had fallen completely in love with guitar and music in general. Read More
Instruments: Piano Violin
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: Trumpet
Beginning students will most likely be playing from whatever band book their school uses. If the student is not in middle school yet, then they will most likely start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements. As students progress, more material will be added later. For intermediate students, I would begin to add solo repertoire and would most likely also add the Clarke Characteristic Studies. With my more advanced students there is more variation as these are typically the students that have all district, solo contests, and college auditions to prepare for. Read More
Instruments: Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar
When I first started teaching in college I used standardized materials and found it was helpful but inadequate to teach everything my students needed. So I began to explore other curriculum and attend the NAMM conventions and talk with other instructors. I saw there was a need for more expanded materials and started writing my own. I now have two complete text books with copyrights along with practice recordings that I make available to my students. Read More
Instruments: Piano
I began playing piano at age 5 and played for church since age 12. I graduated with two piano performance degrees with one of the greatest pianist of our generation,Valery Kuleshov. Throughout my classical music career, I have particpated in several well-known music festivals, masterclasses, and performance venues including The Classics on Disney Boardwalkanda performance with the Imperial Symphony. I began teaching during my undergraduate degree and have taught privately for the past 10 years. 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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