Music Lessons in Moanalua, HI

Instruments: Cello

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements for Strings. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will initiate the practice of beginning scales and arpeggios (Klengel method) to familiarize the student with major and minor scales, different scale modalities, and different key signatures. I will also start them on a progressive melodic musical method book, such as The Art of Cello Playing (Louis Potter), so that they can enjoy playing nice music pieces that could be played later in a recital. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I start with each new student by getting to know what music styles they like, what songs they want to learn, what their goals are. I work with the students to select specific songs they want to learn NOW and then I build my entire lesson plan and approach around those. Rather than start them off with drills and exercises, we immediately begin learning content that the students actually care about. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet

To help achieve this maximization it is important to build strong relationship and trust between student and pupil. I believe in teaching students how to practice correctly and how to use their own practice time wisely as well as challenging students in order to continue progressing. I encourage my students to audition for school and county events, competitions and bands so they stay motivated to continue learning and build a strong sense of their own abilities. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I like to make sure that my students are organized. I encourage them to bring a notebook to class to write down what they are supposed to practice. It helps them to stay on task on set goals. I love to see a student who comes in prepared. We usually will start off with some warm up exercise and then get to working on the music. I like to teach musicality so I encourage improvisation, singing, clapping, tapping feet, and other physical body movements to help internalize the beat. Read More

Instruments: Drums

When teaching children or beginners I like to start out by introducing the 26 drum rudiments. I'll then introduce beginner drum books such as Joel Rothman's Basic Drumming. These important tools will set the stage for success in drumming. I'll also introduce music styles and beats they might not be familiar with. The goal is to introduce as many different music styles and beats as possible. For adults and intermediate to advanced players, we will work out of Charlie Wilcoxon's "The All-American Drummer" for snare drum solo's and Gary Chester's "The New Breed" for challenging drum beat exercises. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I use a variety of methods for young beginners (depending on their age) - Faber Faber, Alfred, Alfred Premiere, Bastien, and Hal Leonard. For beginning adult students, I find Faber Faber for the older beginner to well paced to teach fundamentals. My digital piano has engaging learning games to reinforce fundamental note reading and rhythm, as well as aural training, chord recognition, and sight reading play along songs. My students love to see their play along music scores, and are always challenging themselves to improve. Read More

Instruments: Piano Keyboard

I believe a well-rounded and practical approach to teaching music-- where students learn to not only read music, but also play freely with chords and scales to create their own music, learn by ear, and improvise. My goal is to help students grow so that they can play music in a personal and rewarding way, and develop the skills they need to play the songs that they love. I use both Piano Adventures and Alfred Premier method book series in my lessons. Read More