Music Lessons in North Billerica, MA

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Recorder Piccolo Music

Hello! I'm a Berklee College of Music Alumnus with 20+ years playing experience! I started studying the saxophone at 9 years old and spent most of my early school years performing in community, school, and local college jazz bands around the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State. My music has given me the opportunity to travel the world, and in summer of 2016, I conducted a tour of Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda with my band the AfroXchange in conjunction with music therapy organization Global Youth Groove where I hosted jazz masterclasses, as well as performed at clubs and festivals, and assisted a music therapy team around the countryside. Read More

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

Beginning students are taught to read bass clef and are given introductory exercises to familiarize them with the strings and fingerboard. From there, I begin to teach more advanced music theory to build off of the established foundation. Some of the books I use for theory study are the Real Books and Dover Music's Bach Keyboard Music for jazz and classical theory respectively. Additional materials for intermediate and advanced students include Oscar Stagnaro's Latin Bass Book, Jimmy Haslip's Melodic Bass Library, and the Charlie Parker Omnibook depending on the student's genre of interest. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

I'm a rather relaxed individual, and I don't like making my students feel pressured into achieving a specific goal in a strict manner. My attitude allows students to accept mistakes as part of the journey of guitar playing, while at the same time understanding that it is the correction of mistakes and discipline to play correctly that segways into higher level playing, and that the ultimate drive behind guitar playing is the passion to learn and expand their horizons either by attempting new techniques or ideas, or simply being exposed to new types of music. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

My lessons are organized around a few core elements: fundamentals, technique, note-reading, and repertoire. For all students, grasping the fundamentals of pitch and rhythm is essential, so exercises that continually reinforce these fundamental skills are a typical first order of business for each weekly lesson. Simultaneously, I guide the student through proper posture, form, breathing, and mental preparation. For children, and any adolescents or adults who are truly serious about music, I encourage the development of sight-reading skills for musical literacy. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Keyboard

My teaching style is best referred to as a facilitator. Essentially, I promote self-learning, helping students develop critical thinking skills and retain knowledge that leads to self-actualization. I prefer to guide students by letting them think for themselves, pointing out when mistakes are made but also encouraging them to learn and grow from them. The draw back from this is that it can be a bit time consuming, but I feel that at the end of the day, this helps a student so that eventually they will be able to learn by themselves without a teacher. Read More

Instruments: Piano Accordion

I have been giving private piano lessons to children and adults for over 10 years. It is extremely gratifiying and rewarding to see students grasp concepts and learn to play. My lessons extend beyond just learning to play a piece of music.  I also discuss theory and harmony when appropriate as we learn new music.  I encourage improvising and email links to various performers in a variety of genres.   Read More