Music Lessons in Pennington, NJ

Instruments: Voice

I believe that while there are certain immutable principles to how the voice functions, these principles need to be tailored to the particular instrument each student has as well as their nature, and how they wish to express themselves musically. Additionally much of the student teacher dynamic is based on a common vocabulary. Because we are dealing with an instrument that is inside the body it is impossible to point to this string or that key with precision. Read More

Instruments: Trombone Euphonium

I look to be sure that each student enjoys the material as well as music as a whole. Therefore, each student should be able to progress at their own pace. As a student progresses, I do have an admittedly bad habit of speeding up material a bit too much, so I encourage all students to let me know when something is too much for them. As i look to select material, I like to do a 5 minute test run of the piece to ensure that students enjoy the material before assigning it. Read More

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

I like to lay a foundation for what musical notes are and how they relate to the instrument. If we're on guitar I will draw a piano keyboard and give the student the guitar string names and make them figure out the rest of the notes. Then I teach them what chords are and, now that they know their way around a fretboard, they can build the chords themselves. While most students aren't total beginners and won't need all of this groundwork to be laid by me, I've found that almost everyone has gaps in knowledge, more often than not when it comes to actual note names and the music theory behind the instrument. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola

For beginning students, I use the Essential Elements book 1. This book introduces the student to the instrument in the most practical way while making it fun, and it has the student reading music from the beginning, which I find very important. After this, we go on to Suzuki book 2 and a scale book. Then we move our way through the Suzuki books and start to incorporate more complex scales and etudes. Read More

Instruments: Piano Keyboard

I began teaching while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree at Malone University, where I earned a degree in Commercial Music Technology, but also studied piano pedagogy. I taught students through the Piano Preparatory department at Malone for two years. After graduating and moving to New York, I began to teach privately. I also spent a year teaching at the Mike Risko Music School in Ossining, New York. I have a small number of students who I teach in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Read More

Instruments: Cello

It depends on the student's age and level of skill, however, I like to focus on building a good rapport with a student while learning and cementing the essentials of cello playing: having a good posture, holding the bow, reading, etc. I prefer to have a process that is somewhat slow in the beginning and that gradually picks up as the student becomes more acquainted with the cello. If a new student already knows the basic things, I still like to do a quick brush up to see what bad habits need to be fixed and how we can move forward in the most productive way. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I have over 25years of experience teaching piano. After I graduate college, I was working in Music School in Russia for 10 years. From 2004 I'm teaching piano in my home studio. Encouraging regular practice is a key to success. My lessons include music history, music theory, sight reading and unique technique which will help students to understand the music they like and try to give them enough tools to play it. Read More