Music Lessons in Portage, WI

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar

I have taught from both the FJH and Berklee series of guitar and theory books. My lessons revolve around three parts: 1- Lessons from books of the appropriate level. We choose a book that suits the student, and there are weekly assignments from the book. 2- Theory work, usually focusing on the Blues form. My teaching of pop, rock, country, folk, etc. all goes back to the blues form. The music theory work also supports the students growing musical knowledge. 3- The student's choice of music. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola Mandolin Electric Violin Fiddle

I first began teaching while at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This was the first time I learned that a student can make remarkable progress at an instrument, given the right encouragement and direction. Since moving to Madison, I have begun teaching at Heid Music, and have been gradually growing a studio on the three instruments I teach. The problem with this studio, however, is that studio availability is somewhat limited, and so it has become more practical to turn online to find more students. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

As our time together continues, my goal for the student is that they become more self-sufficient (as is age-appropriate). For example, a teenage/adult student who has been taking lessons for a year will lead the lesson more than a beginner student; they will understand my warm up system and will arrive at the lesson warmed up and arrive with goals and questions prepared. This is because my goals for each student surpass their ability on their instrument: being a good musician means taking responsibility for one's practice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Djembe

My goal is teach you to be able communicate (improvise, listen and respond) through a 3-step process, which includes; 1. Imitation: Listening and Learning lines by ear, Transcribing solos. Absorbing a player’s feel, articulation, and time. 2. Assimilation, which means ingraining these stylistic nuances, harmonic devices, and lines that you’ve transcribed into your musical conception. Not just mentally understanding them on the surface level, but truly connecting them to your ear and body. Read More

Instruments: Clarinet

I like to start beginning students with a combination of sheet music and by rote teaching. If a student comes to me with method books or other materials, we will start with those and I will suggest other materials as appropriate. I often have more advanced students work through various scales books and Rose etudes, and whatever other type of music interests them. I utilize duets often in lessons to work on sight reading and blend, tuning, and leadership. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Djembe

With both piano, percussion and drum instruction I cover things such as technique, reading, music theory etc. I work out of a variety of books depending on the student's level of experience and interests. In regards to technique there are a variety of things that I cover including the mechanics of the body, posture, hand and arm positioning and a variety of techniques depending on what the music is calling for. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Understanding the individual differences between the group members will make the experience more enjoyable for all members. For example, a musical piece that matches the average level of the group members can be efficient in letting the lower levels to improve their skills. On the other hand, the higher level will learn how to take the responsibility of leading the other level. Finally, based on my experience I believe that teaching does not only mean that the students will learn from their teachers. Read More