Music Lessons in Raccoon Ford, VA

Instruments: Voice

For beginning students I stress the importance of reading music, so I heavily work on their rhythmic and melodic vocabulary. I am not set on a particular methods book because I am a firm believer that all students learn differently and some methods work better for some than others. I like to be adaptive in my teaching and mold my lessons to fit the needs of each individual student. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

Nothing is more enjoyable than seeing a music student climb the learning curve and self recognize and appreciate their progress other than, perhaps watching their passion grow over the long term as they successfully step into the performance phase and play a well practiced piece for their friends, family, peers, or others. Each student's lesson selection plan is always a collaborative agreement between the instructor and learner as well as the practice plan in terms of both frequency and repetition pattern. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

For beginning students, I ask if they are using a specific book in their school program, and will work with that. Otherwise, I will start with the beginning Rubank method book, and move through books containing etudes and exercises of increasing difficulty. These may include folk/popular tunes and lighter classical repertoire. I believe that ensuring that the student enjoys playing is the single most important aspect to learning an instrument. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I began teaching a few beginner-level students during my first few years of college, and I have taught at the Bach to Rock music schools, and found that I enjoyed building new musicians. I like to emphasize the benefits of consistent, focused practice, especially to my beginner students, as well as the importance of proper warm-up activities. While I believe that music students should learn what they can of the vast and beautiful classical repertoire, it is also important that they are given the opportunity to learn songs and pieces that are important or interesting to them. Read More

Instruments: Flute

I love the flute and love teaching it! Each students has his or her own goals and my goal is to help students accomplish their goals. Some are learning to be competitive, some just want to play in the band, others are playing for fun. Whoever they are, I want to help them appreciate the instrument and love music. We take steps and set specific goals. I like students to understand why we do things. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

My specialties/Genres Taught are classical, music theater/Broadway, Jazz, traditional folk songs, church music, Disney. 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. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I have a deep enthusiasm and excitement for helping young people reach their musical goals. I enjoy helping my students develop knowledge of the vocal apparatus and mechanics of singing and breathing. In the studio I can find examples of or demonstrate vocal techniques and styles. I have found that most students respond well to the use of imagery to extract the emotional component of singing and I find that my flexibility, energy, ability to maintain focus on objectives, and my ability to communicate musical concepts and instructions clearly is essential to getting my students to produce better sounds. Read More