Music Lessons in Retsil, WA

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

My name is Jeff Gray. I am an upright and electric bassist with over 30 years experience playing and 20 years teaching music. I am a highly distinct and diverse musician and teach from beginner to advanced levels. Main styles include rockabilly slap, jazz/gypsy jazz, Americana, country, western swing, classical, bluegrass, surf, jump blues and many others. I am extremely knowledgeable in music theory and teach sight-reading skills. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Viola Mandolin Recorder Electric Violin Fiddle

I have been teaching violin for 30 years, starting as a bluegrass and Irish fiddle teacher in a folk music store run by a family of performers who were related to the von Trapps of The Sound of Musicfame. Since then, I have tried to continually grow as a performer, musician, and teacher. I have collected a vast amount of muic and resource materials along the way, so I am able to meet each student's needs--from child-friendly beginning repertoire, holiday music, fiddle tunes and jazz standards, to concertos and orchestral excerpts for youth and college orchestra auditions and beyond! Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Organ Synthesizer Lap Steel Guitar Ukulele Keyboard Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For all of my students beginning through advanced I have my own curriculum of technique building studies. Combined with that I have my own curriculum of style studies and songs which include many genres of music. If students want to learn how to read music I usually suggest the Hal Leonard series of books for their particular instrument to start with and then I suggest more advanced materials for the style of music that they want to start specializing in. Read More

Instruments: Harp

I always start my lessons with a brief warm-up to get those fingers flexing! Then, we go through each assignment that was chosen for a particular skill development and look for where there is opportunity for celebration of progress/success. We then home or skills and understanding of tricky spots and continue developing our muscles, knowledge, and overall harping skills. I always try to select music pieces that appeal to my students based on their interests and goals for learning the harp. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute

I first find out how the students learns best. Knowing if somebody is hands on, likes to listen, needs to watch, be shown etc. can impact the experience and quality of the lesson. Using analogies is something that has really helped me in my practicing so I enjoy passing that on. Setting realistic short term and long term goals are absolutely essential to progression, along with finding an inspiration. I have always found a player who inspired me and would figure out what they were doing to sound the way they sound. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass

My method is to help students play the music they want to play, whether it's Miles Davis or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I like to start my lessons by working on a song of the students choice to spark their interest. From there, I move to focusing on the students needs technically, rhythmically and theoretically. Additionally, I have my students practice improvisation, in some capacity, at each lesson. I want my students to feel comfortably making music on the fly and I set up low stakes environments for them to hone this skill. Read More