Music Lessons in Smithtown, NY

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Recorder Music

I am professional musician trained in Jazz and Classical music, specializing in Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute. • Actively performing and composing music rooted in jazz, rock, and free improvisation genres. • Studied piano at five; by age twelve, played clarinet in a semi-professional children's pop ensemble, and toured internationally with a jazz and improvisational band led by the legendary Vladimir Tchekassin.   • Fluent in English, German, Lithuanian, and Russian languages. I seamlessly connect with students of different cultural backgrounds, quickly find common points of interest, and encourage individual uniqueness. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Organ Synthesizer Ukulele Mandolin Double Bass Keyboard Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I custom tailor my lessons to each individual student so that they are inspired and equipped to develop both their love and ability for playing. Balancing this with the proper techniques, understanding and exercises affords the opportunity to assimilate the material on a practical, useful playing level. The Joy that the student experiences in their playing as they develop gets transferred to the listening audience and is a very rewarding experience! Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute Recorder Piccolo

Each student has a unique learning style, and I strive to adapt my teaching style to be as effective as possible. The best teacher will teach their student how to teach themselves and how to critically listen to their playing. The most significant thing to know about my teaching style is that we will continually discuss methods of practice and the reasons behind what we are learning. I help my students to set realistic short term and long term goals and give them the tools to reach those goals. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My method of teaching is centered around building technique and encouraging hard work, all whilst finding the inspiration within and keeping my students excited to learn.  In the first lesson, I have the student bring me a list of goals and then prepare future lessons individually tailored to their needs.  I teach vocal and breathing technique, repertoire and interpretation.  I also provide exercises that help tackle performance anxiety for those that need help with this common problem.  For my jazz students, I also offer the opportunity to learn improvisation and scatting.  Read More

Instruments: Flute

My teaching style requires the students to be consistent with their practice and warm ups, which helps to make lessons more efficient and allow students to see faster improvement. For all of my students, I put a lot of emphasis on the fundamentals of a woodwind player, which focuses on student's posture, embouchure, fingering, and breath support. From studying with Carol Wincenc and Karimi Furugh, I learned how closely linked our voice is to the flute. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

I am trained in Music Learning Theory, which promotes the building of the foundational aural and oral music skills which lead to music literacy. For young students, this may look like playing music games and echoing tonal rhythm patterns to help develop a vocabulary. For older voice lesson students, activities based in Music Learning Theory will help build fluency and confidence when learning new solo repertoire. For beginning guitar students, I use Music Will methods to teach chord structures and practice techniques. Read More