Music Lessons in South Holland, IL

Instruments: Saxophone

For individual study, I use a number of diverse methods, depending on the needs and goals of the student. Beginner students will start with the Hal Leonard Beginner series, focused on mastering the fundamentals. Once a students has mastered the foundational technical scales, arpeggios, articulation; and understanding of time and tempo, we can proceed to augmenting the classical studies with jazz studies. For more intermediate - advanced students, we continue with the Hal Leonard series and augment with the Paul DeVille Universal Method for Saxophone, Klose 25 Daily Exercises, Voxman Selected Studies Books, and transcriptions of Bach (Cello Suites) and Taffanel (Flute Studies). Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Euphonium French Horn Tuba

I am always conscious of myself to aim to be fun, understanding, and motivating. As long as my student is motivated to learn I could not care less if they were the worst player on the planet; I will endure thick and thin to guide them to success. The motivation to become better and to strive for excellence is what I look for in my students. I love music and while I don't expect all my students to pursue music as a career, I want my students coming away from my lessons purely enjoying music. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I typically start beginners with the Teaching Little Fingers to play books. After going through the books at whatever rate the student needs to retain information, I will move on to solo repertoire pieces that align with the students' interests and tastes. I remember my piano teacher when I was a child bringing over several books for me to choose from, and it was the most exciting thing. I do the same with my students, so that the learning stays fun and students get to reap the rewards of their hard work throughout the process. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Teaching voice is something that I believe requires highly personalized lesson plans, and so there are books for which to acquire basic theory, note-reading, and sight-singing, but usually, lessons must be repertoire based, and conceptual. Students usually have an idea of certain songs they would like to learn, and I believe it is very important to enable them to sing what they like to sing. However, I will also suggest repertoire that they are unfamiliar with, or initially uncomfortable with to broaden their musical knowledge and appreciation, and also to address certain skill sets. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet

For beginning students I would focus on their posture and breathing. It's easy to start with bad posture and breathing when you are just starting out and if kept, it will be incredibly hard to get into having good posture and breathing techniques. Then we would focus on exercises that their band teacher or I gave out, and we would work on scales. For more advanced players I would start to use excerpts from the Arbons book. Read More

Instruments: Drums

Every student is different. Rather than approach each of my students with a pre-existing teaching methods/style, I take the approach of catering to each of one my students specifics needs. I want my students to always feel comfortable and to tell me what they want to learn from me. I also do not believe in pushing things on my students, such as a certain musical style or genre, just because it's something I what them to learn. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Keyboard

To me, the most important thing about teaching is listening to a student's goals and interests. I do my best to keep my ears open as we work to make sure I am structuring a program that helps them feel fulfilled and challenged every step of the way. For younger students, the goal is to keep them engaged in music until the point when they have such mastery that they can see the results of their work tangibly. Read More