Music Lessons in West Mclean, VA

Instruments: Piano

Passionate and Accomplished Piano Teacher I am a dedicated and passionate piano teacher and performer with extensive training and experience. I have taught students of all ages and levelsfrom young beginners as young as four years old to college-level musicians and adults in retirement. My goal is to share my love of music and help each student develop confidence, creativity, and strong musical skills. With a background in classical piano performance and years of teaching experience, I tailor my lessons to meet the unique needs of each student. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Music

For all students I began with breathing exercises, then buzzing in there mouthpiece. Then go into working from the Essential Elements book by Hal Leonard. After they have progressed and grasp the fundamentals, I usually began giving them solo repertoire. I usually ask my student what they are interested in and once the fundamentals are learned by the student I work with them on something they may want to do. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I began my career teaching music in several elementary schools near Princeton, New Jersey right after I finished graduate school in 2002. I've spent much of my career teaching in one form or another, and recently took a two year hiatus to be home with my baby son. I love musical theater and have been in many, many regional theater productions. I have been the lead or principal character in a number of shows. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

My background in piano playing and composition development is synopsized on my website www.ivorytunes.com as follows: "Enlighten yourself to contemporary new piano music with a jazzy, movie theme flair that emboldens variety, flair and a fresh change to the choices in the current market. The Ivory Tunes website of Vint Hill, VA showcases original piano songs composed by Mike Ryon. His ambition is to add variety and pizzas to your current listening and playing repertoire as well as inspire developing performance musicians to venture down the path of original song composition through inward inspiration and creative enjoyment. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

I like to teach without books as much as possible as I feel it allows the student to internalize musical concepts better. The book series I use however is the Rubank method books. These have easy fundamental exercises to help keep the chops in shape and to work on reading music. I also recommend students buy sheet music of music they like(assuming it is at their playing level) and will happily work on it with them. Read More

Instruments: Ukulele

With a beginner student, I start with the basics. We learn how to properly hold the instrument and how to tune the strings. From there, the students will learn the fundamentals of finger placement and basic strumming. Once the student feels comfortable, we start to learn different chords and scales. At this point, students will begin learning songs with basic chords. Once we get past this stage the lessons become more tailored to the individual student and we begin to learn and play music that the student is interested in. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola

I try to cater to the each student's particular needs. For beginning students that are children I typically start with the Essential Elements Strings Book 1 in combination with Suzuki first book. As every student progresses at a different pace, I adjust my teaching curriculum accordingly. Having that in mind, I decide on the next step, usually some solo repertoire, as well as some more etudes and scales.  For adults, I tend to go with what they are particularly interested in, as well as incorporating learning basic music reading and playing skills. Read More