Music Lessons in White Plains, NY

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Djembe

For beginners I usually begin with Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone and Fundamental Studies for Snare Drum by Garwood Whaley. Once the student has a good grasp on basic reading and technique, I usually introduce rudiments and start working on solo or play along repertoire. I also like to use The Drum Set Musician by Rod Morgenstein. Besides book work I also like to bring in things that I am working on either with bands I play with or personal projects. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Trumpet Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Piano - I typically start with Dozen A Day and books that stress technique. At the onset, I believe that hand position is incredibly important, so I make sure to pick exercises and etudes that reflect that importance. After that, I like to move onto the Faber series so that students can have exposure to a bunch of different styles, including jazz, classical, rock and pop. Guitar - Like piano, technique is where I begin. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone

One of the most valuable life skills that music lessons can impart is the skill of objective self-analysis. This means being honest with oneself, both about areas that need improvement (weaknesses), but also existing strengths! I encourage students to use this skill in a musical context, with the hope that they then carry it out into other parts of their lives. My greatest strength as a teacher is my flexibility- I make sure to prepare for every lesson, but if a student comes in with a curveball that takes the lesson in a new direction, I'm happy to go with the flow, and to try and build and expose the deeper relationships between different areas of music and the saxophone. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My teaching style is based on the goals of the student. If you are a junior high or high school student preparing for musical theater in your school or for community theater productions I can help. If you are a high school student who is thinking about majoring in voice at a college or university or conservatory and you need preparation in vocal technique, song literature and proper language diction I can help. Read More

Instruments: Trombone

For beginning students, I typically start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements. Once the student has a grasp on the fundamentals of performance, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first recital or NYSSMA solo. After the student moves on from basic method books, I introduce more trombone-specific books such as Arban's Trombone Method Book,and Rochut's Melodious Etudes for trombone. For adults, I like to find out what kind of music they want to play and plan my lesson accordingly to skill level. Read More