Piano Lessons in Cameron Station, DC

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: Piano

I believe that motivating and inspiring students requires a different approach. But nothing is more rewarding than seeing one of my students develop a passion for music. Therefore, its important that each student progresses at his or her own pace. I encourage this by setting realistic goals for my students at each lesson. Acknowledging accomplishments helps fuel a student desire to progress, and makes students eager to learn and practice more. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Keyboard

I typically begin my lessons with a 30 to 45-minute session to introduce music theory and the chosen instrument. For beginner students, I use a combination of the James Bastien and Alfred's Basic methods to teach foundational music theory. Based on the student’s instrument of choice, I supplement these lessons with additional materials tailored to practice and performance. For adult students, I prioritize their interests, adapting my lessons to make the learning experience engaging, enjoyable, and relevant to their musical goals. Read More

Instruments: Piano

My teaching experience began in 1979 when I assisted my master instructor with group lessons. Area residents quickly hired me to teach their children soon after. For the past 34 years, I have taught private lessons in my home studio part-time. It was not until the past 6 years that it became a full-time position for me. I strongly believe in teaching music from the masters to modern music. I strongly encourage my students to try all genres, knowing that they will gravitate to one or more. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin

For young, beginning and novice students, I believe that it is important to find and instill a love of music before diving too deeply into the fundamentals. Music is a beautiful thing, but it can be overwhelmingly complex at the same time. I will only take on students who show a genuine interest in music, and from there I like to cultivate that interest. We can discover what they like about music and go from there. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Bass Guitar Ukulele Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I love to see my students overcome challenges in music. My music teacher used to say, "nothing is hard, or difficult, just challenging." If students learn how to practice effectively on their own, learning new music becomes easier over time. I teach my students how to approach a certain rhythm, phrase, or fingering and the techniques to do so correctly such as by slowing down and practicing with a metronome, our muscle memory will be able to play it up to speed once it's learned. Read More

Instruments: Piano Organ Music Keyboard

The goal is to supply students with the tools and the knowledge to be successful and also to facilitate an environment of growth. As we progress through lessons, I will challenge students with weekly and even monthly goals. I've realized every student has a different way of learning, and the methods will cater to the individual. For instance, students who learned mostly by ear can learn about theory. We can begin by identifying whether a scale is major or minor, but first we need to know that major generally sounds brighter/happy and minor usually sounds darker/sad. Read More