Piano Lessons in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Instruments: Voice Drums

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Always begin with a gentle 10-minute warm up before tackling any exercises. Divide your practice schedule into three equal parts: warming up, technical exercises and repertoire. Try to practice every day for at least 20 minutes and no more than one hour, particularly if you are a singer. It's important to protect your instrument and vocal health is a primary consideration. Stay relaxed at all times to avoid straining muscles or vocal chords. Use a metronome to practice exercise that require good time keeping. Contact your teacher if you have any questions about the material you are working on.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
When your child is able to focus at least 20 minutes a day, he or she is ready to start studying a musical instrument. Your child must also have a passion for the particular instrument of choice. He or she must understand that while music is fun, learning to play a musical instrument also requires work in the form of daily practice. It is best to begin when your child demonstrates a degree of self-discipline and shouldn't have to be reminded to practice every day. Your child is ready for lessons when he/she finds a teacher who provides technical expertise, stylistic proficiency and above all, inspiration.

Did you have a teacher that inspired you to go into music? How did they inspire you?
My first music teacher was a trumpet player who loved music. His passion for teaching was so strong that after my lesson on Saturday mornings, I would stay and watch him teach for the rest of the day. He was a very talented musician and a warm, loving person with high but reasonable expectations. I loved practicing because I loved him. He was the inspiration for my becoming a teacher and I still miss him very much. He taught me that success in life requires labor and I have labored successfully every since!

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
For me this is a complicated question as I am a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. I chose each instrument I play--and they are all primary--because of the aesthetic experience and emotional profile each has to offer. I began with trumpet because it matched my personality at age 12. I enjoyed the metallic feel of holding the instrument, buzzing my lips to produce a sound and using my dexterous fingers to navigate scales, arpeggios and other technical gymnastics. I added drums to my cache at age 14 because of my strong affinity for the beat and pulse of jazz and contemporary music. It was satisfying to hit a variety of semi-pitched drums with two sticks and the flare of crash cymbals was a delight to my senses! My love for classical music pulled me to the string family when I studied the acoustic bass at age 16. Plucking strings felt like heaven and the challenge for me was using the bow. When I was 18 I added the flute to my repertoire because of the traditional literature and the ease of making music with a simple, focused air stream. My eventual affinity for the voice as a musical form of expression stemmed from listening to scat singers, especially Ella Fitzgerald. Having already played an arsenal of musical instruments, it was easy to translate my emotions to the voice and I used jazz improvisation to realize this. At the time there was no pedagogy for scat singing so I decided to write one and teach it as an accepted technique in the music education arena. At age 27, I made the voice my primary instrument and began a career teaching "Instru-Vocal" technique and coaching singers in jazz and all styles of contemporary music.

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