Piano Lessons in Roanoke, VA

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Harmonica Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
The next instrument that made the makt sense to play was bass. I would not consider myself a great bass player, but what I do try to do when I play is fulfill the roll of a bass player, and try not to sound like a guitar player who picked up a bass. It started when I would tinker around on my friend’s bass, and I eventually got my own. Additionally, I always loved hopping on a drumset go knock out a few beats. About 7 years into playing music, I got my own drumset, and would also play somewhat consistently on a practice pad. My first instrument was piano, but learning music theory creates a necessity for getting better at the instrument. My sight reading is not very good, but I do have a pretty good ability to convert theoretical ideas I’ve learned on the guitar to the piano. I’ve also found that it is useful to learn new patterns on the guitar by playing them on a keyboard. Finally, the harmonica started as something I very casually played in high school, then in the last few years I learned enough techniques on it to feel comfortable playing the blues and along to different songs. I also have a chromatic harp, but it is a little more difficult for me to make music with.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
As briefly mentioned before, my dad initially wanted to go into college studying classical piano. He chose a career in medicine instead, as he placed second in a piano competition in which the first place winner received a scholarship to study music. He was also involved in choir in high school, and played some guitar. My mother sang and also played piano from a very young age. Both of my brothers took classical piano lessons from age 5 to 18, and performed beautifully complex pieces from Chopin to Greig.

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
It was apparent from the first time I played a guitar that I was deeply in love, but there was one defining moment in high school where I believed it would be a possibility. I hadn’t been playing guitar for about 9 months, and was obsessed with Led Zeppelin, and Jimmy Page’s abilities. I had been working tirelessly on developing technique and teaching myself scales, and I decided to push myself by learning the solo to the song “Heartbreaker.” I spent a few weeks on it, and was able to play it note for note. It was at this moment that I realized I had a knack for the guitar more than I had perhaps understood before, and from that point forward, I knew that I wanted to pursue music professionally.

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