Piano Lessons in Washington Xing, PA

Instruments: Piano Voice Flute

I have a deep joy for music making that I have eagerly shared with my students for the last 15 years. In addition to my varied teaching career, I am also a full-time freelance musician and travel all over the country and the world (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Rome, Dublin) as a soloist and ensemble member. I have been fortunate to make music professionally since I was a teenager which inspired me to earn a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory and History, and Master of Music in Vocal Performance. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Music Keyboard Electric Guitar

For beginner students, I often begin with the foundations of the instrument. For drums, we would be practice the rhythmic subdivisions (quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes) and slowly work them into grooves that they can easily start to pick out of their favorite songs. When the fundamentals have been established, we can learn more advanced grooves, dissect songs together, and learn how to improvise and write our own drum parts. My biggest focus as a teacher is to help the student discover the music that they want to learn and make so that they can develop their own unique voice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet Trombone Euphonium French Horn Tuba Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

My performance and education career began as early as my freshman year of college. I have been fortunate to perform over 1,800 professional commitments in my career as well as teaching roughly 25 students. Some performance highlights of my career have been performing on four national tours, playing two contracts with the Hershey Park band, recording with different artists, and of course performing with the Marine Corps and the Air Force bands. Read More

Instruments: Piano Organ Keyboard

I generally start each lesson by asking the student 1) what went well in their practicing and 2) if there is anything they found difficult. If they mention an area of difficulty we focus on that before making any attempt to play the piece through. I make the lesson a partnership in which we work together toward the goal of accomplishment. Once this has been realized, we then treat the piece as a finished product. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

Vocal lessons are a bit different, as everyone has sung to some degree, even it's just to themselves! For beginning vocal students, I start by simply teaching a student how to warm up; from there, we work together to determine what a student's natural strengths and weaknesses are and select repertoire that the student is personally interested in that is also appropriate to their level of proficiency. Either way, expect to learn a bit of music theory along the way and to gain an appreciation for both how and why we do what we do. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Saxophone Flute Clarinet Music Keyboard

I focus on tone production, articulation and phrasing. Sight reading, improvisation and music theory follow next. With clarinet and saxophone students I spend a lot of time on reed selection and care. There are so many misconceptions about reed strength and how it relates to mouthpieces that I could talk about it all day (and usually do). I work on clarinets and saxophones every day and consider myself proficient in identifying problems with instruments and then fixing those problems. Read More

Instruments: Piano

My style is encouraging, easy-going, patient and understanding.  I explain things as many times as necessary in a calm friendly manner since I know students (and all the rest of us) don't remember stuff the first time it is heard—or played—or read. I encourage questions and discussions about practicing, repertoire, performing, and careers. To be sure time is well spent, I'll sometimes say, "Practice this piece just as you would if I were not here."  This way I can offer suggestions for learning pieces and methods more quickly.   Practice time should be a joyful time, full of a sense of accomplishment, and I am especially keen to help make this so for all students. Read More