Saxophone Lessons in Cortlandt, NY

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Accordion

My name is Igor and Im a musician first, composer of music, saxophonist, accordionist and rhythmist. Ive studied Balkan and ancient Indian rhythms. Growing up in a Communist Yugoslavia and then later in my twenties moving to New York City gave me a unique prospective of becoming a musician with wide spectrum of influences. If I could describe my work I would say it is about bringing the musical language of native Slovenia and Eastern Europe into the idiom of modern music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Clarinet

My creative apporach to teaching is shaped by the interests of each individual student, finding a personalized strategy to make learning fun! I work together with my students and their families to establish mutual goals and we acheive them through learning techniques that keep students engaged, interested, and motivated. I offer a well-rounded experience that establishes strong fundimentals in techinique and quality of sound production. To develop technical proficiency and an understanding of lyrical phrasing, I have intermediate and advanced woodwind students work out of the Klose, Ferling, and Rose etude books. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

This, too, varies based on the individual student. I pride myself on my flexibility, and always try to run my lessons based on what best fits the student's personality and learning style. I always, however, provide a thorough and comprehensive music educationI want my students to understand the music they're learning, not just learn how to play their instrument. And most importantly, I strive to maintain a patient, encouraging learning environment. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Euphonium Tuba

For a young child to love music, a teacher must introduce it to him or her in a passionate way, without forcing it one the child. The struggling student is just as capable of loving music, just as much as the accomplished one. As I mentioned earlier, all students learn at different paces, so I teach each student as close as humanly possible to their level. It is not important for a child to play like a professional musician, but to play like the student has put his or her heart into learning the music. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Piccolo Oboe

Depending on the individual needs goals of each student, I will customize lesson plans on a week-to-week basis. If there are no immediate goals for my students, I prefer to focus on classical technique and tone exercises that I compile through a variety of method books for each woodwind instrument. This includes but is not limited to: Moyse, Kroepsch, Baermann, Ferling, Shaw, Filas, Lacour, and many others. Classical technique is boring however, and I also believe that it should be applied towards learning real music that I will tailor to each student! Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet

My ultimate goal is to help students develop a love for playing and being around music. The last thing I want is a discouraged student or one that has become bored with music. Therefore, I will set realistic goals for my students so that they are not overwhelmed, but at the same time are constantly engaged and challenged by the material. I like to teach both by ear and by reading music, which accommodates different learning styles a student may have. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Saxophone Bassoon

I like my lessons to be fun! I like to start my lesson with a "music swap": we each play one minute of a song that we found that week from youtube or spotify and take 30-60 seconds to say why we found it interesting or inspiring (it can be any genre). We then aim to discuss and practice a new technical skill and use exercises to develop it, we work on a song from the method series or a song that the student wants to work on (I often transpose pop/rock songs for my students), and then rhythm training, ear training, and music theory concepts are interspersed throughout. Read More