Saxophone Lessons in Westerwood, NC

Instruments: Saxophone Music

I typically start out young students with the Essential Elements books, although I also like the Rubank books. If the students are enrolled in a band program, I try to go with the book used in school, while adding in supplemental material as I see necessary. I try to introduce numerous etude books including Ferling, Klose, and Rascher as a progression out of the method books previously mentioned. I try to discuss the interests of my students often to assess what will be an appropriate next step in their musical selection for them to make sure its challenging without causing an overreach and breakdown of their fundamentals Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Saxophone Drums Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Music Djembe

I create my own lesson plans (and some materials) specific to each student. Some standard books I use are Alfred's Drum Method book 1, The New Breed, Portraits in Rhythm, The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary to name a few. The books are necessary for developing music literacy, however I remind students that the pages don't make sound!!! Developing a discerning ear is paramount in my approach. Therefore we do a lot of listening and I engage students in dialogue for them to develop a personalized mental image of what they are trying to play. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Bass Guitar Synthesizer Recorder Keyboard Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have had many experiences in my pursuit of Music throughout the Eastern Seaboard. I have had professional singing experiences as well in a few varied genres, include Gospel, Spiritual and Classical musics. My professional training in Education has afforded me the luxury of teaching in a variety of educational settings ranging from Pre-School to Adult Continuing Education. To culminate my work experiences in Therapeutic Music as both a Recreation Specialist and Music Therapist, I completed one year of study at New York University and have plans to one day finish a program I started there. I have also maintained my skill at performance on Woodwinds and Classical guitar, which I enjoy especially having students to prepare for. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Piccolo Oboe English Horn

For beginning students, we will spend a good amount of the first few lessons in developing core fundamentals. Once we have a solid foundation, I will start to add in some exercises. I work out of many books to expose my students to different methods of playing. For more advanced students, I will work with them on developing more characteristic sounds. We will also dive into deeper topics such as tone color, articulation style, and period specific styles. Read More

Instruments: Voice Trumpet Saxophone Flute Clarinet

I take a very detailed and analytical approach to music performance, and this is reflected in my teaching. I believe many students look at a piece of music that seems too difficult and become too overwhelmed to realize that's it's not as difficult as it may first appear. By breaking down music into its components, pitch, rhythm, dynamic, articulation, etc., and tackling each item one at a time, students who thought of music as a strange and foreign language begin to see it as something that just works and makes sense. Read More