Alden S  
Instruments: Piano, Saxophone, Clarinet
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, R&B, Funk, Swing, Soul, Avant-garde

I started teaching music in college through my babysitting network. When the mothers and fathers of the children I cared for found out that I played piano and woodwinds, many of them asked if I would also give their kids private lessons. Having a knack with kids and with music, my music teaching practice quickly blossomed in that small town. I have found that while it's important to keep kids sharp in their ability to read music on the page, it is at least as important to engage their creativity off the page. For me this means sourcing simple playing material from songs in their lives, from TV and movies, to YouTube, etc. And while my experience has mostly been with beginners, I'm also equipped and excited to teach more advanced students as well.

When I teach beginners, I put my faith in the Hal Leonard Standard of Excellence series for woodwinds. For Pianist, the Suzuki series is quite good, as well as A Dozen A Day and the tried and true Mikrokosmos of Bela Bartok. For more advanced players, I like to work within their preferred style, ie R&B, Rock, Classical, but also find it important draw relevant material from other styles like Jazz and non-Western music. But regardless of who I'm teaching, it is important to me that I be non-directive, that is, to lead the student in the direction of discovery. Rarely do I just give away an answer when I know the student can work it out, at least partially, on their own. That's the kind of learning that sticks.