Cierra A  
Instruments: Voice, Clarinet, Recorder
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Hip Hop, Showtunes, Spirituals, Reggae, New Age, Soul, Marching Band

My teaching experience began as early as high school when I would volunteer my time to teaching middle school students how to play instruments. I continued through college teaching both middle and high school students on my winter and summer breaks. I continued after my matriculation from university, and began to focus on the high school students. I was surprised at their growth on their instruments and intrigued at the passion they gained from our lessons.

For the last 4 years, I have been an instructor at Musika Lessons, and I've enjoyed watching my students have fun and learn loads in their lessons. In addition, I've taught Elementary music for the last 3 years and it has been a blast to see young minds experience musical concepts for the first time! We have fun, we work hard, and we make beautiful music.

The number 1 key to a great lesson is to ensure the student is comfortable within the lesson and that they are having fun.

For Vocal lessons in young beginner students, I typically walk through a few fun silly warm-ups, and breath exercises to get their voice moving free, then allow the student to sing "happy birthday" or another short song to determine pitch range. I follow-up with the "movable Do" concept ("fixed Do" for more advanced), to recognizable songs to teach pitch recognition, diction, and vowel sound in preparation for solo repertiore. For the more advanced, I will start with a few warm-ups, and breath exercises before singing a short song (happy birthday, and/or prepared piece) before determining vocal range and repertoire.

For clarinet beginners, I typically start with the "David Hite" methods book, and the "Big and Beautiful" technique outlined in "Squeak Big". I teach them to build a strong sound from open G and never leave a lesson until they can play a recognizable tune as they are learning the beginning concepts of breathing and technique. For the more advanced player, I introduce them to the "Rose 40 Etudes" book and prepare them for solo, and ensemble repertoire. The goal in every lesson is to keep it fun and engaging. I encourage all students in every level to practice regularly, and keep a notebook of their progress in lesson that they will use as a reference in their practice sessions. This will also allow me to monitor their progression to make adjustments as needed. Additionally, I encourage them to play in an ensemble, and schedule a performance even if it is for family and friends.