David A
Instruments: Trumpet, Trombone
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues

I began teaching at the age of 19, at Northeast Catholic High School, Paul VI High School and numerous grade schools throughout the Philadelphia area.  By the age of 20, I was teaching at the Conservatory Division of the University of the Arts in Philly.  While working with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Maracaibo, I was a teacher in the famed "La Sistema" music programs in Venezuela, teaching in the cities of Maracaibo, Coro, Barquisimeto and Caracas.  Throughout my teaching career, I have been guided by three principles:  1)  In music education, "music" is the adjective and "education" is the noun.  It is most important to educate the student *through* music, with the ultimate aim of "teaching them to teach themselves", so that they can enjoy a life of learning in music.  2) Care about the student as an individual.  No student advances unless they are working with a teacher who truly CARES about them as individuals as well as their musical progress.  My goal is always to first determine what is truly important for the individual student and then HELP them achieve their goals, while helping them to discover who THEY are as musicians and students. 3) Learning and playing music MUST be enjoyable and fun.  State of mind in learning is everything.  We cannot be succesful in learning to perform musically, if we are not enjoying the journey!

I use the musical methods that work and produce results for the indvidual - without overlooking the need to instill discipline and musical rudiments required for mastery. For brand new brass students, I begin with basics of embouchure formation, in a fun way... using a progression of "free buzzing", mouthpiece playing, ultimately leading to playing on the horn.  This will take a few days to a week to establish. The result is a firm foundation and understanding that will last a lifetime. I work with all of the standard brass methods, selecting those that are appropriate for the individual. For example,  Rubank, Hal Leonard, Schlossberg,  Herbert Clarke, Arbans, Charlier, etc.  I believe in teaching technique as much as possible through MUSIC (not just exercises).  To this aim, I encourage students to play everything from simple songs and tunes to the "classic" literature such as Haydn, Hummel, and Hindemith - and orchestral etudes (as appropriate).  Finally, I believe in making all students aware of the harmonic structure underlying music by introducing them to jazz patterns in ii-V-I progressions and various forms of modal scales, to round out their musical knowledge.