Jaimin M
Instruments: Saxophone, Clarinet
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&b, Gospel, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Flamenco, Salsa, Showtunes, Spirituals, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Punk, Mariachi, Avant-Garde

I began teaching in 2003 at my high school during an arts funding crisis that left band students to have sporadic lessons, since we had had an exceptional teacher previously we persevered and excelled in a student-led environment. Luckily by our senior year we had another extraordinary instructor who helped us win first in our district band final, no small feat considering our schools financial hardships and a concert band consisting of only ten students. This experience made me realize that you can do a lot and learn a lot in small numbers. It also is the reason that I have continued to play and perform in my adult life and share this passion. I have attended and performed in many concert, folk, jazz, polka, bands. I have assisted many peers in learning complicated music as well as taught ages 9 to 18 for middle and high school band assistance.

For beginning students, I like to focus for the first few weeks on playing scales and songs without written music, and I continue to incorporate learning by at any level. When I begin using written music I use the Accent on Achievement or Essential Elements method (I am also comfortable with other standard elementary methods and would be happy to use whatever method a student's band director is using), which is a good place to start whether or not the student already reads music. For adult students who are just beginning, I recommend the Universal Method, which covers absolutely everything or whatever the student is comfortable with. Once the student has worked through the fundamentals we can begin introducing solo repertoire in whatever style the student is most excited about.