James S
Instruments: Piano, Violin, Viola, Trumpet, Recorder, Fiddle
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Folk, Country, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes, Spirituals, Latin Jazz, Swing, Mariachi, Avant-garde
James S
Instruments: Piano, Violin, Viola, Trumpet, Recorder, Fiddle
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Folk, Country, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes, Spirituals, Latin Jazz, Swing, Mariachi, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 10-80
BA, California State University, Fresno, Violin Performance MA, California State University, Fresno, Violin Performance California State Teaching Credential, K-12
I am passionate about helping students at any level improve their skills. I have Bachelors and Masters degrees in Violin Performance and have played all over the world. For 10 years I was concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic and have performed as soloist and concertmaster of the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra touring throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. I moved to the Los Angeles area in 1996 and have been a member for over 20 years of the first violin section of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra with Placido Domingo as the Artistic Director. I have been featured during that time as an on stage soloist and leader of backstage banda groups. I am also associate concertmaster of the California Philharmonic. Now that I am retired from the public schools and soon from the opera orchestra I have more time to teach privately and am looking forward to using my expertise and a performer and teacher to take students to any level they would like to go.
My teaching experience began as a college student. I taught privately and later after getting my certification with the state of California I taught for 10 years as an instrumental music instructor with the Clovis Unified School District near Fresno. After that I moved to Los Angeles and taught for 14 years in that capacity with the South Whittier Schools. I am familiar with a variety of musical styles and like to vary my instruction to both classical and mariachi as well as others listed above. I have an expertise in fiddling and have performed with bluegrass bands since being in high school. I also have a history of performing mariachi music with the famous band Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. I enjoy teaching this to my students as well as American music with the method books of Mark O'Connor with whom I have worked on several occasions. Learning these styles if fun! I have also taught piano at the elementary and intermediate levels as well at the Piano Place Music and Arts Center in Westminster. I love teaching and my goal is always to inspire students to do their best and have a great time. I am looking to teach new students of all ages!
I like to start out beginning string students with Essential Elements 2000 by the Hal Leonard company. They have a complete system which includes professionally recorded accompaniments which provide a model for the student to hear how to play with good intonation, tone and rhythm which are the most important basics. In addition I recommend other sheet music with piano accompaniment or books with CD accompaniments that can be performed for friends and family. Students at the intermediate and advanced levels are given books and sheet music that develop skill playing scales, arpeggios, higher positions, etudes and vibrato. For adults I ask what they are interested in and find appropriate music that they find interesting and fun.
My goal is always to take students where they are: beginning, intermediate or advanced and help them discover and develop their own love of music. I do this through introducing music that develops their skill and gives them the satisfaction of playing music that they enjoy. It is not only about playing scales and such but learning to play musically so that people they may play for in the future will enjoy listening to them and they will enjoy sharing what they have learned. Ultimately, I feel music is about vibration that goes directly to people's hearts. When you perform on your chosen instrument you are giving others a rare gift that they will always cherish. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing another person light up when they have been given this gift that could last a lifetime.
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