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BM, University of Oregon, Music Composition and Guitar Performance
2010 - Presented Theory Papers at West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis
I'm incredibly passionate about music education for all ages. I started playing when I was 7, and started teaching when I was 10 at my middle school, and have been doing it ever since. I've toured around the west coast in bands and flown to different countries as members of collegiate ensembles, even singing with the University of Oregon Chamber Choir during the Estonian Song Festival, with a combined choir of over 30,000!
I started teaching music lessons in after school programs when I was ten and fell totally in love. I continued to do this for many years driving to neighboring towns, volunteering at church youth groups and local Boys and Girls Club all around my hometown. In Portland I've been volunteering every week at Nonprofit Music Schools around town to help underprivileged kids, and expose them to the joy of music, as well as teaching at School of Rock.
Over twenty years of playing all instruments has taught me there is not one specific way to teach music, so I change my curriculum for every student and completely customize what you learn to how you learn, and what you're interested in. Together we will choose short term and long term goals, and I regularly learn music my students love, and then use those songs to demonstrate theoretical principles, instead of using music that comes out of some book.
As a general rule, I blend music instruction between all instruments in order to make points very clear - all of my guitar students learn theory on the piano as well as solfedge (singing theory), and vice versa. I teach this to you through vehicles that you decide on and enjoy, for instance I regularly transcribe the music of the videogame Sonic the Hedgehog for one of my young piano students, and we play them as duets. I make it my absolute priority to teach you the music you enjoy and love.