Matt B  
Instruments: Saxophone
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Funk, Electronic, Salsa, Showtunes, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, Samba, Bossa Nova, Avant-garde

I've been teaching private lessons consistently for 8 years. I first started teaching when I was in high school, helping other students understand points about theory and improvisation. Music lessons have so many different things to offer to people, so I believe in letting people take from lessons what will best serve them. If people are looking to get more serious about the instrument, I'll focus on building a practice regimen with them, and methodically expanding their technical and musical ability. If people are more interested in an at-your-own-pace style of lessons, I love navigating the balance between pushing students to try new things and expand themselves, and solidifying the skills and interests they already have. In addition to teaching saxophone, I've been teaching both music theory (classical and jazz) and ear training (including solfege and sight singing) independent of saxophone lessons for 4 years. In my opinion, ear training is the most important skill any musician can cultivate, and I always work to integrate ear training techniques into saxophone lessons.

For young learners and adult beginners who are interested in reading music, I usually use Eugene Rosseau's Saxophone Methods, while incorporating level-appropriate pieces along the way. One of my favorite skills to cultivate is transcription, so I will both transcribe into written form music requested by students, and guide students in learning music by ear themselves. In general, I work from custom lessons plans informed by my experience with the typical progression of students; I never work exclusively from one book or another. Finally, I'm a strong believer in the importance of having a strong ability with and (even more importantly!) understanding of the fundamentals of the saxophone, and of music itself. This means guided practice of the basic exercises in lessons, and guided analysis/breakdown of music to see the inner patterns at work. For my students that want them, I create practice guides after each lesson (written music with exercises discussed) and send follow up emails with suggestions for things to focus on in that week's practice.