Melissa W
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles: Classical, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes
Melissa W
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles:
Classical, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 5-80
California State University Stanislaus - Bachelors of Music - Vocal Performance
I have been involved in music for over 20 years, including participating in numerous choral programs and volunteering for my church worship team. I decided to major in music in college, and I graduated with my B.M. in 2018. During both high school and university, I performed with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra in productions such as Elijah, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, and various holiday concerts. For my vocal performance major, I gave two recitals for my school. On my church worship team, I volunteer as a vocalist and as a pianist, and I’ve done a lot of solo work for them.
I have been a music instructor for 2 years now, and I love seeing the smiles that music brings to my students’ faces. My goal is to make learning how to sing or play the piano a fun experience. I can teach students anything they want to learn, even if I don’t yet know how to sing or play it myself, including classical music such as Mozart and Beethoven or modern pop music such as Demi Lovato or The Greatest Showman! The number one rule in my studio is this: Never apologize for making a mistake. My studio is a safe environment for you to make mistakes, because that is how you learn! Whether you’re 5 years old or 85, whether you read music or not, I can teach you what you want to know and we’ll have a fun time!
The first thing I do in a lesson is evaluate what the student knows and doesn’t know about voice or piano. For voice, the first lesson will always focus on warming up the voice and addressing any areas that need worked on. From there, I’ll have a song or two for the student to work on, and warmups will be tailored to the problem areas. Usually, I’ll let the student pick songs if they’re younger or if they have experience and know their voice well enough. For sight-reading, I’ll use my own lesson plans.
For piano students, I’ll use Alfred’s all-in-one books for both kids and adults - the kids book is for students ages 5-11, and the adult version is for students 12+. The first lesson is an evaluation to see how much the student knows about the piano, and which book is best to start out with. Once a few lessons have gone by, I’ll let the student pick a song outside the book that they want to learn, and we’ll go over it in class.
The two rules I follow for teaching any student is that 1: Everyone goes at their own pace, and 2: Everyone learns differently. That goes for all my students, regardless of instrument. If a student is having trouble grasping what I’m saying/demonstrating, we’ll keep going over it until they understand. Maybe a topic has to be approached differently for someone; I can do that. Other students will pick things up more quickly, and we can skip ahead to more challenging parts of the books or pick harder songs to sing or play. Whatever the student needs to learn best, I will try my best to accommodate them.
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