Nate S  
Instruments: Piano, Guitar, Voice, Drums, Bass Guitar, Music, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Funk, Hip Hop, Latin Jazz, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul

Back in college I was given an opportunity to teach a private piano lesson & while I was initially unsure how it would go . . . turns out teaching came quite naturally to me. I basically became the teacher I always wanted; a fun & playful instructor who still tries to motivate & encourages progress. I realized that the most success happens when the student has a positive association w/ music, so I always make that my top priority. It's rewarding for me to see students genuinely having a good time learning music & my ultimate goal is to have them enjoy their lessons as they develop a stronger aptitude for music. I always look forward to helping people bridge the gap between where they are & where they'd like to be - giving guidance & creating a real impact on their musicianship provides me with much fulfillment as a teacher.

Since I've observed that most younger students tend to not know what style they like, I typically place them on Alfreds lesson books. For some reason, it seems to me that students "wake up" to a much wider range of genres at age 11 & I prefer to accommodate their stylistic preferences to make lessons more fun for them. For teenagers & adults, I encourage them to tell me what their favorite songs & styles are so that we can focus on what gives them the most gratification, thus making their lessons more enjoyable. As a non-classical instructor, I feel that too many teachers over-emphasize sight-reading which causes many other essential areas of musical to be neglected. My personal philosophy is that a "complete" musician is a well-rounded one, and a "well-rounded" musician is proficient in many areas of music (not just one or too). Music encompasses an extremely large range of skill sets & I make a point to leave no stone unturned - I don't require my students to learn every area of music, but I do present them with many areas to expand their horizons.