Samuel K
Instruments: Piano, Guitar, Voice, Trombone, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Oboe
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Gospel, Musical Theater, Showtunes, Spirituals, Marching Band

I began teaching back in my sophomore year of high school when one of my friends wanted to learn how to play the piano. I gave them half hour lessons once a week and tailored my teaching to fit what techniques they wanted to learn. After that, I began branching out and teaching other friends, and eventually found myself helping out the middle school bands during my study hall. Now that I am in college, my own playing has improved and I have found new ways to connect and teach students whether that be in person, or by using technology such as skype. I find that the key part of playing an instrument, especially for beginners, is to have fun; if the student doesn't enjoy their instrument, then I am not teaching them properly. Similarly, I encourage my students to perform in front of others because I find that showing others what you have learned helps encourage more practice and enjoyment when playing.

My main music philosophy is to teach sound before sight: teach students to hear the music, and then read the notation. For beginners, I want them to become well acquainted with their instrument so I begin with the basic fundamentals, and then teach some traditional tunes before moving on to reading music. For students who can already read music, I like to work on sight-reading as well as finding solo repertoire that can be performed at recitals. Since I find every student learns differently, I like to create my own lesson plans that are tailored to the individual student because this helps them reach their full potential. That being said, I am not against method books as they provide valuable technique exercises that strengthen a student's playing.