Trombone Lessons in La Crescenta, CA

Instruments: Piano Voice Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums French Horn Oboe

I truly believe that all learning, while serious in nature, should be fun and exciting in methodology. Living in the age of technology, there are so many ways to make learning fun and interesting for students. Whether it be sharing information from Youtube, educational sites such as The Teaching Channel, using digital music apps such as "Smart Music" for assessment, showing a student how to record themselves on their smartphones, all of these things can be brought in to the instructional experience. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Cello Viola Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Bass Guitar Organ Synthesizer Harp Accordion Harmonica Lap Steel Guitar Banjo Ukulele Mandolin Recorder Lute Electric Violin Fiddle Double Bass Euphonium French Horn Tuba Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Shakuhachi Oboe Bassoon English Horn Conga Latin Percussion Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Most recently Derek was the lead trombonist of the 2018 Disneyland All-American College Band. He has recently performed with Wayne Bergeron, Gordon Goodwin, Dave Holland, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Heath, Shaun Martin, Christian Jacob, John Beasley, Troy Roberts, Frank Greene, Brian Lynch, Jeff Jarvis, Steve Houghton, Jiggs Whigham, Sal Lozano, and John Clayton. Derek has had recent performances at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, the Smithsonian Institute, and the New World Symphony. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Cello Viola Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet French Horn Piccolo Oboe

My approach to learning an instruments is to have the students learn to play by ear first before they can start learning to read music. I find that most students are able to progress quickly because it frees them to focus on the playing the instruments rather than reading notes. I consider reading music like different subject that they learn later. Learning music is like learning to speak. First we learn to talk and then we learn to read and write. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Ukulele Euphonium Tuba

Use all major method and etude books. Have a large library of rare etude books on PDF as well as my own exercises I've written out. Example trumpet books for intermediate student: Arban Clarke Sachs Schlossberg Stamp Charlier Vizzutti Bai Lin Irons etc I encourage students to find music they would like to play, even if they aren't able to play immediately. I can modify the music to make it playable until they have progressed enough to play the original. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Euphonium Tuba

For students learning their first instrument and learning how to read music, I like to spend the majority of the time buzzing on the mouthpiece, breathing, as well as studying and playing easy warm ups such as Remingtons. This way students can build their fundamentals for their instrument at the same time they are developing better reading skills. For more advanced beginners I have them read easy etudes to develop their reading and overall musicianship. Read More

Instruments: Trombone

Regardless of level I cater and build a lesson plan for YOU. No two lesson plans will be the same. I also take your own preferences into mind upon what I feel you should study as well. For example, a younger student might focus on technique and theory but a higher level student might focus on their own creative voice or sound, or an audition. I also want to make sure these individuals are succeeding in what they want to do, so I will offer suggestions or help finding playing opportunities or work. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Trombone Bass Guitar Synthesizer Euphonium French Horn Tuba Music

Of course, everything depends on what you, the student, want to learn! For younger students that are just starting, I've found the Accent on Achievement books to be very helpful in developing the basics of playing. From there, Classically-focused players would learn solo repertoire, Jazz-focused players would learn standards and improvisation, and all the other genres would begin to narrow down their appropriate fields. Adults are certainly welcome as well and I'd love to help them learn whatever they are interested in. Read More