Voice Lessons in Hood College, MD

Instruments: Voice

For first time students, I immediately begin focusing on the aspect of breath related to the voice. I achieve this by utilizing exercises such as Lip Trills, Tongue rolling, and belly laughs. The is a fun, interesting, and above all effective way to show the student what muscles are working and where. From there, I begin to build upon warmups starting from the simple (e.g. 3-5 note scales) eventually leading to more difficult (e.g. octave runs with triplet passages). Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Saxophone Bass Guitar Organ Music Keyboard

My approach seeks to breathe air under the wings of the students' interest and attention by making them a constant starting point, while also laying the groundwork of introspection for students to develop and apply their own practices of learning, exploration, and innovation going forward. My teaching methods focus on considering embodied experiences of music, as well as a range of philosophical considerations. Students will be encouraged to think about how feelings, subjectivities, sounds, and spaces interact in complex ways, along with a series of other metaphysical questions that I believe are essential to a holistic praxis of understanding and learning music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I adjust my teaching based on each student's abilities to maintain a relaxed, fun, and engaging atmosphere.For younger students, I typically start with Music for Little Mozarts, which includes a variety of activities in addition to the exploration of music. For older or more intermediate students, I recommend Faber Faber's Piano Adventures, which incorporates not only interesting musical selections, but also introduces music theory and analysis. For advanced students, I prefer to piece together selected repertoires based on music relevant to their interests; this typically includes a selection of classical and contemporary compositions with some discussion of the pieces' context within a greater scope of music history and theory. Read More

Instruments: Voice

There are few things I love more than seeing a student's eyes light up when they're proud of what they have performed and accomplished! I try to help students set realistic goals that will make them feel happy and accomplished and let them move at their own pace. I view my studio as a warm place that students can feel safe in to explore their passion for music through their own voice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I see myself as a facilitator, helping students discover new elements of music and music theory and building upon those to create a greater understanding of reading and playing music both for piano and voice. Often i will model by playing a song first so that the student cannot not only hear what is sounds like but observe my technique, finger changes, dynamic ranges, tempo and so on. There are many elements to performing a piece besides just playing the correct notes! Read More

Instruments: Voice

Each student has individual strengths, weaknesses, physical and emotional needs and goals for their singing, and it is my responsibility as a teacher to meet students where they are. By facilitating a safe and low-pressure learning environment during a lesson, the student is free to explore their own abilities, experiment through trial and error, and fully flourish on their singing journey. I believe good technique is best discovered through the diligent study of scales and vocalises, which are then incorporated into whatever repertoire they are interested in working on. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

Aestethics or "beauty" of the voice is subjective. In this method we favor the voice health. The ability to sing without fatigue. The confidence that we can trust in our instrument. The result of this work is after all a "beautiful" sound. And it will sound beautiful for every listener. "The acoustical result of a healthy sound is a beautiful sound. And we will agree in any culture that its beautiful because its an instinct aesthetic." (Eugene Rabine) The method itself comprehends 4 parts: 1) a theory about the functional system (how the instrument works) 2) a theory about the sensomotorial system (how one person learns a sensomotorial activity) And based on those 2 theories: 3) a specific Pedagogy 4) a specific Didactic I don't want to get too "technical" in this section, you're free to ask me if you have further questions about these aspect. Read More