Voice Lessons in Point Richmond, CA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Conga Latin Percussion

Jake has been playing guitar and percussion for over 20 years. He teaches all levels of guitar and congas, as well as beginning piano, voice and drum set. He went to Berkeley High School where he played guitar in the BHS Jazz Ensemble. He then attended the New School in New York City, majoring in jazz guitar studies. He has studied jazz guitar with Steve Erquiaga, Dave Creamer and Jack Wilkins, and congas with Josh Jones, Sandy Perez and other Cuban percussionists. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Students will ultimately discover that what I say to them, I am saying to another student. Beyond the building of the voice from a technical place, I put great emphasis on text. My general belief is that: if it is the text that tells us where we are going (the moving pieces of the song; the journey or story then it is the breath that tells us where we have been (the subtext and authentic emotion). Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I have been teaching piano for over twenty years. My teaching philosophy is that every piano lesson should be fun. For young beginners, I focus on basic technique. The reason is that it is very important to form good playing skills right from the beginning. For older students, I broaden their musical knowlege by introducing piano literature from different time periods. I also encourage them to pick songs that they like to play. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

I have taught guitar throughout my career, working with beginners through advanced students, teaching both finger-style and flatpick techniques as well as why the chords fit together (music theory). I like to teach lessons that move step-by-step, with each lesson building on the one before, so that the student can see the improvement as they move ahead. I recently published the guitar instruction manual "Sounding Good on One Guitar". In college my singing won scholarships and awards where I helped singers develop character for their roles in opera productions. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I assess what the student's current strengths, weaknesses, and needs are. Every student will have a different approach in the lessons as everyone has different taste in music and different learning styles. I cater to the student's interests to make the lessons easy and interesting while making sure that the student is aware of the reason that they are understanding how the topic they are currently learning blends and builds into their overall playing and musicianship. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I have a long history of voice, theory of music and piano teaching from the beginning of my singing career. I come from family of teachers and musicians and feel that despite of my love for stage, teaching is my true destination.Even while I was very busy performing internationally, I always enjoyed teaching, and took time to accumulate as much as possible of knowledge and experience in order to prepare myself for the next and very important step in my life becoming a voice teacher. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Organ

For beginner students who are pursing music on the tonal instruments, I typically start with learning the names of the notes on the instrument and the major scale in every key as it relates to the piano. For the bass guitar I start of with basic finger strength techniques and exercises while incorporating the major scale fingering form and Nashville numbering system for all tonal instruments. For voice, I start off by finding the range of the individual and then teaching warmup techniques while building the individuals technique through finding a song and learning how to sing along.  Read More